A Quick Background History

Travelling west on the train from Newcastle the grip of industry appears to loosen by the time you reach Wylam. There is of course a large industrial presence at Low Prudhoe but otherwise the place has a quieter more rural feel.

It seems that Prudhoe was a quiet, rural community until the middle of the 1800s. Prior to this little appears on the radars of archaeology or social history - significant bronze age artefacts have been found but no obvious settlement defined in the vicinity. Thomas Bewick noted woodcutter and ornithologist lived nearby. It is Prudhoe's castle that gives one of the earliest records of the place in the 11th century and it was from this focus that 'modern' Prudhoe initially developed.

Fast forward to the 16 and 1700s and the mining of coal has begun to grow in importance with two significant workings possibly located close to the south of the site. People have also started to enclose the open land for farming. By 1801 the town's population was 380 but seventy years later this had risen dramatically to 2583. What happened?

The mining of coal in and around Prudhoe had become much bigger in scale and ambition with local companies such as the Mickley Coal Company Limited leading the way. The industry would change the shape of Prudhoe forever - living long in the memories of local people and leaving its mark pn the landscape.

In 1849 Robert Capper Esq. of Blanchland leased much land in Prudhoe to a William Johnson of Prudhoe Hall Farm (?). This land included the fields on which will sit the new media centre. In 1850 Robert Capper is recorded as leasing seams of coal and clay to Johnson but by 1862 Capper had sold his land to the Mickley Coal Company Limited (owned by Matthew Liddell amongst others).

It would appear that the MCCL retained this interest until the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1847. A handful of year's later and the National Coal Board provided 'great co-operation' in the establishment of Prudhoe County Secondary School on the site. Building started in 1955 and the school opened in 1958 and would provide 'a voyage of discovery offering endless horizons'.