County Durham miners' hall revamp at Redhills due to open in 2025

Redhills in Durham is home to the Pitman’s Parliament and plays a significant part in the region’s mining heritage. 

The 109-year-old building is being converted into a heritage and education centre as part of a £10 million project. It received a funding boost from the National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2020 to transform the headquarters of the Durham Miners Association (DMA). 

The condition of the building was previously described as being in a “state of disrepair and jeopardy”, with significant investment needed to preserve its heritage. 

The renewed Redhills will use cutting-edge audio-visual technology to bring to life the rich history of the DMA, the people, and the communities of the Durham coalfield. (Image: Redhills)

Now, work is underway to build new extensions to the Miner’s Hall as part of a wider refurbishment. Planning proposals have been tweaked in line with inflationary pressures, but officials say it hasn’t diminished the DMA’s ambitions for the site. 

Ross Forbes, DMA Programme Director, said: “We have had to roll back a bit from the full plan but we continue building the bigger extension on the east side. With a fair wind, we should reopen in the spring.”

Updated planning documents reveal as the wider regeneration project at Redhills has progressed, funding parameters have changed meaning the larger western extension proposed as part of the original project is not currently viable.

The smaller extension, as now proposed, comprises an interim scheme that will deliver the necessary functional elements of the original proposal in terms of facilities and circulation space, whilst enabling the completion of the wider project.

A statement read: “The proposed new smaller extension has been designed with the same architectural quality and characteristics as the wider scheme, incorporating similar materials and detailing, which have themselves been subject to detailed discussions with Durham County Council’s Conservation Officers

“For the most part, these changes are relatively minor and concern detail, the main scope of the original consented scheme of repair and extension is still to progress with the addition of an NE wing and repairs/revisions to the original building.”

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It is hoped part of the initial plans can be revisited in the future. 

Mr Forbes added: “It hasn’t diminished our ambition for the site. It would have provided more teaching and community space but we will go after that in phase two.” 

The DMA said the new buildings with modern facilities will enable Redhills to improve accessibility and offer a wide-ranging programme of activities and community resources. The renewed Redhills will use cutting-edge audio-visual technology to bring to life the rich history of the DMA, the people, and the communities of the Durham coalfield.