Best Beaches in County Durham
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The best beaches in County Durham are Chemical Beach, Shippersea Bay, North Gare Beach, Blackhall Rocks Beach, Easington Beach, Seaham Hall Beach, Blast Beach and Horden Beach.
County Durham's coast tells a story of recovery. For much of the twentieth century this was one of the most spoiled shorelines in Europe, its beaches buried black under coal waste tipped straight from the collieries above.
Since the pits closed and a major clean-up in the years around 2000, the sand has come back, the magnesian limestone cliffs stand pale again and rare grassland and wildflowers have returned to the clifftops. The names still carry the industrial past, from Chemical Beach and Blast Beach near Seaham to Easington and Horden below their former colliery towns.
Alongside them lie the sea-glass shores of Seaham Hall Beach, the remote cove of Shippersea Bay, the cave-pierced Blackhall Rocks and the birdwatchers' North Gare at the mouth of the Tees. These are not polished resort beaches but rugged, honest shores, rich in history, geology and wildlife, and all the more rewarding for it.
Here are eight of the best beaches to seek out in County Durham.
Chemical Beach
Photo: Ian S via Geograph.org.uk
Chemical Beach lies on the Durham coast near Seaham, below magnesian limestone cliffs, its name left over from a Victorian chemical works that once stood above it. The foreshore is rocky, with ledges, a sea stack and old chaldron wagon wheels showing at low tide.
It sits on the stretch of coast known for sea glass, where the tide throws up smoothed, coloured fragments among the pebbles. Waste tipped over the cliffs in the industrial years still colours the ground, a reminder of the beach's past.
Come at low tide to see the wheels and hunt for sea glass.
Shippersea Bay
Photo: Mat Fascione via Geograph.org.uk
Shippersea Bay is a small, remote cove below yellow magnesian limestone cliffs on the Durham Heritage Coast, north of Easington. Once part of a coast blackened by coal spoil, this shore has been cleaned up over recent decades, and the clifftops, owned by the National Trust, now carry rare limestone grassland and wildflowers.
The bay is reached only on foot along the clifftop coast path, and is a quiet, undisturbed spot. Geologists know it for an ancient raised beach preserved in the cliff, laid down when the sea stood higher than it does today.
Walk the coast path to find this hidden cove.
North Gare Beach
Photo: Mick Garratt via Geograph.org.uk
North Gare Beach is a sandy beach at the northern mouth of the River Tees, near Seaton Carew on Teesside, part of the Teesmouth nature reserve and backed by low dunes and a golf links. Its landmark is the North Gare breakwater, an old training wall reaching out into the sea, crossed to on foot over the dunes.
The view is one of sharp contrasts, natural coast and wildlife to the north and the chimneys and cranes of the Teesside works to the south. It is a favourite with birdwatchers, with waders and migrants along the shore, and there is a car park nearby.
Bring binoculars and walk out to the breakwater.
Blackhall Rocks Beach
Photo: Kevin Waterhouse via Geograph.org.uk
Blackhall Rocks Beach is a rugged shore between Hartlepool and Seaham, beneath cliffs of pale magnesian limestone. It is rocky and pebbly rather than a broad sweep of sand, the cliffs pierced by some of the largest caves along this coast and worn into hollows and inlets by the sea.
Steep steps lead down from the clifftop, where a nature reserve of thin, lime-rich grassland grows rare wildflowers through early summer, alive with skylarks. For much of the twentieth century this coast lay black with coal waste, until a restoration around 2000 brought it back to life.
The bleak beach once served as the ending location for the film Get Carter, and today it is quiet, clean and wild again.
Easington Beach
Photo: Oliver Dixon via Geograph.org.uk
Easington Beach lies on the Durham coast below the former colliery town of Easington, on the Durham Heritage Coast. For years the beach here was black with waste tipped from the pit, until a major clean-up in the years around 2000 stripped away the spoil and let the shore recover.
Today it is a stony beach backed by low cliffs, part of a nature reserve and the coastal path, though bits of old industrial debris and sea glass still turn up in the shingle. The pit closed in 1993, and the coast has been steadily reclaimed since.
Walk the coastal path down to see how far it has come.
Seaham Hall Beach
Photo: DS Pugh via Geograph.org.uk
Seaham Hall Beach is a beach of sand and shingle just north of Seaham, known above all for its sea glass. In Victorian times a great bottleworks stood at Seaham, one of the largest in the country, and for decades its waste glass was tipped into the sea.
A century of tumbling in the waves has worn the fragments into smooth, frosted pebbles of glass in every colour, and beachcombers hunt the tide lines for them, prizing the rare reds and blues. The bottleworks closed in the 1920s, but its coloured legacy still washes up on the shore.
Search the tide line for a piece to take home.
Blast Beach
Photo: Andrew Curtis via Geograph.org.uk
Blast Beach is a stretch of the Durham coast at Dawdon, near Seaham, beneath cliffs of pale magnesian limestone. For most of the twentieth century it was one of the most spoiled beaches in Britain, buried under black waste tipped from Dawdon Colliery above, the sand stained dark and the pools coloured by iron and minerals.
Its bleak, otherworldly look meant the opening scenes of the film Alien 3 were shot here in the early 1990s. After the pits closed, a clean-up around 2000 stripped away much of the spoil and let the coast recover, though rust-red staining still marks some rocks and cliffs.
Limestone stacks stand out on the sand. Visit to see a coast reclaiming itself.
Horden Beach
Photo: Carol Rose via Geograph.org.uk
Horden Beach is a long shore on the Durham Heritage Coast, once one of the most polluted beaches in Europe when coal waste was tipped onto it from the pits above. A major clean-up in the years around 2000 stripped away the spoil, and the sand has recovered far faster than expected, though it still carries a stain of ochre and coal in places.
Low limestone cliffs rise behind, topped by grassland, with the coast railway running along the top. It is a quiet beach with few facilities.
Walk the long sands to see the recovery for yourself.
FAQs
Why are County Durham's beaches named after industry?
Names like Chemical Beach and Blast Beach come from the works and collieries that once stood above them, when coal waste was tipped straight over the cliffs. For much of the twentieth century this was one of the most spoiled coasts in Europe.
Are these beaches clean now?
Largely, yes. A major clean-up in the years around 2000 stripped away the spoil, and the sand has recovered well, though some beaches still carry a stain of ochre, coal or rust-red minerals in places, a reminder of the industrial past.
Where can you find sea glass on the Durham coast?
Seaham Hall Beach is the best-known spot, its frosted, coloured pebbles worn from Victorian bottleworks waste. Chemical Beach and Easington Beach also turn up sea glass among the pebbles and shingle, so comb the tide lines at low water.
Conclusion
County Durham's coast is unlike any other in Britain, a shore that has clawed its way back from decades of industrial spoil to become clean, quiet and wild once more. The names still tell the old story, from Blast Beach and Chemical Beach near Seaham to Easington and Horden below their former pit towns, yet today they offer sea glass, rare wildflowers, seabirds and dramatic limestone cliffs.
Some, like Shippersea Bay, are remote coves reached only on foot, while others have a car park close by. These are honest, rugged beaches with a past worth knowing, best explored with sturdy footwear and an eye on the tide.
Whether you come to comb the tide line or simply walk the Heritage Coast, from recovering Blackhall Rocks to sea-glass Seaham Hall Beach, these are the best beaches to seek out in County Durham.
