Old Shotton

Coordinates: 54°45′04″N 1°21′43″W / 54.751°N 1.362°W / 54.751; -1.362

Old Shotton is a village, in Easington district of County Durham, England, The village once lay on the route of the A19, before its bypass to the west of the village. Although Old Shotton retains its own identity, and its own village sign, it now forms part of the new town of Peterlee. Following the foundation of Peterlee in 1948, the town spread westward, towards the A19, and so by the 1970s this small village had already begun to be encroached on. The village is home to two old pubs, "The Black Bull" and "The Royal George" which were both inns on the old A19. Nearby is Shotton Hall, home of Peterlee town council. Its ballroom is used for both private and public functions. Today, thanks to the redirection of the A19 in the 1970s, Old Shotton is now a quiet cul-de-sac. There are some 30 dwellings, most of which are post 1960s, and only about 10 which pre-date the 1950s.

Peterlee

Coordinates: 54°46′N 1°20′W / 54.76°N 1.33°W / 54.76; -1.33

Peterlee is a small town built under the New Towns Act of 1946, in County Durham, England. Founded in 1948, Peterlee town originally mostly housed coal miners and their families.

Peterlee has economic and community ties with Sunderland, Hartlepool and Durham.

History

The case for Peterlee was put forth in Farewell Squalor by Easington Rural District Council Surveyor C.W. Clarke, who also proposed that the town was named after the celebrated Durham miners' leader Peter Lee. Peterlee is unique among the new towns which came into being after the Second World War in that it was the only one requested by the people through their MP. A deputation, mostly if not all working miners, met with the Minister of Town and Country Planning after the Second World War to put the case for a new town in the district. The minister John Silkin responded by offering a half size new town of 30,000 residents. Subsequently, they came largely from the surrounding villages in the District of Easington.