Ellington, Northumberland
Encyclopedia
Ellington is a small village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 on the coast of Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Ellington is four miles (6 km) from Ashington
Ashington
Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England with a population of around 27,000 people; it was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is located some north of Newcastle upon Tyne off the A189. The south of the town is bordered by the River Wansbeck...

, six miles (10 km) from Morpeth
Morpeth, Northumberland
Morpeth is the county town of Northumberland, England. It is situated on the River Wansbeck which flows east through the town. The town is from the A1, which bypasses it. Since 1981, it has been the administrative centre of the County of Northumberland. In the 2001 census the town had a population...

 and twenty miles (32 km) north of 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...

.

Ellington village was the site of the last remaining operational deep coal mine in the North East
North East England
North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...

 region. Ellington Colliery closed January 26, 2005. It was the last deep mine in the UK to extract coal from right under the sea.

The name of the village is thought to derive from the Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

 meaning descendants of Ella.

Today, Ellington is made up almost exclusively of private housing. It has one first school, some shops, and one public house, The Plough Inn.

History

Throughout recorded history, the lands of Ellington have had many owners. The manor of Ellington was thought to belong to Adam de Periton in 1240 and later to pass by marriage to the ancient families of Vescy and Welles. The Widdrington
Widdrington (name)
Widdrington is a surname, and may refer to:* The various barons Widdrington, including:** William Widdrington, 1st Baron Widdrington ** His great-grandson William Widdrington, 4th Baron Widdrington...

 family were known to acquire possessions in Ellington as early as the 13th century. In 1715, Lord Widdrington relinquished the manor of Ellington, along with the manors of Woodhorn
Woodhorn
Woodhorn is a village in Northumberland, England about east of Ashington. The village is sometimes identified with Wucestre, given to St Cuthbert by King Ceolwulf when he gave up his throne in 737 to become a monk at Lindisfarne. A medieval bell at Woodhorn, inscribed "Ave Maria", is said to be...

, Cresswell
Cresswell, Northumberland
 Cresswell is a village in Northumberland, England. It is about to the north of Ashington, on the North Sea coast.It is a popular bird watching area with Cresswell pond and bird hide nearby and the Druridge Bay Country Park less than away....

 and Newbiggin
Newbiggin-by-the-Sea
Newbiggin-by-the-Sea is a small town in Northumberland, England, lying on the North Sea coast. Once an important port for shipping grain and a coal mining town, it is still a small fishing port making use of traditional coble boats.- History :...

. Other lands and interests in Ellington belonging to other landowners were sold in 1750 to Adam Askew of Newcastle Upon Tyne. By the early years of the 19th century, the greater part of the village was owned by the Baker-Cresswells. This situation remained until the sale of their estate in 1924 (the family, now based at nearby Bamburgh, is still - 2006 -influential in the area).

Ellington is well known as being a colliery village but was a thriving community long before the opening of the Colliery, having a school, two public houses and several businesses by the mid-19th century.

The Colliery, which was originally owned by the Ashington Coal Company, began production in 1911. By the time the collieries were nationalised in 1947 there were 1,381 men employed. By 1986 the number had grown to around 2,170 men producing approximately 45,000 tonnes of coal per week. The Colliery changed the face of the one time rural village, with the building of three rows of colliery houses and more shops and businesses. In 1912 a co-operative store was built on land that had once been part of the Cresswell estate, bringing more prosperity to the village. This was eventually superseded by a larger store built in the neighbouring village of Lynemouth
Lynemouth
Lynemouth is a village in Northumberland, England. The village is situated northeast of Ashington, and is in close proximity to the village of Ellington which is located to the north west...

.

The colliery was used as the fictional 'Everington' mine in the Stephen Daldry
Stephen Daldry
Stephen David Daldry, CBE is an English theatre and film director and producer, as well as a three-time Academy Award nominated and Tony Award winning director.-Early years:...

 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...

.

Hagg Farm, which lies to the north of the village, was bought in 1924 for £8,500 by the Wood family who had been the tenants for over 300 years. The farm consisted of a house, four cottages and 360 acres (1.5 km²) of land

Education

There has been a school in Ellington for 156 years. The original building is now the village library and was built in 1837.

To serve the ever growing population a new school was built in 1976, which soon proved to be too small and remodelling and extension work took place in 1986. It was at this stage that the nursery accommodation was added which facilitated the later provision of the Early Years Unit.

The school crest was designed by a pupil and features a drawing of the colliery, the beach, Alcan smelter
Alcan Lynemouth Aluminium Smelter
The Alcan Lynemouth Aluminium Smelter is situated near Ashington, Northumberland, on the coast of North East England, south of the village of Lynemouth. The smelter is owned by Canadian aluminium company Alcan, which is part of Rio Tinto...

and the school.

External links

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