Kibblesworth is a village west of Birtley, Tyne and Wear, England. Kibblesworth was a mainly rural community until the development of the pit and brickworks and the resulting increase in population. Following the closure of the pit in 1974, few of the residents now work in the village. Historically in County Durham, it was transferred into the newly created county of Tyne and Wear in 1974. After being predominantly a council estate project consisting of prefabricated homes built in the 1950s, Kibblesworth has seen a massive change in recent times with the 'pre-fabs' being demolished and the new homes built by Keepmoat replacing them all, providing a much needed facelift and more providing more homes to buy. There are plans to build around 220 new homes by Taylor Wimpey on the surrounding outskirts of the village, with previous green belt land being downgraded to brown belt by the Government, with planning permission at an advanced stage, although this has had some strong opposition from current Kibblesworth residents due to already strained amenities including the local school and road systems. Kibblesworth has a number of amenities: two play parks; a bowling green; a cricket and football pitch; the Kibblesworth Academy school; a working men's club; a local pub, The Plough Inn; a community centre, the Millennium Centre, opened by Princess Anne in 2000, which also features a hair salon and a beauty 'pod'; a convenience store, including the local post office run by the Thandi family; and an Italian bistro, Giuseppe's opened in 2019. It is served by buses from Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne and Chester-le-Street, featuring three bus stops within the village and a scholars bus for the nearby Lord Lawson of Beamish, based in Birtley. The village's name means "Cybbel's Enclosure". Churches and chapels Kibblesworth is in the parish of St. Andrews, Lamesley. While the area was agricultural, this was the centre of worship for the people of Kibblesworth. After the development of the mining industry, the Primitive Methodist Chapel (1869) and Wesleyan Methodist Chapel (1868), provided social as well as religious life for the village. The present chapel was built by the Wesleyan Methodists in 1913. The Primitive Methodist Chapel has now been converted into flats. The colliery Although there had been coal-mining in the Kibblesworth area from medieval times, relatively few men were employed in the industry until the sinking of Robert Pit in 1842. From this