Birtley is a town in theMetropolitan Borough of Gateshead, inTyne and Wear, England. It is situated to the south ofGateshead and is conjoined toChester-le-Street across the county boundary inCounty Durham.

Birtley
Durham Road, Birtley
Birtley Location withinTyne and Wear
Population	8,367 (2011.Ward)
OS grid reference	NZ271563
Metropolitan borough	Gateshead
Metropolitan county	Tyne and Wear
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Chester Le Street
Postcode district	DH2, DH3
Dialling code	0191
Police	Northumbria
Fire	Tyne and Wear
Ambulance	North East
UK Parliament	Washington and Gateshead South
List of places UK England Tyne and Wear 54°54′00″N1°34′37″W / 54.900°N 1.577°W /54.900; -1.577

Until 1974, Birtley and the adjoining areas of Barley Mow, Vigo and Portobello were part ofChester-le-Street Rural District underCounty Durham until being moved into Tyne and Wear under the Borough of Gateshead. It forms an urban area with nearbyChester-le-Street,Washington,Houghton le Spring,Hetton le Hole andSunderland as part ofWearside. Birtley was acivil parish with a parish council (which also covered the adjoining neighbourhoods) until 1 April 2006, after a local referendum agreed to abolish it.^[1] The former parish had a population of 11,377 in 2001.^[2] The ward of Birtley in the Gateshead MBC had a population of 8,367 in the 2011 Census.^[3]

In September 2024,Prince William visited Birtley as a visit to Birtley Swimming Centre for its reopening.

Elisabethville was a sovereign Belgian area of Birtley housing Belgian refugees, who worked at the Royal Ordnance Factory duringWorld War I.^[4] It was a community of 6000 residents who were accommodated in a mixture of hostels and cottages.^[5] When the war ended and the inhabitants were largely repatriated, it was occupied by people of British and other nationalities^[4] before its demolition and replacement with more permanent housing. Its history is told in the bookThe Birtley Belgians.

Antony Gormley's famousAngel of the North sculpture, completed in February 1998, is on high ground at the site of the baths of the old 'Betty Ann Pit' at Eighton Lodge, Gateshead, to the north of Birtley.

There are altogether three mainstream churches in Birtley, which also has a large cemetery with a chapel^[6] andcrematorium: Birtley is also home to three Jehovah's Witness congregations.

1. St Joseph's (Roman Catholic)^[7] (Built in 1843 after theRoman Catholic Relief Act 1791 and designed by John Dobson in early Gothic style, it is currently served by Fr Martin Wheaton and Deacon Peter Lavery.)
2. St John the Evangelist (Church of England)^[8]
3. Birtley Methodist Church^[9]
4. Kingdom hall of Jehovahs witnesses shared by three congregations. Birtley, Washington and Chester Le Street.

The main road through Birtley is the non-primaryA167, which runs fromTopcliffe, North Yorkshire through to the north ofNewcastle upon Tyne and is the same road which runs across theTyne Bridge. This was an original route for theGreat North Road and theA1 until a bypass was built (which was upgraded to motorway standard in the 1960s).

The main East Coast railway line runs to the west of the town. Mainline trains used to stop at the town's long dismantled station.Birtley railway station was closed on 5 December 1955. The Station Hotel was closed in 1971, having been opened in 1868 or earlier.