WELCOME

WATERHOUSES COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
Village Hall, Station Street, Waterhouses, County Durham,
DH7 9AS, Telephone 0191 925 1045

Late Summer Community Fun Day and Fair, 5th September 2026

Free Treasure Hunt, Free Scarecrow Trail, Free BBQ. Games, stalls, cakes, tombola in the village hall. 2 – 6pm.

To enter a scarecrow on the theme ‘Movie Magic’, let us know by 28th August 2026. email: office@waterhouses.org.uk or call 0191 925 1045.  The scarecrow trail runs all weekend, but make sure yours is on display at 12.00 on Saturday 5th September for the judging.  Winners will be announced at the community fun day.

Family Treasure Hunt.  Set off time between 2.00 and 3.00pm.

Bar open for drinks and Captain Marra’s infamous punch.

History Group

History Group presentations for August, September and October.
Friday 21st August, 7 – 8 pm. The decline of the Durham pit villages: Geography and the view from the South. By John Kotre.

Friday 18th September, 7 – 8pm. Impact of the end of mining on the community of Waterhouses. By Lyn Alderson.

Friday 23rd October, 7 – 8pm – Disappearing Farms of Weardale. By Christine Ruskin.

No advanced tickets needed. Donations on the door if you wish. Bar open.

Pictures from the Easter Duck race

Cinema, Wednesday nights.
Check facebook for details of the Wednesday film – doors open 6.45, film starts at 7pm.

For more information email:
eventswaterhousesvillagehall@gmail.com

Hiring the hall: Follow this link if you want to find out about  hiring the hall

Waterhouses – a very short history

Five hundred years ago, Waterhouses was a wild and uninhabited place. It was sufficiently out of the way to become a haunt for recusant Catholic priests who, during the reign of Elizabeth I, were discovered, imprisoned and then executed in Durham. Since then, things have been somewhat more peaceful! The Black Horse Inn, a coaching stop, was built in 1820. When coal was discovered here in the 1850s, the modern village took shape, bringing a railway line and, by 1880, approximately a thousand people. 

 A long period as a pit village came to an end in the 1960s, when both the mines and the railway closed. The railway line is now a footpath which leads directly to Durham. Stretched along the Deerness Valley, Waterhouses is bordered by extensive ancient woodland and conifer plantations containing miles of footpaths. With two playgrounds and a football club, the village is well served for sporting activities. The village hall also offers a wide range of activities every week, ranging from playgroups for children, Cubs, film-nights, quizzes and much more. The hall also contains a bar and is available for hire. 

 Thanks to purely.website for their charity web hosting