About Wheatley Hill

Short History

The former mining village of Wheatley Hill offers a wealth of history and heritage.

Prior to the opening of the coal mines, Wheatley Hill was known as Quetlaw Village and then later as Whitelaw.

As there is generally a reason for a name it is thought that these names derive from Wheat (Grain) and White, as the land was often seen covered in a Hoar frost, and "Law" meaning land.

Wheatley Hill History Club

Wheatley Hill History Club is dedicated to promoting interest in all aspects of the village history.

Meetings are held on the last Wednesday of the month (except August and December) at 7.30pm in Wheatley House, Woodlands Avenue, Wheatley Hill.

Admission is £1.50 and includes refreshments and raffle tickets.

The Club encourages anyone to attend and membership is not necessary. Membership provides the Club with their only source of funding and entitles members to a quarterly newsletter.

For further information please have a look at Wheatley Hill History Club website.

Durham County Councillors

Wheatley Hill is within the Thornley Division and is represented by two Councillors.

  • Councillor Morris Nicholls (LAB)
  • Councillor Brian Wilson (IND)

MP

The Parish of Wheatley Hill is within the Sedgefield Parliamentary Constituency.

  • Phil Wilson MP

East Durham Area Action Partnership

Wheatley Hill is covered by the East Durham Area Action Partnership (AAP) which was established in 2009 following local government reorganisation.

East Durham AAP held its forum event on 10 November 2011 at Shotton Hall in Peterlee. The event was well attended and local forum members had the opportunity to vote on their priorities for 2012-2013.

The results of the priority votes were as follows:

1.  Job creation - 39 votes
2.  Regeneration and economic wellbeing - 27 votes
3.  Maintaining the social fabric of our community - 25 votes
4.  Education and training - 15 votes
5.  Antisocial behaviour/levels of crime - 14 votes
6.  Health and wellbeing - 13 votes
7.  Children and young people - 11 votes
8.  Mental health issues - 6 votes
9.  Transport - 4 votes
10. Clean streets - 0 votes

The results of the priority votes, together with information gathered from the Children and Young People's Forum, will now be presented at the next board meeting for consideration of the selected priorities for East Durham AAP for 2012-2013.

To find out what the AAP is and what it does, visit the East Durham AAP website.

The Community

Although Wheatley Hill is a small village it boasts a strong sense of community spirit, with many organisations working hand in hand to deliver quality services to residents.

Wheatley Hill Parish Council is keen to establish "working in partnership" ideals and always welcomes the opportunity to help further develop the links between the public and the services offered within the village.

As a Parish Council we work closely with Durham County Council and many other business and community organisations, all helping the village to flourish. Many of the contacts we have in the village help us enormously through their experience and knowledge and we thank the community for their efforts.  

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