No Place
Village in County Durham, England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
No Place is a small village that lies between the towns of Stanley and Beamish, in County Durham, England. It lies near to the Beamish Mary coal pit,[1] just to the south of the A693 road. The local church is known as the "Tin Chapel".[2]
| No Place | |
|---|---|
The Beamish Mary Inn | |
  No Place Location within County Durham | |
| OS grid reference | NZ210530 |
| Civil parish | |
| Unitary authority |
|
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | STANLEY |
| Postcode district | DH9 |
| Dialling code | 0191 |
| Police | Durham |
| Fire | County Durham and Darlington |
| Ambulance | North East |
| UK Parliament | |
Etymology
The origins of the village's unusual name are uncertain; however, theories include a shortening of "North Place", "Near Place" or "Nigh Place", or that the original houses of the village stood on a boundary between two parishes, neither of which would accept the village.[3] It could also be a literary play on the word "Utopia", which comes from the Greek, οὐ ("not") and τόπος ("place") and translates as "no-place".
History
The village originally consisted of four terraced houses, known as No Place. In 1937, residents of the terrace of houses to the north, known as Co-operative Villas, demolished these houses, but took on the name for their own village.[2]
Derwentside Council tried to change the name of the village to Co-operative Villas in 1983; however, they met with strong protests from local residents at the removal of all signs pointing to No Place.[4] At the request of some residents, the signs say both No Place and Co-operative Villas.[1]
No Place has been noted for its unusual place name.[5] Other unusual place names in the North East include the village of Pity Me,[a] Bearpark,[b] Wideopen, Once Brewed and Twice Brewed.
Amenities
The village is home to an award-winning real ale pub, the Beamish Mary Inn; it dates from 1897 and was known originally as the Red Robin.
In popular culture
Sharing the village's name is No Place,[6] an independently-produced feature film made in the North East of England and shown at the Cannes Film Festival. It led subsequently to limited distribution at the Tyneside Cinema.