A Little About Wheatley Hill Heritage Centre

 

Wheatley Hill Heritage Centre

In 2002 the Chapel of Rest was renovated by the Parish Council and converted into the present Heritage Centre building.  A group of interested people from the Wheatley Hill Regeneration Partnership and the Parish Council formed what is now known as the Heritage Society.  The Heritage Centre exhibition artefacts and photographs have all been donated by local people.

 

Peter Lee

 

Peter Lee has strong connections with the village of Wheatley Hill.  In 1902 the miners of Wheatley Hill employed Peter as their Checkweighman.   In 1903 he was elected on Wheatley Hill Parish Council and later became chairman.

 

Peter Lee instigated the building work of the road from Wheatley Hill to Thornley.  In 1907 he had Wheatley Hill Cemetery built and a new sewerage system installed in the village.  Before Peter Lee’s intervention there were only two water taps in Wheatley Hill, he had a water tap installed in every house and was responsible for street lighting in the village.

 

He became Chairman of the Co op Society and he was elected to the Rural District Council of Easington. In 1909 he was elected to Durham County Council and in 1919 became Chairman of DCC.  He was also Chairman of the Water Board for 16 years. In 1930, aged 56, he became secretary of the Durham Miners Association and in 1933 President of the Miners Federation.

 

Peter Lee died on 16^th June 1935 at his home in Durham City .  At his personal request he was buried in Wheatley Hill Cemetery where his grave is a listed monument. “It was just like Peter to come back and lie among his own” was a comment made by a Wheatley Hill miner.

 

Grave of Peter Lee & his wife

 

In June 2007 to celebrate the 100^th Anniversary of the cemetery and to honour the great man a number of local groups got to  together to organise a very successful four day village Festival. 

An end of Festival event is planned for 3^rd May 2008.  Each child in the village aged 0 – 11 years will be presented with a Celebration Mug depicting the Heritage Centre and Peter Lee. 

 

Centenary Heritage Festival Mug