New Lambton ‐ a village history by Phyllis Sellers The most important event in the village of New Lambton was the closing of the last surviving pit in the area. This was the death knell for the village which, for three hundred years, had been a tightly‐knit community. New council houses were built in Burnmoor, many people were moved into these and, although looking forward to living on a new modern housing estate, the community was torn apart, and many people left the area. Workmates and friends dispersed in all direction, but mostly trying their luck further south. The spirit of cameraderie which had always been in the village could never be replaced as the work force was now employed in such diverse operations over the North East. New trades had to be learned, and new workmates were befriended, but not known as well as the 'marras' down the pit. Back in the 1700s there were a few streets of small cottages with one room downstairs and an attic to sleep in, and some of the families living in them were quite large. By the early 1800s there were larger houses built to accommodate more of the miners as the pits developed and grew larger. These houses had two rooms downstairs, a sitting room and a kitchen, and two bedrooms upstairs, but these were still attic rooms. By 1825 the houses were more modern, having a large sitting room, a large working kitchen with a huge range and a sett pot for hot water, along with a scullery which included another sett pot to give hot water for washing the clothes. There was a tin bath kept in the scullery which was brought in front of the range for bathing, and when in use was enclosed by a huge clothes‐
horse covered in towels for privacy. Everyone in the household except the miners used the tin bath once a week. For all other ablution the sink in the scullery was used. The enclosed yard was a delight when first added to the houses, because for once the midden, and the later modernisation to the flush toilet, could be used in privacy. Each yard had its own high gate, but these were very rarely closed. The newer houses extended the street by continuing on, and as the older houses started falling in on themselves, they were pulled down and more modern ones replaced them which left the street looking like a hotchpotch of styles. Three of the streets dating from the early 1800s were still in use at the end of the village's life in 1968. This can be proved by the 1841 Census, as my maternal great‐great‐great‐
grandfather lived in one. He had five children to his first wife, and six to his second wife, and at one time they were all still at home, but as most of them were boys who started work in the mines, the shifts proved to be a blessing. The street in question here is on the 1857 Ordnance Survey map. A great‐great‐grandfather on the paternal side is on the 1861 Census, having moved into New Lambton from the Northumberland pits. On the 1881 Census he was living in the same house my friend's grandparents lived in during the Second World War. This street was built some time the the 1857 and 1898 maps. When the first houses were built there were three streets. By the end of the 19th century there were eight streets, and when I lived there in the early 1940s there were nine streets plus a street of Aged Miners' Homes, the Manager's house, the Institute, 2 chapels and a large recreational field. When the village died, three of these were left (two streets plus the Aged Miners' Homes), and the Manager's house, which became a nursing home. Now it is barely possible to recognise it as New Lambton. Note: The views that are expressed on the website are the contributors own and not necessarily those of Durham County Council. This is a community website so no guarantee can be given of the historical accuracy of individual contributions