Low Westwood

Low Westwood is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated immediately to the west of Hamsterley. Low Westwood is probably best known for Hamsterley Christ Church and Derwent care home. Low Westwood grew as a result of coal mining. Westwood Colliery, located on the Shotley Bridge to Newcastle road, was operational from the 1840s (appearing on the 1856 Ordnance Survey map Durham sheet V). By the 1870s the original colliery had been replaced by the High Westwood colliery. By the 1890s there was housing for the miners as well as a Church Of England church, Christ Church. A Roman Catholic church, dedicated to the Sacred Heart, was established in 1898 and closed in 1998. A school (1898) and cemetery, associated with the church, were also established. The Derwent Valley Railway served the village from 1868 until the closure of High Westwood station in 1942.