The local economy was once based on coal-mining and other heavy industries; with their disappearance or substantial decline, Stanley is now primarily acommuter town.[3] Its core began to grow in the nineteenth century through the expansion and merger of the mining villages of East Stanley and West Stanley.[4]
The first printed map of theBishopric ofDurham was created in 1576. Published in 1579 as part of the cartographerChristopher Saxton's county atlas, it shows Stanley as "Standley".[11] In 1611,John Speed, a famous English mapmaker who built on Saxton's work, created a map of thebishopric that also shows Stanley as "Standley".[12]
Tanfield Lea was the site of theEver Ready company's largest British battery factory, a major local employer. The factory opened, to much fanfare, in 1968,[19] had around 950 employees – mainly former miners – at its peak in the 1970s, and closed in 1996.[20] TheBritish Steel plant in the neighbouring town ofConsett (some 7 miles (11 km) from Stanley) also had many ex-miners among the several thousand employed when it closed in 1980, part of a wave ofredundancies affecting workers in the traditionalheavy industries of the region.[21]
The Stanley Blues Festival took place on the first weekend in August between 1993 and 2007, with appearances by local, national, and internationalblues artists and other musical acts. Nearly 15,000 people attended in 2002, the event's tenth anniversary.[22] With support from the then-Derwentside District Council,Durham County Council, and the regional arm ofArts Council England, admission was free.[23]
In mid-2023, Stanley Town Council handed back Stanley Civic Hall, the town's long-standing arts venue and community hub, to Durham County Council.[24][25] Amidst political controversy,[26][27] it closed shortly afterwards, and was put up for sale in early 2024.[28] The Civic Hall was formerly known as the Lamplight Arts Centre, which opened in 1961. The council had taken over its running in mid-2013.[29] The Civic Hall hosted concerts, recitals, plays and shows in theAlun Armstrong Theatre, had an independent cinema, put on exhibitions, held classes and seminars, and was a weddings and corporate events venue.[30]
In late 2023, the owners of the BeamishFootball Centre training ground[31] announced that government funding had been secured for a major refurbishment and upgrade, with work starting in 2024.[32]
Since 2007, Stanley Town Council has provided the first tier of local government. The council has the statutory right to do whatever it considers will improve the economic, social or environmental well-being of the area.[39] It has a duty to provideallotments and to take into account the potential impact of every policy and action on reducing crime. The council's powers include the provision and maintenance of bus shelters, community centres, play areas and play equipment, and the awarding of grants to local community organisations. It can also issuefixed penalty fines for offences such as littering, graffiti,fly-posting, and contraventions of dog control orders.[40]
The town council has 20 councillors, elected every four years by electors in the seven parishwards.[e] The last election was in 2021 for the 2021–2025 term. Each year the councillors elect, from amongst themselves, a town mayor and deputy, and a council leader and deputy.[42]
Durham County Council provides the second tier of local government. Eight Stanley town councillors serve on the county council.[43] Its responsibilities include education, housing, social services, highways, planning, and refuse collection.
The Stanley AAP, one of 14 inCounty Durham, is a non-political organisation and funding body engaged with tackling local issues. It involves members of the public and representatives of Durham County Council and Stanley Town Council, the police, the fire brigade, health, housing, and education providers, business, and voluntary organisations.[45] Stanley AAP publishes a directory of local activities and advice and support services.[46]
The three largest employment sectors for residents in the local area are retail, manufacturing, and health and social work,[47]: 52 while the three largest industry groups[f] for local businesses are construction; professional, scientific, and technical services; and retail.[47]: 56
The pedestrianised Front Street in Stanley
Retailers in the town centre have faced significant competition from larger retail and leisure destinations elsewhere, including Clifford Road Retail Park, theMetroCentre, and Newcastle and Durham city centres.Online shopping, encouraged by theCOVID-19 pandemic, has also changed shopping patterns and contributed to a weakening offootfall.[3]: 6, 10
Stanley's main shopping area, Front Street, is pedestrianised, housing independent shops andchain stores such asBoots. A market is held on Thursdays and Saturdays:[48] it has declined over the years.[49]
There are several prominent buildings in the centre of Stanley that are vulnerable[g] or vacant.[3]: 11
Via the A693, Stanley is about 4 miles (6.4 km) from Junction 63 of theA1(M) motorway. Stanley Bus Station[51] is an interchange for routes served by several operators.[52]
There are public libraries inAnnfield Plain,South Moor, and at the Louisa Centre in Stanley,[46]: 8, 27, 28 with many others in the surrounding area.[54]
TheC2C Cycle Route skirts Stanley to the north.[55] This 140-mile (230 km) route linksWhitehaven (Cumberland) on England's north-west coast withRoker Beach (Sunderland) on the north-east coast.
The Louisa Centre sports and leisure complex
The Louisa Centre,[56] a sports and leisure complex, contains a gym, a 25-metre swimming pool (with a 300-seat spectators' gallery), a small pool, a sports hall, a shooting range, a soft play area, a nursery, meeting rooms, a café, and Stanley Library.[57]
South Moor Golf Course, lying south of the town and to the west ofThe Middles,[58] was founded in 1923 and first operated by theNational Coal Board. Redesigned in 1925 byAlister MacKenzie, a famousgolf course architect, the course has 18 holes. It has a practice area, a short-game area, apro shop, and a clubhouse that can host functions.[59]
The Stanley Indoor Bowls Centre, with a large arena and grandstand, offers play for people of all ages and abilities.[60] Inaugurated in 1977, it has hosted several top-level international events.[61] The centre also provides meeting facilities for a range of community groups and clubs, and can be hired for private functions.
The Venue, acommunity centre and events space,[46]: 36–37 has facilities for dance and martial arts classes, sports, theatrical productions, concerts, weddings and parties, meetings, and cooking classes.[62] It also has a small gym. Organisations based in or accessible via The Venue includeCitizens Advice,Age UK, Foodbank, Community Money Advice, Welfare Rights, and Durham Action on Single Housing (DASH).[63]
Northumberland & Durham Bottle Collectors Club bottle fair, Masonic Hall[64].
Youth clubs and activities for children
Under the umbrella of SAYC, the Stanley Area Youth Consortium,[65] trips and activities for children and young people in the wider Stanley area are offered by an array of youth clubs and voluntary associations.
These include Stanley Young People's Club, focused on theSouth Stanley andSouth Moor areas;[46]: 30 Oxhill Youth Club, founded in 1962,[66] which runs theDuke of Edinburgh's Award scheme locally; the Activity Den,[67] based inTanfield Lea, active for nearly 20 years;[68] Clavering Youth Club;[46]: 11 Beamish Community Football Club;[69] North Road Gym, a boxing club for young amateurs;[46]: 21 PACT House, a community hub;[70] and several community halls, schools, and churches.
Stanley's Masonic Hall regularly hosts the Northumberland & Durham Bottle Collectors Club annual spring antique bottle collectors fair[64].
John Curr (c. 1756–1823), born inWest Kyo, managed theDuke of Norfolk's collieries inSheffield from 1781 to 1801. Several of his technological innovations contributed to the development of the coal-mining industry.
John Buddle (1773–1843), born inWest Kyo, was a prominent mining engineer and entrepreneur who helped improve the safety of coal-mining. His innovations included the use of theDavy Lamp.
Jonathan Rodham (1843–1917), who lived inOxhill before emigrating to the US, wasHillary Clinton's great-grandfather.[71][72]
Thomas "Tommy" Armstrong (1848–1920), famed as a songwriter andmusic-hall performer, lived for most of his life inTanfield Lea. He was known as "The Pitman Poet" and "The Bard of the Northern Coalfield".
Tom Lamb (1928–2016) was a miner atCraghead Colliery and an artist who sketched and painted the underground life of miners as well asCounty Durham landscapes.
There are two memorials to the 1909West Stanley Pit Disaster: one unveiled in 1913, four years after the event,[74] and another unveiled in 1995, 86 years after.[75] In addition, a memorial headstone to mark the mass graves of those who died was dedicated in 2005.[76][77]
A memorial to the 1947 Louisa Morrison Pit Disaster was unveiled in 1997 on the fiftieth anniversary of the event,[78] and re-dedicated in 2018 after it was moved to another site.[79] A service to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary took place inAnnfield Plain Park in 2022.[80]
South Moor Memorial Park[81] was opened in 1920 and dedicated to the memory of employees of the South Moor Colliery Company who died inWWI.[82] It was rededicated in 1950 to also commemorate those who died inWWII.[83][h]
The war memorial in Annfield Plain Park is inscribed with the names of the 263 men ofAnnfield Plain who died inWWI and the 66 who died inWWII.[84] The memorial inCraghead, located off Edward Street, lists the names of the 109 local men who died inWWI and the 53 who died inWWII.[85]
TheMasonic Hall in Stanley has a plaque commemorating members of the CoronationLodge who served or were killed inWWI.[86]
^In 2005, the UK government gave permission for the creation of the parish and council following a petition organised and submitted by the thenDerwentside District Council.[6]
^The Stanley Urban District created in 1894 was part a network of boroughs, urban district and rural district councils set up after the formation ofDurham County Council in 1889. It comprised West Stanley,Shield Row andSouth Moor. In 1895, separate urban districts were created forAnnfield Plain andTanfield.[36] In 1937, the three districts were combined to form a greatly enlarged Stanley Urban District.[37]
^Derwentside District was created by amalgamating Stanley Urban District (as created in 1937), Consett Urban District, and Lanchester Rural District. The urban and rural districts were abolished.
^The reorganisation of 2009 abolishedDerwentside and other districts created in 1974.
^ Annfield Plain, Catchgate, Craghead & South Stanley, Havannah, South Moor, Stanley Hall, and Tanfield.[41]
^abcRyder Architecture Ltd (25 October 2021). "Executive Summary".A Vision for Stanley 2021–2035 : Durham County Council : Masterplan Report(PDF).Durham County Council (Report). Retrieved18 May 2024. p. 5:Although the local economy was historically based on coal mining and other heavy industries, most of these industries have disappeared and the town largely functions as a commuter settlement.
^"Stanley's Local Context"(PDF) (general-purpose map).Durham County Council. 2021. Retrieved11 February 2025.The civil parish of Stanley [is] indicated with [a] red line on the map[...].
^Butler, David (1995), introduction to "Stanley 1895: Old Ordnance Survey Maps (Godfrey Edition), Co Durham Sheet 12.06a" (map),ISBN978-0-85054-758-0; Godfrey, Alan (2013), introduction to "Stanley 1915: Old Ordnance Survey Maps (Godfrey Edition), Co Durham Sheet 12.06b" (map),ISBN978-1-84784-661-7. c. 1:4224. Consett, Co Durham: Alan Godfrey Maps.
Tiley, Ray (2010).Tommy Armstrong: The Pitman Poet. Newcastle upon Tyne: Summerhill Books.ISBN978-1-906-72130-5.OCLC912959994. Written by a grandson of Tommy Armstrong, this illustrated biography contains 30 previously published works and a further 16 that appeared in local newspapers.
Hair, Jack (2009).Coal in the Blood: Coal Mining in Stanley & District. Newcastle upon Tyne: Summerhill Books.ISBN978-1-906-72112-1.OCLC743449487. An illustrated history of local collieries, with a short selection of mining poems.
Lown, Joe (2005).Memories of My Life inTantobie in the Thirties. Durham: Durham County Local History Society.ISBN978-0-902-95824-1. A memoir.
Harrison, Alan; Hair, Jack (1999).Stanley Remembered.Seaham: The People's History.ISBN978-1-902-52723-9.OCLC44563887. A collection of photographs illustrating descriptions of local events and personalities and covering buildings, amenities, commerce, churches, collieries, and sport.
Green, Simon (director); Reay, Levin (interviewer) (2016).This is Stanley (film). Stanley, County Durham: Stanley Fringe. Retrieved19 August 2024 – via YouTube. A one-hourdocumentary, filmed over a period of six months, featuring the inhabitants and landscapes of Stanley and the surrounding area.
Watson, Paul (producer); Houldey, Michael (director) (5 October 1969).For Craghead: 1968 – 1969.A Year In The Life.BBC Two England. Retrieved19 August 2024 – via YouTube. June 1968: as managers and miners work hard to raise the Craghead colliery's output, with their families hoping for the future, the rumour is of imminent closure: can their efforts avert this?
