In 1814 the Hall Pit in Fatfield exploded with the loss of 32 lives. At 12:30 on Tuesday 28 September a fall of stone from the roof drove firedamp into contact with candles used by the miners for illumination. All the men below ground were killed, as was one of the four men in the shaft at the time. Contemporary reports refer to the survivors being affected by the afterdamp. Although the colliery was claimed to be safe and well worked, there had been three previous explosions of firedamp which had each killed three men.
Education
Fatfield Primary School is located on Southcroft and educates around 235 pupils aged 4–11. The school has Investors in People status and Artsmark and Healthy School awards. At their inspection on 14 June 2007, Ofsted rated the school as Satisfactory, point three on a four-point scale. The older primary school was located adjacent the Harraton Community Centre.
Scouts
The First Fatfield Scouts were located behind the site of the infant school and just North of the dining hall on land adjacent to the primary school. The Schools being relocated to the centre of Fatfield and the land sold off for housing, the Scouts site still now exists beside the new housing development.
Places of Worship
The parish church of Fatfield is in Washington, which was built in 1879 on land given by the Earl of Durham. The church building is in what is now called Harraton, one of the Washington villages, but continues with the historic name, St George's church, Fatfield. The church was massively reordered in the 1980s and inside is warm, light and contemporary, reflecting the informal and lively style of worship that takes place. The newly formed also covers the area of Fatfield. The Parish was officially created at 10AM on 27 April 2014, when Pope John XXIII was canonised by Pope Francis. Originally, the area was served by Washington Parish, founded from St Michaels Houghton in 1864, but the modern Washington cluster was established in 2002, and includes Our Lady Queen of Peace Penshaw in addition to the modern Washington Churches.
Publicity
Fatfield had national publicity in the 1990s when the village was challenged to lose weight on the Fatfield Diet as part of a BBC television programme. Apart from the TV show, Fatfield is well known for the legend of the Lambton Worm which is said to have terrorised the village.
