Carlton Village

Carlton is a village and civil parish located within the borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham. It is situated a few miles to the north-west of Stockton-on-Tees and a short distance from the village of Redmarshall. The village is currently made up of 252 households and has a total population of 661 people, of which: -

126 people (19%) are children aged 0-15
383 people (58%) are of working age
153 people (23%) are retired

Located within the village there is a Post Office, Carlton Methodist Church, a village shop and a public house called “The Smiths”. Claytons lawnmowers is a notable business in the village selling lawnmowers and agricultural machinery, and The Mains Residential Home is located here.

Famous Resident

George Orwell lived about half a mile outside the village at Greystone from 1944-1945 following bomb damage to his London flat.

It was the home of his wife Eileen's sister-in-law and about the then housekeeper, Mrs Blackburn, remembers Orwell reading in the garden or sitting in the bay window of the drawing-room reading or making notes. This room overlooked Whitton valley, made up of rural farmland with woodland in the distance, as well as the Whitton Bridge Pasture.

It is speculated that Orwell finished his anti-Stalinist allegory Animal Farm at Greystone outside Carlton before leaving for France as a war correspondent in 1945.

Carlton History

Life in Carlton until the 20th century was very different to life in Carlton today. Piped water was only installed in 1895 and so before this time villagers had to manage with a communal pump that was situated in the centre of the village.

With regards to transport, Carton had a train station built in about 1850 that was situated towards the east of the village. Before this time people and goods moved by either foot or horse.

Landmarks

Before the war there were many natural landmarks, which have now sadly disappeared. There were well-used footpaths around the village, about five duck ponds, orchards, trees and hedgerows. However, many of these were lost when the roads were widened and old properties demolished during the period 1946-1978.
Village Pub and Blacksmiths

The Smith’s Arms (now known simple as The Smith’s) was built by Irish labourers in about 1900 to replace an ancient inn nearby. It has always been one of the focal points of village activity and the South Durham hunt used to meet here to partake of the “Stirrup Cup” twice per season.

Going back several decades, there was a blacksmith’s shop in the village as well.

Christmas Eve 1936 was a landmark day for the village of Carlton – for it was the date on which the electricity was “switched on”. Then in 1963, electric street lighting came to the village.

Carlton Train Station

Once Carlton station was operating it became the centre of local industry with goods trains, chemical works and passenger trains using the station, as well as a housing for coal that would have been sold by the station master. The Iron Works in Carlton and other industry attracted a number of workers to the area and this caused the village to increase in size up towards 500 residents. For the sake of comparison, there are 661 people living in the village today (2007).

So, the railways really transformed Carlton into a viable industrial concern, but they also facilitated improvement to the lives of farmers already living in the village. By about 1850 onwards farmers were able to milk their cows, cool it and measure it into churns in time for the 7am train that would transport the milk into town for sale in the markets, shops, restaurants and cafes of the time.

Transport in Carlton

Busses came to Carlton in the 1920’s and ran twice a week on Market day and Saturday. This has since been developed over the years to the point where busses now run through the village several times each day. In many ways the bus services have replaced the railways and Carlton Railway station was closed in the second half of the twentieth century.

Automobiles have had a large impact on the village of Carlton. For example, a speed limit of 30 miles per hour was introduced in 1978.

Schooling

Children in the village attended the local church school at Redmarshall until it was closed in 1966 and a new primary school was built in Bishopton. Bishopton/Redmarshall CofE is still the main primary school for children in the village of Carlton.
Women’s Institute

Women's Institute

In 1928, a group of ladies, headed by the stationmaster’s wife, held a meeting to form a Women’s Institute. Many functions were later held to raise money to build the hall which was completed in 1936 and has been a great asset to the WI and the local community ever since. In fact, it is an excellent building, comparable to many of the Parish Halls in the surrounding communities

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