Hetton-le-Hole

The parish includes the villages of Easington Lane and Warden Law, had a population of 14,402 in 2001. The parish also includes Hetton proper, along with East Rainton, Middle Rainton (West Rainton is a separate parish), Low Moorsley and High Moorsley. Great Eppleton Wind Farm, a wind farm originally of four dual-bladed alternators, provides electricity to the National Grid. The original wind turbines have been replaced by larger three-bladed versions. The turbines are far enough away from local houses not to cause any audible disturbance.

• Country — England • Official Name — Hetton-le-Hole • Type — Town and civil parish • Population — 14,402 • Civil Parish — Hetton • Metropolitan Borough — Sunderland • Metropolitan County — Tyne and Wear • Region — North East England • Constituency Westminster — Houghton and Sunderland South • Post Town — HOUGHTON LE SPRING • Postcode District — DH5 • Postcode Area — DH • Dial Code — 0191 • Website — https: hettontowncouncil.gov.uk/ • Os Grid Reference — NZ354474

The history of the Hetton area can be traced back for up to a thousand years. The name Hetton derives from the Old English hēopedūn meaning 'wild rose hill'. In 1187 Bertram de Heppedune held the manor for the King; other de Hepdons were his descendants. The name was adopted by a local landowning family, the le Hepdons, who owned part of the Manor. Records exist of the many holders of the manor back to the 14th century. William de Hepdon held half the Manor by deed in 1363 and in 1380 William de Dalden held the other half. Even earlier charters go back to 1187 and mention the early village of Heppedune, its people, houses, crofts, oxgangs and strips of land for the villagers in the three great fields around the settlement.

The ancient manor, which was bounded by that of Elemore, was divided into two parts known as Hetton-on-the-Hill and Hetton-in-the-Hole. The latter, a more sheltered vicinity, was where the present village arose.

By 1896, Hetton-le-Hole was a mining village in its own right; the district parish of Eppleton had been formed from Hetton-le-Hole which, by then, included that part of Hetton-le-Hole known as the "Downs". The village had a population of 5,000 and occupied 512 acres. Coal has been mined in the surrounding area since Roman times. Coal was then obtained by drift mining, but by the 14th century shafts were used. In 1819 the Hetton Coal Company was formed and its first shaft was sunk a year later. It was a highly controversial undertaking, with geologists doubtful as to whether coal of any value existed there. The Hetton Coal Company's owners also decided to build a wagonway from their new Hetton colliery to the River Wear at Sunderland. George Stephenson was hired to build the 8 mi line. The trains were powered by gravity down the inclines and by locomotives for its level and upward stretches. It was the first railway to use no animal power at all. These methods were used until 1959, as was some of the original machinery. This was the scene of one of the earliest fatalities on railway lines, the "Hetton Wagonway Disaster" of Saturday 26 February 1831. Two Primitive Methodist Ministers were walking along the wagonway to Hetton when they saw some wagons approaching on the line on which they were walking. They moved to the adjacent line but had not seen wagons approaching from the other direction. John Hewson was killed outright, John Branfoot died a few hours later. These activities led to a rapid increase in the size of Hetton and over 200 houses for the miners were built at once. These have all but gone now, but twelve of these former mining cottages from Francis Street in the Hetton Downs area of the town were re-erected stone by stone at Beamish Open Air Museum, Stanley, near Chester-le-Street. The UK miners' strike (1984–1985) brought about hardship for many of the workers. Two local unsigned bands (The Pigeon Fanciers and Haswell Crisis) recorded and released a single to raise money for the families and to recognise the contribution made by miners over the years in their locality. Their adapted version of a Bob Dylan classic failed to chart, but the project made a slight profit as local support from other mining communities ensured that 'Knocking on Hetton's Floor' sold more than 1000 copies. Hetton Colliery closed in 1950, Elemore Colliery closed in 1974 and Eppleton Colliery closed in 1986. Today, nothing exists of the mines in Hetton; the former mine complexes have disappeared and spoil tips have been removed, although some remain in nearby Haswell. The area surrounding Hetton Colliery has been landscaped and is now occupied by a lake and leisure facilities. Eppleton Colliery has been landscaped, and all that remains is the Hetton Centre (the former Colliery Welfare building) and the Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground which hosts the home games of Sunderland A.F.C. Women and Sunderland U23s. There is also a quarry where sand is mined. This is now undergoing a reformation; around 15% of it has been smoothed and grassed over. A sad incident occurred on 27 June 1928 when 14 women from the village returning from a Mothers' Union outing to Scarborough were killed when the excursion train was involved in the Darlington rail crash. Because the damage was very localised, they made up over half of the 25 fatalities. "It was like a mining disaster with women rather than men as the victims; there were four widowers in a single street". The decommissioned St Nicholas' Church in Front Street was destroyed by fire in November 2006. It is unknown if arson was the cause. It had previously been listed because of its architectural significance.

Hetton le Hole became a civil parish in 1866, on 1 April 1937, the parish of "Hetton le Hole" was abolished and merged with East Rainton, Great Eppleton, Little Eppleton, Moorsley and Pittington to form a parish called simply "Hetton". In 1931 the parish of "Hetton le Hole" had a population of 17,665.

Hetton-le-Hole is represented by three councillors on Sunderland City Council as part of the Hetton ward. Two of the three councillors represent the Labour Party, being Councillor James Blackburn and Councillor Iain Scott. The other councillor is Councillor Ian McKinley, who is currently the only serving Reform UK councillor on Sunderland City Council.

• Name — Hetton Town Council • House Type — Parish council • Structure1 Res — 250 • Seats — 21 councillors • Political Groups1 —: Independent Independent (16) • Reform UK Reform UK (3) • Advance UK Advance UK (2) Hetton Town Council is the parish council for Hetton, composed of 21 councillors over 4 wards. Hetton-le-Hole, Easington Lane and Hetton Downs all have 6 councillors representing their wards, unlike the ward of East Rainton and Moorsley which has 3 councillors. The wards of Hetton Town Council are as follows: • Easington Lane • East Rainton and Moorsley • Hetton Downs • Hetton-le-Hole Current Hetton Town Councillors • Ward — Councillors • Easington Lane — Donna Brennan • Richard Elvin • Josh Green • Mark Pigdon • Kay Rowham • Sam Woods-Brass • East Rainton and Moorsley — Lynsey Gibson • Pauline Hall • Stephen Holt • Hetton Downs — Phillip Dowell • Bill Little • Roz Meadows • Harry Morton • Donna Thomas • Christine Willis • Hetton-le-Hole — Kerry Angus • James Bonsall • John Defty • David Geddis • Joanne Lloyd • Susan Waterston As of July 2026, the composition of the council was: • Party — Councillors • Independent — 16 • Reform UK — 3 • Advance UK — 2 — Total — 21

• Terence Burns, Baron Burns, economist

• Thomas Adey, former footballer • Allan Ball, former footballer, honorary director of Queen of the South • Ralph Coates, former football player (Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur) • Jordan Cook, footballer who plays for Hartlepool United • Bobby Cram, former footballer (West Bromwich Albion and Colchester United) • Harry Wilson, former footballer (Burnley and Brighton and Hove Albion) • Tommy Harland, former cricketer • Bob Paisley, former football player and manager (Liverpool) • Harry Potts, former football player and manager (Burnley) • Bryan "Pop" Robson, former footballer (Sunderland and Newcastle United)

• Trevor Horn, record producer and recording artist • Albert H. Oswald (1879–1929), composer of light music