Seaham
Encyclopedia
Seaham, formerly Seaham Harbour, is a small town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 in County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

, situated 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Sunderland and 13 miles (20.9 km) east of Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

. It has a small parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

, St Mary the Virgin
St Mary the Virgin
-Churches:* St Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury* St Mary the Virgin, Blackburn Hamlet* St Mary the Virgin, Brighton* St Mary the Virgin, Barnes* St Mary the Virgin, Bathwick* St Mary the Virgin, Gillingham, Dorset* St Mary the Virgin, Henbury...

, with a late 7th century Anglo Saxon nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

 resembling the church at Escomb
Escomb
Escomb is a village on the River Wear about west of Bishop Auckland, County Durham, England. Escomb was a civil parish until 1960, when it and a number of other civil parishes in the area were dissolved.-Parish church:...

 in many respects. St Mary the Virgin is regarded as one of the 20 oldest surviving churches in the UK. Seaham is currently twinned with the German town, Gerlingen
Gerlingen
Gerlingen is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 9 km west of Stuttgart, and 15 km southwest of Ludwigsburg, Gerlingen is home to BOSCH appliances....

.

The people of Seaham have strong historic ties to Sunderland.

History

Until the early years of the 19th century Seaham was a small rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...

 agricultural farming community whose only claim to fame was that the local landowner's daughter, Anne Isabella Milbanke, was married at Seaham Hall
Seaham Hall
Seaham Hall is now a spa Hotel in County Durham, England. It was once owned by George Henry Robert Charles William Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry, although for much of his life he lived at Plas Machynlleth, his wife's home in Montgomeryshire....

 to Lord Byron on 2 January 1815. Byron began writing his Hebrew Melodies at Seaham and they were published in April 1815. It would seem that Byron was bored in wintry Seaham, though the sea enthralled him. As he wrote in a letter to a friend:
The marriage was short-lived, but long enough to have been a drain on the Milbanke estate. The area's fortunes changed when the Milbankes sold out to 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, who built a harbour in 1828 to facilitate transport of goods from the industries locally encouraged (the first coal mine was begun in 1845). However, this harbour later proved inadequate to deal with the millions of tonnes of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 and 6th Marquess commissioned engineers Patrick Meik
Patrick Meik
Patrick Meik was an English engineer and part of a minor engineering dynasty. His father Thomas Meik was also an engineer, as was Patrick's brother Charles Meik.Both boys were born in Crowtree Road, Bishopwearmouth, Sunderland....

 and Charles Meik
Charles Meik
Charles Meik was an English engineer and part of a minor engineering dynasty. His father Thomas Meik was also an engineer, as was Charles' brother Patrick Meik; collectively, they established a company which is now one of the UK's major engineering consultancies.Both boys were born in Crow Tree...

 to reclaim land and extend and deepen the dock. It was officially opened in 1905. The harbour is of particular interest because it consists of a series of interconnecting locks rather than the more typical two wall construction.

In 1928 production started at the last town colliery to be opened, Vane Tempest. By 1992, however, all three pits (Dawdon Colliery, Vane Tempest Colliery and Seaham Colliery - known locally as "the Knack") had closed, a process accelerated by the UK miners' strike (1984-1985) and cheap coal imports from Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

. The pit closures have hit the local economy extremely hard, and Seaham sank into a depressed state in the 1980s and 1990s.

Many local families were affected by the tragic loss of eight men and one boy in the 'Seaham Lifeboat Disaster', when the RNLI lifeboat
Lifeboat (rescue)
A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...

, the George Elmy, sank on 17 November 1962. To commemorate the event, the new coast road was named George Elmy Lifeboat Way.

Today

Seaham has fine beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

es and easy transport links to the eastern side of the country. From 2001 most of the Durham coastline was designated as a "heritage coast" and Seaham beach was entirely restored. In 2002 the Turning the Tide project won, jointly with the Eden Project
Eden Project
The Eden Project is a visitor attraction in Cornwall in the United Kingdom, including the world's largest greenhouse. Inside the artificial biomes are plants that are collected from all around the world....

, the prize for Outstanding Achievement in Regeneration in the annual Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is an independent, representative professional body which regulates property professionals and surveyors in the United Kingdom and other sovereign nations....

 awards. Seaham Hall
Seaham Hall
Seaham Hall is now a spa Hotel in County Durham, England. It was once owned by George Henry Robert Charles William Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry, although for much of his life he lived at Plas Machynlleth, his wife's home in Montgomeryshire....

 is now a luxury hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

 and spa
Spa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...

.

In homage to the town's link to Lord Byron, the new multi-million pound shopping complex, which now includes an Asda
Asda
Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...

 supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...

 as well as Argos
Argos (retailer)
Argos is the largest general-goods retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland with over 800 stores. It is unique amongst major retailers in the UK in that it is a catalogue merchant...

 and Wilkinson
Wilkinson
-Places:In the United States:* Wilkinson, Indiana, a town in Hancock County* Wilkinson, Wisconsin, a town in Rusk County* Wilkinson County, Georgia* Wilkinson County, Mississippi* Wilkinson Heights, South Carolina* Wilkinson Station, North Carolina...

 stores, is named Byron Place. It aims to revitalise the area, using the successful redevelopment of the central shopping district of neighbouring town Peterlee
Peterlee
Peterlee is a new town in County Durham, England. Founded in 1948, Peterlee town originally mostly housed coal miners and their families.Peterlee has strong economic and community ties with Sunderland and Hartlepool.-Peterlee:...

 as a benchmark. Asda
Asda
Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...

 officially opened on 3 September 2007 and the rest of the shopping centre opened in November 2007.

In 2006, a survey conducted by Halifax revealed that Seaham is the top property price increase hotspot in England and Wales as average prices rose by 172% since 2003. The average price of £117,266 is still, however, well below the national average. It is believed this surge has been greatly helped by regeneration work in the area, and in particular the popular new housing estate East Shore Village, built on the site of the former Vane Tempest colliery.

Today, the town has a population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

 of around 22,000, and is served by Seaham Railway Station
Seaham railway station
Seaham Railway Station serves the town of Seaham in County Durham, England. The railway station is located on the Durham Coast Line and is operated by Northern Rail, which provides all of the station's passenger services....

, which lies on the Durham Coast Line, running from Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

 to Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

, via Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...

, Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in north east England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire as it also incorporates a number of smaller towns including...

 and Sunderland. When rail company Grand Central Trains announced it was to run new rail links connecting Sunderland to York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

 and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 from September 2007, a stop-off at Seaham was not originally planned. However, lobbying from local people has launched fresh interest in this possibility.

Local bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

 services operated by Arriva
Arriva
Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...

 and Go North East
Go North East
Go North East is the largest operator of bus services in North East England, United Kingdom. Go North East operates services in the counties of Tyne and Wear, County Durham and Northumberland...

 also provide access to the nearby towns of Murton
Murton, County Durham
Murton is a village in County Durham, England. Lying six miles east of the city of Durham and seven miles south of Sunderland, it has a population of 7,339....

, Peterlee
Peterlee
Peterlee is a new town in County Durham, England. Founded in 1948, Peterlee town originally mostly housed coal miners and their families.Peterlee has strong economic and community ties with Sunderland and Hartlepool.-Peterlee:...

 and Houghton-le-Spring
Houghton-le-Spring
Houghton-le-Spring is part of the City of Sunderland in the county of Tyne and Wear, North East England that has its recorded origins in Norman times. It is situated almost equidistant between the cathedral city of Durham 7 miles to the south-west and the centre of the City of Sunderland about 6...

, as well as further afield to Sunderland, Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

, Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

, Darlington
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...

, Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in north east England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire as it also incorporates a number of smaller towns including...

 and Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

.

Seaham also is home to Seaham School of Technology
Seaham School of Technology
The Seaham School of Technology is a secondary school located in Seaham, County Durham, England, for pupils aged 11–16. It is the only secondary school in the area, acting as a hub for most year 6 children leaving the local primary schools.- New school :...

, a secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 for children aged 11–16. The School is the only secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 in the area and therefore acts as a hub for all year 6 children leaving the local primary schools. The School currently does not have its own dedicated sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...

 but it does sponsor Byron College which acts as a sixth form for all teenagers in the area. The School plays a major part in the society and numerous after school clubs are available for both pupils and parents. After the UK's general election in 2010, it has been confirmed that the plans to build new premises for the School have been cancelled.

Following the success of St. Peter's Sixth Form College (a partnership between the schools of Sunderland), Seaham School of Technology has announced that it has created a partnership between City of Sunderland College
City of Sunderland College
Sunderland College, is a Further Education, Higher Education College based in Sunderland, North East England. The enrolment includes around 6,300 part-time learners and approximately 4,800 full-time students...

 and two other schools to create a state of the art Sixth Form centre to be called Headways.

Seaham in the media

The rich mining history of the town was highlighted in the 2000 blockbuster film Billy Elliot
Billy Elliot
Billy Elliot is a 2000 British drama film written by Lee Hall and directed by Stephen Daldry. Set in the fictional town of "Everington" in the real County Durham, UK, it stars Jamie Bell as 11-year-old Billy, an aspiring dancer, Gary Lewis as his coal miner father, Jamie Draven as Billy's older...

which was set during the UK miners' strike (1984-1985) in the fictional County Durham town of 'Everington', but which displayed characteristics particular to East Durham pit communities such as Seaham and Easington Colliery
Easington Colliery
Easington Colliery is an old coal mining town in County Durham, in England. It is situated to the north of Horden, and a short distance to the east of Easington Village. The town is known for a mining accident or disaster which occurred, on 29 May 1951 when an explosion in the mine resulted in the...

 - both towns feature as locations in the film, notably Dawdon Miners' Club, into which Billy's dad runs when he learns his son has won an audition at dance school. The town has also served as a location for the films Alien 3 (1992), and the BAFTA nominated Life For Ruth (1962) starring Janet Munro
Janet Munro
-Career:Munro starred in three Disney motion picture releases, Darby O'Gill and the Little People , Third Man on the Mountain and Swiss Family Robinson , as well as The Horsemasters , which aired on Disney's weekly television series...

 and Patrick McGoohan
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television series Danger Man , and The Prisoner, which he co-created...

.

The town has recently been spotted in the BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...

 sitcom Live!Girls! present Dogtown
Live!Girls! present Dogtown
Live! Girls! Present Dogtown is a comedy series shown on BBC Three.It tells the story of life for the residents of Horton-le-Hole, a fictional coastal town where things are not all they seem...

which premiered on the channel in Autumn 2006. According to the February 11, 1999 edition of the Sunderland Echo
Sunderland Echo
The Sunderland Echo is an evening newspaper serving the Sunderland, South Tyneside and East Durham areas of North East England. The newspaper was founded by Samuel Storey, Edward Backhouse, Edward Temperley Gourley, Charles Palmer, Richard Ruddock, Thomas Glaholm and Thomas Scott Turnbull in 1873,...

, scenes from the 1998 box-office hit Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American war film set during the invasion of Normandy in World War II. It was directed by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay by Robert Rodat. The film is notable for the intensity of its opening 27 minutes, which depicts the Omaha Beach assault of June 6, 1944....

were also going to be filmed in Seaham, but Government intervention moved production elsewhere.

The opening scene in Alien 3 was filmed on Blast Beach at Seaham, released 1993.

According to Tom McNee's 1992 portrait of the town The Changing Face of Seaham: 1928-1992, St. John
John the Evangelist
Saint John the Evangelist is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John...

's parish church was used as the setting of a 1985 service recorded for BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...

. Also, a two-part Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 documentary profiled the town in 1991.

In January 2007, it was announced that a consortium of investors were at an advanced stage in their quest to bring a multi-million pound, fully equipped film studio to unused, private fields in the Dawdon area of the town. A planning application is expected in Spring 2007.

Landmarks

In Dawden Dene to the south, beside the road to Dalton-le-Dale, are the remains of Dalden Tower, comprising the ruins of a sixteenth century tower and fragments of later buildings.

Notable people

Between 1929 and 1935, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Seaham (UK Parliament constituency)
Seaham (UK Parliament constituency)
Seaham was a parliamentary constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was in existence between 1918 and 1950. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

 (the defunct constituency which covered the area now renamed Easington) was Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....

. The constituency has long boasted fiercely strong Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 support, and at the 2010 General Election, Labour candidate Grahame Morris
Grahame Morris
Grahame Mark Morris is a British Labour Party politician, who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament for Easington, replacing the previous Labour MP John Cummings, who decided to step down....

 was elected with a majority of 14,982 votes.

Seaham has also produced several gifted footballers, some of whom have gone on to play for Sunderland AFC, the team the vast majority of the local populace support. Terry Fenwick
Terry Fenwick
Terence William 'Terry' Fenwick is an English football coach and former player. He is the current head coach for San Juan Jabloteh of the TT Pro League in Trinidad and Tobago.- Player :...

 and Brian Marwood
Brian Marwood
Brian Marwood is an English former footballer and is currently one of the main executive staff at Manchester City F.C. under the role of Football Administration Officer.-Hull City:...

, moreover, went on to play for England, with the latter carving out a post-playing career as a commentator and pundit for Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...

. Paul Gascoigne
Paul Gascoigne
Paul John Gascoigne , commonly referred to as Gazza, is a retired English professional footballer.Playing in the position of midfield, Gascoigne's career included spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough, Everton and Gansu Tianma, where he scored at least a goal...

 also lived in Seaham in the late 1990s while playing for Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...

.

Other notable residents include:
  • Renowned baritone
    Baritone
    Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...

     Sir Thomas Allen was born in Seaham in 1944
  • Martin Brammer of the 1980s band The Kane Gang
    Kane Gang
    Kane Gang were a Blues rock trio from North East England that had a few UK hits and two U.S. hits in the 1980s. Named after the movie, Citizen Kane, the trio recorded for the indie record label, Kitchenware, that was also home to Prefab Sprout.-Career:...

     was born in the Dawdon area of the town
  • Peter Burdon, former chief executive of Poundstretcher
    Poundstretcher
    Poundstretcher is a chain of discount stores operating in the United Kingdom. It is based in Deighton, England, near Huddersfield on the A62.-History:...

     and of Thorntons
    Thorntons
    Thorntons is a UK chocolate company established by Joseph William Thornton in 1911. Thorntons today is a £180 million turnover company with nearly 400 shops and cafes and around 200 franchises together with internet, mail order and commercial services...

    , was born in the town
  • Bill Griffiths
    Bill Griffiths
    Bill Griffiths was a poet and Anglo-Saxon scholar associated with the British Poetry Revival.-Overview:...

     - Poet and dialect
    Dialect
    The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...

     expert
  • Janie Jones
    Janie Jones
    Marion Mitchell , better known by her stage name, Janie Jones, was an English singer. She became renowned for being a madame in London during the 1970s, and was jailed for her involvement in the BBC Radio One 'sex for airplay' payola scandal...

     - singer
  • Agony aunt and author Denise Robertson
    Denise Robertson
    Denise Robertson MBE is a writer and television broadcaster in the United Kingdom...

     lived in the town for many years
  • Syren Sexton - adult film actress was born in Seaham

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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