West Auckland is a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in County Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

, in North East England

North East England

North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...

. It is situated to the west of Bishop Auckland

Bishop Auckland

Bishop Auckland is a market town and civil parish in County Durham in north east England. It is located about northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham at the confluence of the River Wear with its tributary the River Gaunless...

, on the A688 road

A688 road

The A688 is a road in County Durham in North East England.It begins at the junction with the A67 road in Barnard Castle and continues in a north easterly direction for , terminating at the A181 to the east of Durham City....

.
It is not known exactly when West Auckland was first inhabited, but there is evidence of Auckland West in the history of St. Cuthbert in the 11th century. The Bolden Book in 1183 showed that at that time West Auckland was inhabited by a number of serfs who were part of the tenantry of the Bishop of Durham, Hugh de Puset, the first of the Prince Bishops.
The creation of a church dedicated to St. Helen in the 13th century in Auckland West heralded the beginning of a separate community in what later became known as St. Helen Auckland.
After the opening of the Stockton and Darlington railway in 1825, the search for coal escalated dramatically in the West Auckland area and the population increased as a consequence with the promise of employment. By the turn of the century, West Auckland colliery employed 620 men. The colliery closed in July 1967.
The village of West Auckland is reputed to have one of the largest village greens in the country, lined with 17th and 18th century buildings.
West Auckland Town F.C.

West Auckland Town F.C.

West Auckland Town F.C. are a football club from West Auckland, County Durham, England, competing in the Northern League, in the ninth tier of the English football league system...

 is famously the 'Home of the First World Cup', as its football team were the winners of the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy

Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy

The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy was an association football competition that took place twice, in Turin, Italy, in 1909 and 1911. It is sometimes referred to as The First World Cup. However it is predated by the Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva, which was hosted in 1908 also in Turin, as the...

, one of the first international footballing competitions, in its two initial years (1909 and 1911) and were therefore, by the rules of the competition, awarded the trophy to keep in perpetuity.

The Trophy was initiated by businessman and sporting enthusiast Sir Thomas Lipton

Thomas Lipton

Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, 1st Baronet, KCVO was a Scotsman of Ulster-Scots parentage who was a self-made man, merchant, and yachtsman. He created the Lipton tea brand and was the most persistent challenger in the history of the America's Cup.-Parentage and childhood:Lipton was born in Glasgow...

, who wished to see a competition between the leading football clubs of Europe. The football associations of Italy, Germany and Switzerland duly complied, but the Football Association of England refused to nominate a club. West Auckland, a lowly amateur side of coalminers from the Northern League were entered into the competition, although it has never been entirely clear why.
However some reports and fans do claim that Sir Thomas Lipton

Thomas Lipton

Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, 1st Baronet, KCVO was a Scotsman of Ulster-Scots parentage who was a self-made man, merchant, and yachtsman. He created the Lipton tea brand and was the most persistent challenger in the history of the America's Cup.-Parentage and childhood:Lipton was born in Glasgow...

 intended to send a direct letter to Woolwich Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

, addressing it to W.A. A.F.C. The unspecific address caused the letter to be sent to the wrong team, West Auckland A.F.C, and thus the eclectic group of coal miners pawned their belongings and duly made the journey to Turin, where the first tournament was being held, many of the players paying out of their own pocket to do so.

They beat Stuttgarter Sportfreunde in the semi-finals 2-0; in the final, on April 12, 1909, West Auckland faced Swiss side FC Winterthur and beat them 2-0 as well to take the trophy.

Two years later, West Auckland returned, and after beating FC Zürich 2-0, they ran out 6-1 winners in the final over future Italian giants Juventus.

The first World Cup

The club was forced to pawn the trophy to the landlady of the local hotel on their return because of financial problems. It remained with her family until 1960 when a village appeal raised money to return the cup to the club. The cup was then stolen in 1994 and despite the efforts of the police and a £2,000 reward it was never found. An exact replica of the cup now stands in a more secure cabinet in the West Auckland Working Men's Club.http://www.westaucklandwmc.co.uk

West Auckland was the home of the infamous serial killer Mary Ann Cotton

Mary Ann Cotton

Mary Ann Cotton was an English woman convicted of murdering her children and believed to have murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic poisoning.-Early life:...

 and birthplace of ex-Prime Minister

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

 Anthony Eden

Anthony Eden

Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...

.

It is also where one will find The Manor House Hotel, reputed to have been one of King Henry VIII's hunting lodges and former family home to the Eden family. It is thought that the trees to be found outside the hotel were planted to commemorate a visit by the King. Originally seven in number, two were felled to make way for road developments.