Crookhill, Ryton
Crookhill School
Last Updated:
7 Aug 2024
Crookhill, Ryton
This is a
School
54.970447, -1.746901
Founded in
Current status is
Extant
Designer (if known):
W Bendle
Still in use as a school
Durham's pit villages feature an endless cavalcade of historic schools. I still find it really surprising that so many still exist given the progress in standards, growth in population and what's expected in school infrastructure these days.
The school at Crookhill, nr Ryton, is a prime example of an early 20th century school built to cater for the growing mining communities at Stargate and Addison. It was a "Council School", named so as it was ran by the local authorities when it was only just becoming the norm through society. Beforehand, the children had quite primitive facilities with no purpose built setting.
It was designed by a Mr W Bendle of Newcastle, who normally specialised in Primitive Methodist churches across the region. Chopwell, Hamsterley and Gateshead have all had Primitive Methodist churches designed by him, and I think this has influenced this school somewhat.
You might notice each block is segregated. We can see the stone inscriptions above the windows - "Infants School" and "Cookery Centre" are shown on my pictures below, giving you an idea of the seperate spheres of education between boys and girls.
The school is still in use.
Listing Description (if available)
Both maps show the school on the extreme left, on the cut off of the Ordnance Survey sheet, from the 20s to the late 30s.
Crookhill developed as an intermediary settlement for the Addison and Stargate pitmen, and the school likely came about to serve this community as well as the children from the surrounding conurbations. You may also notice the Stargate Waggonway which provided the Stargate Pit access to the Newcastle to Carlisle Railway via a steep trackway. The tunnel portal can still be seen at the old Addison village.
The school was built at pretty much the same time as the houses in the early to mid 1900s. Only a decade before, shown on this Ordnance Survey, the area was just a farmstead between Run Head and Stargate. Crook Hill Farm does still exist and is tucked between the housing, though Roan Head House has been demolished.
The school, on a quiet Sunday, in 2024
The school in the 60s or 70s. A contemporary block was added in the front, though this appears to have been demolished. Unknown original source.
The school upon opening in the 1900s. Unknown original source.
