South Hetton
South Hetton, Station Hotel
Last Updated:
28 Jun 2024
South Hetton
This is a
Pub
54.800848, -1.412764
Founded in
Current status is
Extant
Designer (if known):
Closed as of 2013
Very sad to see there's a couple of forlorn buildings in South Hetton, especially those with deep roots with the pits and railways next door.
This is the Station Hotel, quite literally the last remnant of the Sunderland & Hartlepool line which ran through here. Every trace of the line has disappeared except this, which was where people would have lodged after stepping off the train.
The pub opened by the 1890s, though this building may have replaced a smaller iteration when the line was double tracked in in the latter half of the 19th century. It was owned by a Mr Isaac Morrow at this time, and was not commercially viable from the outset. I presume business was expected to boom with colliery managers or people looking for work, but in the late 1890s, he put up the pub for auction.
It also appears to have had a difficult reputation, with continual fines and newspaper reports around drunk & disorderliness. The landlord himself, James Marshall, was charged with being drunk on the premises in 1902.
The pub did continue to earn a living, with auctions held here through the 20s and 30s so it must have scrubbed up its image. The workmen of the colliery even had their annual dos in the premises.
Its decline probably coincided with the closure of the local pits though, and eventually closed in 2013. To think it has sat for 11 years in the centre of the village like this is a shame, and I've seen the community have been crying for compulsory purchase. We've yet to see the fate of this historic pub though.
Listing Description (if available)
The Ordnance Surveys shown depict South Hetton between the 1850s and 1890s. The first map, surveyed in 1856 and published in 1861, shows South Hetton having reached its greatest extent as a pit village. The Haswe;; Branch of the North Eastern Railway was a single track cutting through the centre of the village, which was later double tracked and converted into a fully fledged station by the 1890s (though was open prior).
Our building appears to have been built after the 1850s. The structure shown on the first Ordnance Survey appears to be sited just a few metres north and extends on its north eastern corner. It appears to have been part of South Hetton Lodge. The current Station Hotel is certain shown on older maps.
The 1922 Ordnance Survey shows a similar vista, though it seems the lodge had closed down. A school was opened next to the literary institute, and a new row was added to the far west of the village. Incredibly most of the original colliery rows were still standing, but were cleared in the few decades thereafter.
The Station Hotel in 2024
The pub can partially be seen on the right of this postcard, depicting the station buildings over the bridge and the Holy Trinity Church. Undated, unknown source but shared by David Marshall on X.
A side view of the pub, which is seemingly out of place without the railway.