Galleries, heritage centres and performing arts venues

Relates to art galleries

Although Easington lacks a dedicated theatre or Arts Centre, there are a number of venues where visual and performing arts can be enjoyed.  The main ones are described below, though many other venues including community centres and libraries present professional and amateur arts on an occasional basis. 

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Art Galleries and Exhibition Spaces

Seaton Holme Discovery Centre -  The district's oldest, regularly programmed art gallery doubles as a heritage centre displaying material ranging from mining memorabilia to local traces of medieval agriculture. The small gallery space displays 2D work by amateur artists from Easington district and 20 miles beyond and exhibitions change monthly. Various crafts - including jewellery, pottery and woodwork - are also on permanent display. 

As at October 2007 the future of both the Discovery Centre and the Gallery are in doubt so you are advised to phone ahead before making a visit. See below for phone  number.

The Centre occupies  part of a manor house in a fascinating group of medieval buildings on Halls Walk, Easington Village. Admission is free.  Opening hours for the Long Gallery are 8.30am to 4pm Monday to Friday. The Heritage Centre opens 1pm to 4pm Monday to Friday. Tel. 0191 527 3333.   

East Durham & Houghall Community College  - Although not programmed regularly the gallery space in the main entrance to the college is often occupied by exhibitions of work by local amateurs including students of the college and members of Peterlee Art Club. Occasional professional shows can be seen. 

The college is on Burnhope Way, opposite Asda in Peterlee Town Centre. Admission is free. Opening hours are 9am to 6pm  Monday to  Friday in term time. Telephone 0191 518 2000. 

Peterlee Library - Peterlee Library shares a building with  East Durham and Houghall Community College and occasionally uses its half of the shared entrance foyer for small  exhibitions of work by professional artists toured by Durham County Council Libraries and Arts. Admission is free. Opening hours are 9.30am to 7.00pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 9.30am to 12.30 Wednesday; and 9am to 4pm Saturday. Telephone 0191 586 2279.

The McGinn Gallery -  Available to amateur or professional artists who wish to organise an exhibition, this space in the Glebe Centre, a modernised former miners' welfare, is also used for exhibitions by Murton Heritage Centre. Admission is free. Opening hours are 9am to 9pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to 5pm Friday. Telephone 0191 520 8650. The Glebe Centre is on Durham Place, Murton.

Heritage Centres

Wheatley Hill Heritage Centre -  A great place to visit to gain a flavour of the past times of this former pit village and of earlier agricultural traditions in the area. The centre's main focus is on the domestic and social life of the mining families in 1919: it includes a model of the village at that time, a reconstruction of a mining kitchen and models dressed in historic costume. Run entirely by volunteers. Normal opening hours are 10am to 12midday and 2pm to 4pm Tuesday and Thursday; and 2pm to 4pm Saturday. The centre is located in the cemetery, on Cemetery Road, Wheatley Hill. Telephone 01429 824402.

Durham Mining Museum - The museum is situated in Thornley Community Centre on Hartlepool Street, Thornley and its aims are to preserve the heritage and culture of mining in the North East of England.  It exhibits equipment, memorabilia, banners and information on mining. Most of the volunteers are ex-miners who can relate  experiences of working deep in the bowels of the earth.  The centre is open every Thursday from 10am to 4pm and there is no admission charge. Visits by parties, including school children, can be accommodated on other days. Contact Billy Middleton on 01429 823713/ 07949 907464

Murton Heritage Centre - Located within the Glebe Centre on Durham Place, Murton the Heritage Centre is open on Wednesdays from 5.30pm to 8pm but also exhibits some of its extensive collection of photographs and documents in the Glebe's McGinn Art Gallery. For further information contact Derek Gibson on 0191 526 0830. 

Performing Arts Venues

The Community Theatre - The hall in the Peterlee Town Centre campus of East Durham and Houghall Community College, Burnhope Way is the district's main dedicated venue for performing arts. It regularly houses events forming part of the Annual Music Festival and is used year round by many of the district's amateur performing arts organisations. The remainder of the annual programme consists of productions (including dance, drama and music) by the college's own Performing Arts Students and occasional performances by visiting professional music and drama companies. To join the mailing list phone Community Arts on 0191 518 8224.

Peterlee and Seaham Leisure Centres  - Both centres house social dance events organised by local groups and, at Christmas, present professional pop bands.  Neither is a regular venue for music or for other performing arts. The centres are now managed in partnership with the District Council by Leisure Connection, a national company with extensive involvement in entertainment elsewhere in the UK. Contact details for the centres are : Peterlee LC, St.Cuthbert's Road. Town Centre. Tel. 0191 586 2400; Seaham Leisure Centre, Laurel Avenue, Deneside. Tel. 0191 581 6788.

Vane Tempest Social Welfare Centre (formerly Miners' Welfare) - Located on New Road Seaham, beside Seaham railway station, the Centre is used as a performance venue by a variety of amateur arts organisations. These include Vane Tempest Theatre Group; Seaham Music Academy; and Seaham Amateur Operatic Society and Dramatic Society. Telephone 0191 581 2744. 

Country & Western  - Country & Western music is  popular in Easington District and can be enjoyed regularly at the following  venues :

Northern Soul -  Soul men (and women) travel from all over the North to Easington Colliery on the first Saturday of the month when up to four DJs pump out Northern Soul classics. The venue is the Social Welfare Centre (formerly Miners' Welfare), Memorial Avenue/Seaside Lane, Easington Colliery. Telephone 0191 527 0635/0058.

Pub Rock  - Live rock of various kinds is on offer at the following local pubs:


Contact details for this service

Name: Dave Clarke
Telephone: 0191 527 0501
email: dave.clarke@easington.gov.uk |
Address: Arts Development Section, Building 1, District of Easington, Council Offices, Seaside Lane, Easington, County Durham, SR8 3TN
Fax: 0191 527 3868


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