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Houghton-le-Spring
Houghton-le-Spring shown within Tyne and Wear
Metropolitan county	Tyne and Wear
Region	North East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HOUGHTON LE SPRING
Postcode district	DH4, DH5
Police	Northumbria
Fire	Tyne and Wear
Ambulance	North East
UK Parliament	Houghton and Washington East
European Parliament	North East England
List of places: UK • England • Tyne and Wear

Coordinates: 54°50′28″N 1°28′07″W / 54.841, -1.4687

Houghton-le-Spring (pronounced /ˈhoʊtən/) is a former mining town in North East England. It is situated between Newbottle, County Durham and Hetton-le-Hole and lies about 6 miles (13 km) to the North East of Durham.

The earliest mention of the town's name is in the Boldon Buke (Book) in 1183 as 'Hoctona'. An English transcription states:

"In Houghton are thirteen cottagers, whose tenures, works and payments are like those of Newbotill; and three other half cottagers, who also work like the three half cottagers of Newbotill. Henry the greeve, holds two oxgangs of 24 acres for his service. The smith - 12 acres for his service. The carpenter holds a toft and 4 acres for his service. The punder (one who impounds straying animals) has 20 acres and the thraves of Houghton, Wardon and Morton; he renders 60 hens and 300 eggs. The mills of Newbotill and Bidic, with half of Raynton Mill, pay XV marks. The demesne, consisting of four carucates, and the sheep pastures are in the hands of the lord".

An ancient document dated 1220 describes the town as 'Houghton Sprynges'.

The name Houghton comes from the Old English hoh meaning hill and tun meaning settlement. In 1311 the village was owned by Albreda, widow of Lord Henry Spring, hence the addition of 'le spring'.

The above explanation of the addition of ‘le Spring’ is debatable and there are alternatives. One opinion is that it is derived from the Le Spring family, Lords of Houghton in ancient times. Another explanation, which is backed up by a “Regester Booke belonginge to the Paryshe of Houghton in the Springe” from 1598, is based around the medicinal springs which flow from the surrounding limestone rocks. (This latter explanation ties in with the Roman names in the area in which "le" is taken to be "in the" as in Chester-le-Street, Witton-le-Wear, Dalton-le-Dale, Hetton-le-Hole)

The parish church of St Michael and All Angels dates back to Norman times and contains the tomb of Bernard Gilpin, known as 'the Apostle of the North'. Gilpin was Archdeacon of Durham and in 1557 became the rector at Houghton-le-Spring, which at that time was one of the largest parishes in England.

The A690 from Durham to Sunderland meets the A182 in Houghton at an unusual interchange. Heading northeast, slip roads leave the A690, heading up to a roundabout, while the A690 climbs and travels above a second roundabout, before the entry slip joins the A690 itself. Aerial photo

Houghton -Le- Spring's main shopping area is located in Newbottle Street which includes a supermarket, a library, the Post Office and various other retail outlets.

Pubs in Houghton-Le-Spring include The White Lion, The Britannia and The Golden Lion which reportedly has stood for almost 300 years.

Contents 1 Famous people from Houghton-le-Spring 2 Sport 3 External links 4 Villages in the Houghton-le-Spring postal District 4.1 Fencehouses 4.2 Woodstone

• Bernard Gilpin (1517-1583), Apostle of the North
• Linden Travers (1913-2001), actress
• Michael Roseberry (born 1966), cricketer
• Sheila Quigley (born 1948?), novelist
• David Knight (born 1988), Footballer

Speedway racing was staged at the Racecourse. Contemporary newspaper reports indicate the sport was staged in 1930 but it may have operated at other times.

• Houghton Feast: The Ancient Festival of Houghton-le-Spring
• Houghton-le-Spring churchyard burial lists c1730 - 1971
• Durham Miner Project: Houghton le Spring – A short history
• GENUKI – Houghton-le-Spring
• North East England History Pages: North Durham – Chester-le-Street and Washington

This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (April 2007)

Fencehouses came into existence when Napoleonic prisoners were housed on the outskirts of Houghton-le-Spring. The prisoners were used as labour to cut a path through the hill at Houghton-le-Spring in order to get the troops from Durham to the coast at Sunderland. Houghton Cut as it became known has now been expanded to carry a 4-lane road, the A690. The place the prisoners were housed was known as "The French Houses" and this later changed to "Fencehouses". The land was originally part of the Grange (a large local manor house). In about 1950, a modern housing estate was added to the village it, called the Grange estate.

A railway line was built, bringing a 4-platform station providing services to Sunderland, Newcastle and Durham, and a stock yard from which local farmers shipped their cattle by train. The station had its own Station Hotel and Post Office. Fencehouses had the largest telephone exchange in the area (The Police house at Shiney Row some 4 miles away had the number "Fencehouses 55" in the 1940s). In the 1980s the Fencehouses exchange numbers became the Durham exchange numbers. The line closed in the 1960s.

Fencehouses was the terminus of a tram service from Sunderland.

The village is essentially a single main street cut in two by the path of the old railway line which also splits the village into control of two local authorities - Sunderland Council for the south of the village and Durham to the north).

Woodstone is a tiny village in County Durham. It neighbours the larger villages of Fencehouses and Burnmoor.

It originally was named Little Lumley, being only a short journey from Great Lumley and consisted of 5 streets of houses, Finchale Terrace, High Row, Middle Row, Lower Row and Woodstone terrace, which were built as housing for the now disued '6 pit' mine, in the area.

Recently the addition of a large estate built by a housing company has expanded the size of the village.

The only amenities in the village are the Athena beauty salon, and the Fencehouses community centre which also contains a small gym. Up until recently, a small pine shop existed at number 1 Finchale Terrace, but has been converted into a large private house.