Living in Hebburn: A Guide to Moving to the Town

Hebburn is a town of around 21,000 people on the south bank of the River Tyne, sitting in the Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside between Gateshead to the west and Jarrow to the east. Built on coal and shipbuilding, it has a strong sense of its own identity and a genuine community feel, and its position on the Tyne and Wear Metro makes it one of the better-connected towns of its size in the North East. If you are thinking of moving here, this guide covers the practical things worth knowing.

Getting around

Hebburn's biggest everyday advantage is the Metro. The town is on the Yellow Line, so from Hebburn station you can reach Gateshead, Newcastle city centre, Jarrow and South Shields directly, and carry on around the loop to the coast at Tynemouth and Whitley Bay. That makes commuting or a day out genuinely easy without a car, and there is park-and-ride at the station if you do drive part of the way. Local buses run from Glen Street and Station Road in the town centre, and for drivers the A19 and the Tyne Tunnel are close by for heading north or south. We cover the options in more detail in our guides to getting around Hebburn without a car and days out by Metro from Hebburn.

Housing and neighbourhoods

Housing in Hebburn is a mix of Victorian and inter-war terraces, post-war semi-detached homes and newer estates, with more recent development along the riverside as former industrial land has been brought back into use. Prices are generally more affordable than in Newcastle or the coastal towns, which is a large part of the appeal for first-time buyers and families wanting Metro access without a city price tag. As with anywhere, it is worth spending time in different parts of the town before deciding where suits you.

Shops, leisure and everyday amenities

The town centre is compact and practical, centred on the Mountbatten Shopping Centre with its St James Mall and St John's Precinct, alongside the shops on Station Road. At the heart of it is Hebburn Central on Glen Street, the town's leisure and library hub, which opened in 2015 and has two swimming pools, a gym, a soft-play area and the public library under one roof. For a fuller picture of what is in town, our local directory lists the shops, services and places to eat and drink.

Green space and days out

For a town with such an industrial past, Hebburn has decent green space, most notably Carr-Ellison Park with the historic Hebburn Hall Ponds, plus riverside walks along the south bank of the Tyne. Our guide to parks and green spaces in Hebburn covers where to walk, and because of the Metro the wider region is easy to explore for bigger days out.

Schools and families

Hebburn's schools sit within the South Tyneside two-tier system of primary and secondary schools, run by South Tyneside Council as the admissions authority. Rather than list ratings that can change, our education page signposts the official sources for catchment areas, admissions and inspection reports so you can check the current position for any school. For younger children there are nursery and childcare settings across the town.

A town proud of its past

What gives Hebburn its character is a genuine pride in its heritage. This was a major shipbuilding town, home to the Hawthorn Leslie yard where HMS Kelly was built, and a coal-mining community before that. You can read the full story in our guide to Hebburn's shipbuilding and mining heritage. That history, and the close-knit community that came with it, is still very much part of what makes the town what it is.

New to Hebburn, or thinking of moving here? Get in touch with anything we can help with.