Ludworth, County Durham

Ludworth is a pit village in County Durham, England situated between Durham and Peterlee. Ludworth is 6.2 miles from Durham City Centre and 5.4 miles from Peterlee. It consists of just over 350 houses in three main housing estates (Barnard Avenue, Moor Crescent and Springfield Meadows) and a few smaller streets. Ludworth has a combined post office and community shop, a primary school, a community centre, a small park and a printers. The village used to have a church, two Methodist chapels and a fish shop, most of which were destroyed in a fire. The last public house in Ludworth, The Queen's Head, has been closed since before 2009. The nearest pubs are now in Shadforth and Thornley. There are no supermarkets in Ludworth although most supermarkets that offer a delivery service will deliver to resident's homes. Residents who need anything more than the small Post Office and village shop offers, when shopping locally, rely on Peterlee, Dragonville Industrial Estate (near to Sherburn, County Durham), Durham City Centre, Hartlepool or smaller shops in neighbouring villages such as Sherburn and Wheatley Hill. The 24 Arriva bus service runs, in both directions, half hourly during the day between Durham City Centre and Hartlepool, except on Sundays when it runs hourly. There are no late evening services in either direction on Sundays. There is no railway station. Ludworth Tower was originally a medieval manor house, founded by the de Ludworth family. In 1422, Thomas Holden added a rectangular pele tower, when he was granted licence to crenellate his manorial complex, by Cardinal Langley. The only surviving remains are the barrel-vaulted basement, the three storey west wall and fragments of a first floor spiral stair in the south wall. The remains can be seen on the left as you come into the village from Shadforth and are contained within Tower Farm.