Driveways in Elwick, Hartlepool

A township of Hart parish

Elwick was a township of Hart parish until it became a civil parish in 1866. A gazetteer of the 1870s described it as a township four miles west of Hartlepool with 55 houses and 240 people, and a meet for the Durham hounds. St Peter's Church at the east end of the village was built in the late 12th century and has been restored many times since.

The village still gathers around its green, with its two pubs, including the Spotted Cow, the church, and old buildings such as The Forge, Wilton Cottage and Elwick Hall. The windmill to the north is a reminder of its farming past. Since the 20th century the village has grown with closes of detached houses such as Manor Close and North Close, and the A19 has put it within easy reach of Teesside and Sunderland.

Elwick has its own parish council, and the village sits within Hartlepool borough although it feels very much part of the countryside.

Detached homes and cars

Around the village (census area LSOA Hartlepool 014A), there were 1,132 households in 2021:

• 61% lived in detached homes, 24% in semis, 11% in terraces and 4% in flats.
• 83% owned their home and 12% rented privately.
• 60% of households had two or more cars or vans, and only 5% had none.

With few buses and most journeys by car, Elwick drives work hard. Typical jobs:

• Wide or double drives on detached houses, sometimes with a turning area.
• Replacing old block paving or tarmac that has sunk or lost its edges.
• Gravel with a block apron for cottages near the green.
• Extra parking for a work van, a caravan or a trailer.

The conservation area and listed buildings

The Elwick Conservation Area covers the historic village around the green. Listed buildings nearby include the Church of St Peter (Grade II), Elwick Hall, Elwick Windmill, The Forge and Wilton Cottage*, all Grade II.

Around the green:

• ask Hartlepool Borough Council's planning team before taking down front walls or hedges,
• choose surfaces that suit brick and stone cottages, such as gravel, setts or clay pavers,
• check whether listed building consent is needed if your home is listed.

Outside the conservation area, a new front drive that is permeable, or drains to a lawn or border, is permitted development. Impermeable paving over five square metres draining onto the road needs planning permission.

Boulder clay over dolomite

The BGS maps the village on Devensian till, the stiff boulder clay left by the last ice sheet, over Ford Formation dolostone, part of the Magnesian Limestone. The clay drains slowly and can be soft when wet:

• Permeable drives need a deeper open-graded base or a drain to a soakaway or border.
• Tarmac and block paving need falls to a channel drain or the garden, not the road.
• A geotextile under the base stops stone being pushed into soft clay.

The Environment Agency maps a few small Flood Zone 2 and 3 areas within 300 metres of the village, following a small watercourse near the village. Most homes are on higher ground, but check your address if you're near the stream.

The crossing permit

The kerb. In Hartlepool the contractor, not the homeowner, applies for the vehicle crossing permit. It costs £145, paid in advance, and is usually issued within about two working days after a site check. Village roads are narrow in places, so visibility at the entrance matters. See our dropped kerbs page.

How we price an Elwick drive

We price after visiting, and the quote is fixed for the work we agree. In Elwick these matter most:

• Size. Long and wide drives on detached plots need more base and edging.
• Old surfaces that need breaking out and taking away.
• The clay. Deeper sub-bases and drainage for slow-draining ground.
• Materials that suit the conservation area.
• The crossing, if a new or wider one is needed.

Nearby parts of Hartlepool

• Hart driveways: North-east, the neighbouring village on the A179.
• West Park driveways: East towards town, a suburb of detached houses.
• Throston driveways: North-east on the town's edge, estates of semis and detached homes.

Useful pages for Elwick homes: block paving, gravel, dropped kerbs.

Every area on our list: All areas.

Questions people ask in Elwick

Sources: ONS Census 2021, LSOA Hartlepool 014A (TS044, TS045, TS054 via Nomis); Wikipedia: Elwick, County Durham; Planning Data: conservation areas and listed buildings; BGS Geology Viewer, 1:50,000; Environment Agency flood map for planning; Hartlepool Borough Council: vehicle crossing policy; GOV.UK: permeable surfacing of front gardens.