History of Haswell

Haswell village is situated in County Durham, England, and lies east of the city of Durham. Little is known about Haswell before medieval times. The first settlement was on a hilltop known as High Haswell, providing a defensive position. A settlement existed in the Anglo-Saxon period, as the name “Haswell” comes from the Old English “Hæsel-wella,” meaning “Hazel Well” or “Hazel Spring,” referring to a location with a spring surrounded by hazel trees. However, the village was only first recorded (as Hessewella and Hessewelle) in the 12th century. The village was nearly wiped out by the Black Death in the 14th-century, remaining a small agricultural community connected by Salter’s Lane, an ancient highway. The original village of Haswell was sited at High Haswell where only two farms, barns, outbuildings and a private dwelling house remain. Haswell today consists of three parts: Haswell, Haswell Plough, and High Haswell. In the early 19th-century, coal was discovered beneath Haswell’s limestone escarpment. Haswell Colliery was established in 1835, initially sinking shafts to explore the hidden coalfield and eventually reaching the Hutton seam in 1835. The colliery saw rapid growth, but the community suffered a major disaster on 28th September 1844, when an explosion killed 95 men and boys, the worst such accident in the village’s history. Haswell Colliery closed in 1896, leading to a collapse in the population and a return to a more rural settlement. The former colliery railway line is now a popular cycleway from Haswell to Hart. The village is the birthplace of the world-champion cyclist Tom Simpson.