Forest Hall

Forest Hall is a village in the borough of North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is 4 miles from Newcastle upon Tyne. It borders Killingworth to the north, Holystone to the east and Benton to the south. The village has seen a slight increase in antisocial behaviour in recent years.[1] The village was named after the Forest Hall, which incorporated a medieval tower. Woodside Court was built on the site of the Hall, which was demolished in 1962.[2]

Forest Hall
Forest Hall is located in Tyne and Wear
Forest Hall
Forest Hall
Location within Tyne and Wear
OS grid referenceNZ269683
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
Postcode districtNE12
Dialling code0191
PoliceNorthumbria
FireTyne and Wear
AmbulanceNorth East
UK Parliament

Layout

Station Road North

Forest Hall's main shopping centre is Station Road North and the pub Flying Scotsman is close to the former railway station.[3] Additionally, Springfield Park, a public park, is located near Station Road North; it has sports grounds, a playground and a community centre.[4] In 2019, North Tyneside Council completed a £500,000 public works project into Station Road North; this included replacing the paving tiles, installing new benches and raising the road junction at the western end of the street as a traffic calming measure.[5][6]


Station Road North, Forest Hall

Transport

Several bus routes pass through Forest Hall, linking it to both Newcastle city centre and other surrounding areas such as Cramlington and Whitley Bay. The number 55 bus takes twenty minutes to travel to the Haymarket,[7] while the 63 takes thirty to the Monument.[8]

Forest Hall's two main road thoroughfares are Great Lime Road and Station Road. Great Lime Road is an east-west route through the north of the town between Westmoor and Palmersville and on to Holystone. Station Road is a north-south route from Station Road North through the south of the town and on to Benton. There are no major A-roads within Forest Hall itself but the western terminus of Great Lime Road is at Findus Roundabout on the A189, and Holystone roundabout on the A19 is near Palmersville.

The East Coast Main Line passes the village which was once served by a railway station until 1958.[9] Benton station on the Tyne & Wear Metro is located less than a mile away. Palmersville, however, does have its own Metro station, which is located at the far eastern edge of the village, and also serves Holystone.

Education and Worship

Primary Schools

  • Forest Hall Primary School[10]
  • St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School[11]
  • Ivy Road Primary School[12]
  • Westmoor Primary School[13]

There are no secondary schools within Forest Hall, but George Stephenson High School[14] in Killingworth and Longbenton High School[15] are both nearby. The nearest sixth forms and universities are in Newcastle city centre.

Churches

  • St Bartholomew's - Church of England[16]
  • St Andrew's - Methodist
  • St Mary's - Roman Catholic[17]
  • Westmoor Methodist Church[18]
  • Bethesda Gospel Hall[19]

There are no non-Christian places of worship in the area; the nearest synagogue is in Gosforth[20] and the nearest mosque is in Heaton.[21]

History

Dial Cottage

Dial Cottage, a grade II listed building[22] and home from 1804 to 1823 of railway pioneer George Stephenson,[23] is located on Great Lime Road in Forest Hall. It was while he was living there that Stephenson developed one of the world's earliest locomotives, called the Blücher, as well as several others which ran on the Killingworth Colliery from 1814. The trackbed is now a public footpath which can be accessed from Great Lime Road a kilometre east of the cottage.

The cottage is privately owned, though tours occasionally take place. At the cottage there is a sundial, which Stephenson built himself and which gives the cottage its name, and a plaque which reads:

“George Stephenson. Engineer, inventor of the Locomotive Engine. Lived in this cottage from 1805 to 1823; his first locomotive (Blücher) was built at the adjacent colliery wagon shops, and on July 25, 1814 was placed on the wagonway which crosses the road at the east end of this cottage."[24]

Clousden Hill Free Commune
Main article: Clousden Hill Free Communist and Co-operative Colony

Local Government

Forest Hall is located in the borough of North Tyneside in the ceremonial county of Tyne & Wear. Its parliamentary constituency is also called North Tyneside, represented since 2010 by Mary Glindon. The village does not have its own council ward and is divided between multiple wards named after other localities; most of Forest Hall, including Station Road North and the area along Station Road, is in Benton Ward, while most of Palmersville is in Killingworth Ward and most of Westmoor is in Longbenton Ward.[25] As of February 2022, the town's councillors are:

Benton Ward [26]
Labour Peter Earley
Labour Janet Hunter
Labour Pat Oliver
Killingworth Ward [26]
Labour Gary Bell
Labour Linda Darke
Labour Erin Parker Leonard
Longbenton Ward [26]
Labour Karen Clarke
Labour Eddie Darke
Labour Joan Walker

The Labour Party has held all three wards since 2008 when Benton Ward's seat was won by Leslie Birkinfield and Killingworth's was won by Norma Peggs, both Conservatives.[27]

    Notes
    1. "Council seeks to reassure residents following reports of antisocial behaviour in Killingworth and Forest Hall". North Tyneside Council. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    2. "Forest Hall". Retrieved 28 August 2023.
    3. "Flying Scotsman". Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    4. "Springfield Community Centre". Springfield Community Association. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    5. Sharma, Sonia (13 March 2018). "Fresh plans to breathe new life into Forest Hall shopping area unveiled". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
    6. "Forest Hall Public Realm Improvements". North Tyneside Council. May 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
    7. "55 Bus Timetable". Arriva Bus. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    8. "63 Bus Timetable". Stagecoach. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    9. "Disused Stations: Forest Hall Station (NER)". Disused Stations. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
    10. "Forest Hall Primary School". Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    11. "St Mary's RC Primary School". Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    12. "Ivy Road Primary School". Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    13. "Westmoor Primary School". Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    14. "George Stephenson High School". Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    15. "Longbenton High School". Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    16. "St Bartholomew's Church". Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    17. "St Mary's Church". Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    18. "Newcastle Methodist Churches". Newcastle Central + East Circuit. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    19. "Bethesda Gospel Hall". Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    20. "United Hebrew Congregation Newcastle". Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    21. "Heaton Mosque". Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    22. "Dial Cottage, a grade II listed building". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    23. "George Stephenson's Birthplace". National Trust. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
    24. "Geograph:: Plaque and sundial, Dial Cottage, West... © Graham Robson cc-by-sa/2.0".
    25. "Ward map" (PDF). North Tyneside Council. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
    26. "Your Councillors by Ward". North Tyneside Council. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
    27. Teale, Andrew. "Local Election Results 2008 - North Tyneside". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 14 February 2022.

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