[2] It was originally a rural agricultural hamlet called Morton,[3] but the discovery of coal beneath its fields in the 19th century transformed it into an industrial community.

[7] The village also had the South East Durham Cooperative Bakery and a Northern Bus Company garage as added sources of jobs.

The discovery of coal beneath the fields of East Durham during the 19th century transformed the tiny hamlet of Morton into the thriving township of Murton.

Miners flocked to Murton from across County Durham and Northumberland in the early years, with people later uprooting from Devon, Cornwall and Ireland too.

Many of the road and place names reflected the original roots of these pitmen, such as the Cornwall estate, and dozens of different accents could be heard in the streets.

Problems with pockets of shifting sand and the depth of the magnesian limestone overlying the coal delayed the work, making the project hugely expensive.

As prospective miners continued to flood in so the number of tradesmen grew, with Murton Colliery Co-operative Society helping to serve the village by 1890.

[9] This is a chart of the trend of regional gross value added of County Durham at current basic prices published (pp.