Hall, which are on display in the Tate Britain. In 1746, John Wesley visited the village, and preached in a garden in Sheep Hill, an area within Burnopfield. He made several more visits, resulting in the formation of a Methodist Society, and in 1775 the first chapel was built, and rebuilt in 1880. By this time other two places of worship had been built: in 1870, a second Methodist chapel, and in 1873, the Anglican church of Saint James was constructed in 1873 at the Leazes end of the village. Until the church was built, Burnopfield had been a section of the Tanfield and District Anglican Parish. Coal mining Coal mining in County Durham began in the 1600s, and narrow waggonways were laid from the pits and Burnopfield was found to be an ideal place for the waggonways from the Pontop and Tanfield Moor areas to pass through and then continue down the hill to cross the Derwent, and on to the River Tyne for the coal to be shipped. Although surrounded by colliery villages like Lintz, Hobson, High Friarside and Marley Hill, it never had a serious mine of its own. Gradually it became largely occupied by people who worked in the nearby mining villages. With the building of a Co-operative Society shop in 1889, it also became a shopping centre for the miners and their families from the neighbouring colliery villages. With the decline of the British mining industry, the number of miners in the village drastically decreased, and they worked in the coastal pits. Industrial estates, factories, offices and shops now provide the work for residents of Burnopfield. During the latter part of the 20th century, the village changed from its old waggonway days; new council and private estates have been built and Burnopfield has extended both to the east and the west absorbing much of the adjoining areas into its postal district. Cricket Cricket has long been a popular sport in the village – it has been played at two small cricket grounds. One is to be found in Lintz, near Burnopfield, since 1905, and the other once was located in Burnopfield proper before being demolished and turned into a housing estate. Both grounds were built upon land given to the clubs by the National Coal Board. The Burnopfield Club produced two Test cricketers for England, both of whom played before Durham County Cricket Club took