The Community History

Explore the rich history and heritage of your community through our collection of articles, photographs, and local stories.

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A single-storey school with a large bay window and hipped roof, children crossing the tarmac playground in front

8 September 2026

From First School to Henderson Court

Now replaced by Henderson Court, this was the site of Ponteland’s First School up to its closure in 2008. The school was built in 1914.

Aerial view of a flat-roofed two-storey school with long window bands, car parks and playing areas around it

8 September 2026

The School Opened by Rab Butler in 1960

This school was opened in 1960 by Rab Butler, the architect of the 1944 Education Act which created the pattern for post-war secondary schooling in…

A modern red brick parish centre with a steeply pitched roof and an oriel window, behind a clipped hedge

8 September 2026

The Parish Hall and Its Market Garden

Although the current building only dates to 1995, there has been a church hall on this site probably since the early 1950’s.

A 1950s brick house with white casement windows and tall chimneys, seen across the back lawn

8 September 2026

The 1954 Vicarage on Thornhill Road

The vicarage on the corner of Thornhill Road was built in 1954 as the latest in a long line of accommodation provided for Ponteland’s vicars and their…

A terrace of council houses in brown brick with rendered panels, front gardens behind low walls and hedges

8 September 2026

Thornhill Road: Housing Scheme No.10

One of the biggest changes to Ponteland happened at the beginning of the 1950’s when Castle Ward Rural District Council embarked on Housing Scheme No.10…

Old black and white photograph of an unmade lane running between a brick wall and a stone wall, a church tower rising through the trees

8 September 2026

Blackbird Gardens and the Nurseries

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were market gardens, visible with their large commercial greenhouses, all over Ponteland.

A stone pub with a tall chimney breast and mullioned windows, picnic benches and parasols on the car park in front

8 September 2026

The Blackbird Inn: From Bastle to Pub

The Blackbird Inn is one of Ponteland’s finest and oldest buildings. Its story stretches back more than seven centuries, beginning not as an inn at all.

A large stone Georgian house with dormer windows and a central door, a glazed conservatory to one side and lawn in front

8 September 2026

The Rectory: A Dobson Building?

One of the finest old buildings in the centre of Ponteland is known as The Rectory but its history is a little obscure. First of all, its name.

A long low stone cottage terrace with modern windows and two front doors, standing directly on the street

8 September 2026

Cloggs Cottages, on the 1846 Tithe Map

There are a pair of old stone buildings just by the Church gate. Although these have been extensively altered over the years, they do appear on a Tithe…

A stone parish church with a battlemented tower and arched windows, seen across a graveyard with headstones and a path

8 September 2026

St Mary's: Ponteland's Oldest Building

The church of St Mary the Virgin occupies the most prominent site in Ponteland and is the oldest building in the village.

A small single-storey brick building with roof ventilators and a slate roof, behind metal railings with a car parked outside

8 September 2026

The Pumping Station Down Eland Lane

Tucked away down Eland Lane is probably one of the most important buildings in Ponteland.

Aerial view of a village centre with a church among mature trees and a strip of allotments running behind the houses

8 September 2026

From Cattle Market to Allotments

The allotments in the centre of Ponteland, running between Eland Road and the river, were the site of Ponteland’s first cattle market.