The name Longbenton probably means "long (i.e. large) bean town", to distinguish it from the smaller village of Little Benton to its south-east.[4]
Longbenton has a long history of coal mining. Meadow Pit,[5] Dyke Pit [6] and First and Second Engine Pits [7] were in operation by 1749. In 1774 an "experimentally-determined" model of the Newcomen atmospheric engine, designed by John Smeaton, was installed there. It was rated at 40 horsepower and used for drainage.[8] In the 1860s Long Benton or Benton Colliery stood at OS grid reference NZ 27093 67438,[9] where Benton Road crossed the Coxlodge Waggonway,[10] a site now occupied by housing on Ferndene Grove. Coal was exported via the wagonway to the Coxlodge Staithes on the Tyne at Wallsend. Later, between 1901 and 1930, much of the route was converted into a tram line operated by the Tyneside Tramways and Tramroads Company.[11]
Demography
Longbenton had a population of 10,617 in 2011. The figure is given as a ward because the Longbenton Urban Subdivision also encompasses its larger neighbour, Killingworth as well as parts of neighbouring areas. Details are as follows:[12][13]
Two secondary schools are located in the township, Longbenton Community College and St Mary's Catholic School, Newcastle upon Tyne, along with four primary schools. The four primary schools are Benton Dene Primary School,[14] Balliol Primary School, St Bartholomew's, and St. Stephen's Primary School.
Nurseries offering childcare in Longbenton include Leigh's Nurseries.[15]
Longbenton Football Club is an FA-affiliated team and as of 2012/13 season play in the Northern Alliance Division 2.[16]
Churches
Longbenton is served by St. Mary Magdalene (Church of England) on West Farm Ave, the Methodist church at one end of Chesters Ave and The King's Castle (independent) at the other end of Chesters Avenue.[17]
Longbenton is the site of BT's Newcastle call centre. Balliol Business Park is located in Longbenton where a Greggs production site and, until recently, two large Sitel call centres were located.[19] The UK production site for the Findus frozen food brand was based in Longbenton until mid-January 2009 when, through cost-cutting and fire damage, the factory was closed, with the loss of around 400 jobs. Following the award of a grant from Regional development agency One North East the factory was repaired and reopened as Longbenton Foods in 2010.[20]
Thomas Addison, 19th-century physician and scientist and discoverer of, among others, Addison's disease and Pernicious anaemia, was born and educated in Longbenton.[22] He is widely regarded as one of the leading lights of 19th-century medicine, and was famous for his brilliant lecturing style, compassion and empathy for patients (not common among doctors at the time) and devotion to furthering medical science. He has a bust in his old place of work, Guy's Hospital, London.[23]
Writer and poet Michael Roberts lived nearby in Jesmond in the 1930s, and he included Longbenton in his poem Hymn to the Sun.[24]
