Tanfield Lea Memorial Institute was built and opened in 1925. It is a two-storey red-brick building with a classical stone portico entrance, a pointed and flat roofed gable on the street side (pointed over the main body of the building, flat over the entrance bay section of the front elevation), large rectangular windows with stone dressings and many foundation stones inserted into the wall line just above ground level. There is photographic evidence that the original name of the building was once contained on the stone above the entrance but this has been changed in recent years to reflect the building's modern usage as a Community Centre. The building was constructed as a lasting memorial to commemorate the First World War and also contains a memorial plaque. (1-2)