Consett is a town in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England, about 14 miles (23 km) south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001[1] and an estimate of 25,812 in 2019.[2]
History
Consett sits high on the edge of the Pennines. Its name originates in the Old EnglishCunecsheafod ("Cunec's headland"), first recorded in the 13th century.[3] In 1841, it was a village community of only 145, but it was about to become a boom town: below the ground were coking coal and blackband iron ore, and nearby was limestone. These three ingredients were needed for blast furnaces to produce iron and steel.
The town is perched on the steep eastern bank of the River Derwent and owes its origins to industrial development arising from leadmining in the area, together with the development of the steel industry in the Derwent Valley, which is said to have been initiated by immigrant German cutlers and sword-makers from Solingen, who settled in the village of Shotley Bridge during the 17th century.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Derwent Valley was the cradle of the British steel industry, helped by the easy availability of coal in the area and the import of high quality iron ore from Sweden via the port of Newcastle upon Tyne. However, after the invention of the Bessemer process in the 19th century, steel could be made from British iron ore (hitherto too heavily contaminated by phosphorus) and the Derwent Valley's geographical advantage was lost, allowing Sheffield to become the leading centre of the British steel industry.
Consett railway station opened in 1896. It remained open for passengers until 1955 and mineral trains continued to pass through the site until 1980 on their way to the steelworks. In November 2020, the Department for Transport approved funding for an initial feasibility study into restoring a rail link to the town.[4][5]
Consett was part of Derwentside District Council, which merged into the Durham County Council unitary authority on 1 April 2009. The Consett area is currently divided into four electoral divisions (Benfieldside; Consett North; Delves Lane and Consett South; and Leadgate and Medomsley), each electing two county councillors.
The town unlike most other towns and villages in County Durham is unparished and has no town council.
Consett sits above the rural Derwent valley near the boundary of County Durham and Northumberland. The Derwent Reservoir just west of the town makes a popular leisure attraction and beauty spot.[6]
At about 900 ft (270 metres) above sea level, Consett is the third highest market town in England and one of the highest towns in the United Kingdom. This makes Consett typically at least 2 °C colder than nearby cities such as Durham and Newcastle, and more prone to frost, ice and snow in the winter months.
Consett has amenities such as shops, pubs and night clubs that also serve several villages in its immediate surroundings, some such as Shotley Bridge and Blackhill contiguous and some not, for example Moorside and Castleside.
Economy
Consett steel works seen in the 1940s or 50s.Middle Street, Consett
The Consett Iron Company was established in 1864 as a successor to the original Derwent Iron Company of 1840, when the first blast furnaces were introduced. Over the next 100 years, Consett became one of the world's most prominent steel-making towns, manufacturing the steel for Blackpool Tower and some of the UK's nuclear submarines.[7]
Steel dominated Consett's economy for 140 years, with the steelworks' tall cooling towers and other large plant looming over rows of terraced houses. During the iron and steel era a pall of red dust hung over the town, consisting of airborne iron oxide from the steel-making plant. At its peak in the 1960s, the Consett steel works employed 6,000 workers. It was nationalised to become part of the large British Steel Corporation. Although there was intense competition in the 1970s from British firms and from abroad, Consett steelworks remained relatively successful and still profitable even in the year it closed. As the rolling mills were closed in the 1970s, despite local opposition, there were discussions over the future of the plant as a whole.[8]
Steelworks closure
Consett steelworks had always avoided closure, even in difficult economic times, but in 1980 it was closed with the loss of 3,700 jobs and many more from the knock-on effects in ancillary industries. The unemployment rate in Consett became double the national average.[7] A major plan to restructure steel-making in the UK saw light in the mid-1970s, based on concentrating it in five UK coastal locations, to allow easy import of raw materials and export of finished goods. BSC Consett was not one of the locations, despite being serviced by a well-established rail network, producing high-quality boron steel and being in profit in 1980, the year it was closed.
A deputation of steelworkers lobbied the government in London.[9] The social impact of the decision was often characterised by many of the local people at the time as "The Murder of a Town".[8] After closure of the steel works the town became one of the worst unemployment black spots in Britain. In 1981, it peaked at 36 per cent – one of the worst unemployment rates of any town in the United Kingdom and around three times the national average at the time.[7][10] The closure marked the end of the Derwent Valley steel heritage, and the decline of Consett as an industrial town. Along with the closure of coal mines, it was also a first step in the decline of all heavy industry in the Derwent Valley.[11]
The last steel ingot from the Consett ironworks was made into a cross and is kept at St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Blackhill.
Regeneration
Regeneration in the 1990s, through Project Genesis, went only some way towards repairing the damage done to the local economy by these closures. Unemployment came down to the national average, but this was partly due to outward migration and economic inactivity due to long-term illness, neither of which were included in the government statistics. In 2011 Durham County Council, which provides a lot of employment for local people, commenced a three-year plan to reduce its workforce by 1600.[12]
Alongside the public sector, small and medium-sized businesses now provide jobs in the area. The Phileas Fogg Company (County Durham), with its factory in Consett, were mildly famous for a few years from 1988 for their snack food "Made in Medomsley Road, Consett" television adverts.[citation needed] It is now owned by KP Snacks (originally part of United Biscuits). The Explorer Group, based in Consett, is the United Kingdom's second-largest manufacturer of caravans.[13] Elddis Transport Limited is based in the town.
Since 2000, there have been several new housing developments on the former steelworks site and surrounding areas. Derwentside College, formerly sited at Park Road, moved to a new campus at Berry Edge in September 2002 and more recently, major retailers have moved in and the site which once made steel for Blackpool Tower and Britain's nuclear submarines is now home to rival Tesco and Morrisons stores, a string of high street outlets and fast food restaurants.
New industrial units are also to be built on the former steel works site, after the Project Genesis Trust secured investment of £358,968 from the Rural Growth Network (RGN) to develop bespoke business premises and offices on part of the site. (The Project Genesis Trust is a body created to regenerate the former steelworks site).[14]
The population soared to 39,000, higher than in the days of steel, and unemployment plummeted. In August 2015, only 420 people were receiving Jobseekers' Allowance, with an official unemployment rate of 1.7 per cent, markedly lower than the rest of County Durham. The wider claimant count of people on out-of-work benefits was 6.3 per cent, half the County Durham average, although it omits those receiving disability benefits, which will be a significant number, given the town's industrial legacy.[15]
A large area formerly used by Shotley Bridge Hospital was sold to a property developer,[16] which began to build a further 400 homes in 2013–2014. This development has now become the multi-award-winning Woodlands Estate. This has further aided Consett's recovery as a top commuter town due to its convenient location between Durham and Newcastle.
Along with the housing developments of the last few years (some still ongoing), there has also been major investment in local amenities, such as a £44-million sports complex in Medomsley Road, near the old sports facilities.[17] This is shared with Consett Academy, which was given a brand new £5.7 million building.[18]
In June 2020, the MP for North West Durham, Richard Holden, sponsored a bid to the Ideas Fund of the Department for Transport's Restoring Your Railway Fund, hoping to access up to £50,000 to cover the cost of an initial study into the feasibility of restoring a rail link[19] between Consett and Blaydon.[20] In November 2020 it was announced that the requested funds would be provided for such a study into reinstating a rail service between Consett and Newcastle,[4][5] although it was unclear where the Consett terminus of such a rail link would be located and whether this study would focus on the former Derwent Valley Railway or also include the former route via Birtley.
Consett is home to the Empire Theatre, one of County Durham's oldest theatres. Recently refurbished,[when?] it stages variety acts, plays and a Christmas pantomime. It also screens films at times when there are no live performances.[citation needed]
Several pubs have taken names that reflect the town's steel-making past: The Works, The Company, and The Company Row. From Consett's bygone days as a steel town with a strong reliance on rail, next to where the main railway station used to be, is a club named the Station Club, now opposite a health centre. With views over the Derwent Valley, Consett is becoming a popular place to live for commuters from Durham and Tyne and Wear.[citation needed]
Salvation Army Band
Consett was the first in the world to have a Salvation Army Corps Band, formed in December 1879 to play on the streets at Christmas. The original four players were Edward Lennox and his bandsmen George Storey, James Simpson and Robert Greenwood.[21]
Rowan Atkinson, (born 1955), starred in the Blackadder and Mr. Bean comedy series.[31] Atkinson was born to Eric Atkinson and Ella May, Anglican farmers in Consett.
Jimmy Seed (born Blackhill, 1895–1966), professional footballer at Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield Wednesday, then manager of Charlton Athletic and Millwall
John Stirk (born 1955), professional footballer born in Consett
^H. Beynon and R. Hudson (1986), "Nationalised industry policies and the destruction of communities: Some evidence from North East England", Capital and Class.
Fawcett, J. W. (1922). The manor of Consett. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquarians of Newcastle upon Tyne. 3rd. series. Vol. 10, issue 27. p. 345-348
