Greatham, County Durham

Greatham is a village and civil parish in the borough of Hartlepool and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated to the south of central Hartlepool.

The village is not mentioned in the Domesday Book, but appears first in written sources as "Gretham" in 1196. [Ekwall|204]

The actual village is located within the North East area of England, approximately 3 miles from the town centre of Hartlepool.

At current the village has around a thousand occupants, separated into varying areas, The Grove, The Drive, The Green, Hill View, The Front Street and Ashfield Close, with some village residents living in the houses located at the extremes of the village parish.

There is a long history of salt works nearby, but this dropped off in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the middle of the 20th century Cerebos salt works had a factory there, which was later taken over by Sharwoods. The factory has now closed, and is in the process of being leased out as office units.

It is the site of the Hospital of God, Greatham, founded in 1273 by the then Bishop of Durham, Robert Stichill. Greatham Hospital was originally a foundation to aid poor people. By the 16th century the foundation was used more as a “house of entertainment for gentlemen” and it was not well used for helping the poor. After 1610 there were reforms, and its original mission was resumed. Greatham is still a separate village from Hartlepool, with a church, three pubs and a village green.

Greatham also had a railway station which was positioned near the old Cerebos factory, away from the majority of the village. The station survived the Beeching cuts and was later downgraded to a halt before eventually closing on 24 November 1991cite web|title=List of dates from 1 January 1985 to 20 January 2006 of last passenger trains at closed BR (or Network Rail stations since privatisation)|url=http://www.dft.gov.uk/foi/responses/2006/feb/closuredatesformerbrstations/listofclosuredatestopassenge2682|accessdate=2008-08-09|publisher=Department for Transport|year=2006|work=Department for Transport Website: Freedom of Information Act responses, February 2006] due to lack of use. The station was part of the Durham Coast Line.

History

*RAF Greatham
* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42628 British History Of Greatham]

Amenities

* Post office
* General store
* Butchers
* Hairdressing salon
* TV repair shop
* Taxidermist

There are three pubs in Greatham.

Transport

A good bus service is operated by Stagecoach. The number 36 comes every 15 minutes, heading towards Middlesbrough via Stockton, Billingham and Norton and to Hartlepool via the Fens. There is also the 527 Service, which comes every 60 minutes, and heads into Hartlepool, and terminates at Maritime Avenue.

There was once an operating railway station at the bottom of the village, this is now derelict but the Middlesbrough to Carlisle trains still pass through the village.

References