The village of Cold Hesledon lies in the east of County Durham, close to the north sea coast. Until the 1830s it was a rural, agricultural village, but in 1831 a {waggonway D808}running from a colliery at South Hetton to Seaham was built through the village. This was just the beginning of the growth of Cold Hesledon as an industrial village. In the 1880s the village began to increase in size as it became a home to many miners from nearby Murton Colliery. However, the remains of the places in which these miners lived now lie under an industrial estate. Perhaps the most impressive relic of Cold Hesledon's past are the Gothic remains of the former {pumping station D808}.

Despite these remains of Cold Hesledon's 19th and 20th century history, slight traces of the villages earlier past have also been found. The name of the village itself is probably of Old English origin, meaning the 'hill by the hazel valley'. Even older remains have been found in the area- remains of at least one Bronze Age axe head have been discovered.