Woodstone Village forms the western arm of Fence Houses which itself is a village that is now just outside of County Durham. Both settlements would once have been inside the historic county of Durham but Fence Houses is now officially part of Tyne & Wear whilst Woodstone Village remains in Durham in the parish of Little Lumley.

During the First World War Morton House was used as a VAD (Volunteer Aid Detachment) Hospital. It is located just south of Woodstone Village. A memorial sarcophagus is located on the main road from Woodstone to Fence Houses and commemorates the those of the wider district who served and died in the Great War and later conflicts. A colliery institute was built soon after the war and is now used as a Community Centre for the Fence Houses District - it is known to contain memorials dedicated to men of the local collieries who served in two World Wars. A memorial is also located outside the Royal British Legion Club in Fence Houses. The nature of these war memorials in this parish reflect ongoing notions of comradeship and relationships that formed in the throes of industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.