Ludworth, County Durham

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Ludworth is a small mining village in County Durham, England, located between Durham and Peterlee. It is about 6 miles from Durham city centre and 5 miles from Peterlee. The village has a little over 350 houses built on three main estates: Barnard Avenue, Moor Crescent and Springfield Meadows, plus a few smaller streets.

In the village there is a combined post office and community shop, a primary school, a community centre, a small park and a printers. In the past Ludworth had a church, two Methodist chapels and a fish shop, but they were destroyed in a fire. The Queen’s Head, the last pub in Ludworth, closed before 2009. The nearest pubs are in Shadforth and Thornley.

There are no supermarkets in Ludworth. Most people use the village shop or have groceries delivered from supermarkets. For bigger shopping, residents go to Peterlee, Durham City Centre, Hartlepool or nearby villages such as Sherburn and Wheatley Hill.

The 24 Arriva bus runs between Durham City Centre and Hartlepool, about every half hour during the day, and hourly on Sundays. There are no late evening services and no railway station in Ludworth.

Ludworth Tower began as a medieval manor house built by the de Ludworth family. In 1422, Thomas Holden added a pele tower after a licence to crenellate. Today you can still see the barrel-vaulted basement, part of the west wall and fragments of a stair; the remains are at Tower Farm, visible when entering from Shadforth.

Ludworth was also a mining community. The Low Main and Main Coal seams once produced up to 400 tons a day, employing more than 300 workers. Thirty-four miners died at Ludworth Pit in accidents over the years, including falls, being crushed by tubs, or roof falls.