Belmont, County Durham

Church of St Mary Magdalene, Belmont

Belmont was a largely agricultural area within the parishes of St Giles Church, Durham and Pittington, but industrial developments - mainly coal mining - brought development through the second half of the nineteenth century.[2] A number of collieries were sunk in the area and the largest, Belmont Colliery, took its name from the 1820s-built Belmont Hall (previously and now again known as 'Ramside Hall').[2] Belmont was surrounded by a number of other collieries, including Kepier Grange, Carrville, Dragonville, Broomside and Gilesgate Moor.[2] These together formed the new Belmont Parish in 1852, and the boundaries of the Parish today still include these districts.[3] However, by the late nineteenth century the majority of the collieries in this part of Durham had closed (although some small ones stayed open until the 1920s) and many of the houses built just decades earlier were demolished. The Grange Ironworks became the main employer in the villages, but in the absence of the coalmines the villages did not grow significantly and even saw some population loss through this time.[4] The Ironworks too closed in the 1920s.[4]

Belmont, Broomside, Carrville and Gilesgate Moor were still village-like until the 1950s, when significant expansion of suburban housing in Durham City occurred.[5] The High Grange Estate in Gilesgate Moor, built in the 1960s, greatly expanded the north and western parts of the parish and filled in some of the area between Gilesgate and Belmont village,[6] though the A1 motorway, which opened in 1965,[7] had the effect of splitting the parish somewhat, cutting off the eastern part (Belmont, Carrville and Broomside) from the western parts (Gilsegate Moor and High Grange).[5]

Further significant suburban developments in Belmont and Carrville, particularly to the south of Broomside Lane, grew the area's population between 1970 and 2000, while the Dragonville area of Gilesgate Moor saw first industrial and then later retail growth from the 1970s onwards; today the district is home to a number of large shopping centres and supermarkets.[8] Belmont Community Centre, with a small park, was constructed in 1971 and provides a hub for community activities, including the home of the parish council.[9] To the north of the area, Belmont Business Park with New Ferens Park football stadium opened in 1995,[10] and this site has continued to grow with further industrial developments into the 2010s.[11]

Blue House Shops, Carville

Belmont Community School is the local secondary school, with several primary schools in the Parish.

The main bus routes from Sunderland and Seaham to Durham run through Belmont, providing regular services into the city centre. Belmont Park and Ride opened by the A1 Motorway junction in the Carrville area in 2004.[12] The western part of the parish has a large number of retail and shopping outlets. There are four pubs: the Travellers Rest in Broomside, The Belmont in Belmont, Broomside Park on the Belmont Business Park, and the Gilesgate Moor. There is a small library in Broomside.

Since 1995 Belmont has been the site of New Ferens Park. This has hosted numerous different football teams, most notably Durham City from 1995 to 2015,[13] Durham Women from 2014 to 2020, and Sunderland reserves for a period in the 2000s.

On the site of present-day housing south of Broomside Lane and on the east side of the cemetery was Belmont Stadium, which existed as a greyhound racing stadium from 1940 until 1969.[14]

• Get Carter - "Beechcroft", a house on Broomside Lane, was used as a location in the 1971 film as the home of character Cliff Brumby. It was here that Michael Caine as Jack Carter delivered the oft-quoted line "You’re a big man, but you’re out of shape."[15] Despite a campaign to preserve it, the house was demolished in 2008.[16]

• Belmont Stadium was used in the 1954 film The Gay Dog.[17]

Media related to Belmont at Wikimedia Commons

• Parish Council Elections for Durham Parishes 2003.
• Vision of Britain information on Belmont Parish.
• GenUKi description of historic Belmont parish.