| Country: | England |
| Official Name: | Haswell |
| Static Image Name: | Haswell Church - geograph.org.uk - 419444.jpg |
| Static Image Caption: | St Paul's Parish Church, Haswell |
| Coordinates: | 54.7834°N -1.4177°W |
| Population: | 1831 |
| Population Ref: | (2011)[1] |
| Unitary England: | County Durham |
| Lieutenancy England: | County Durham |
| Region: | North East England |
| Constituency Westminster: | Easington |
| Post Town: | DURHAM |
| Postcode District: | DH6 |
| Postcode Area: | DH |
| Dial Code: | 0191 |
| Os Grid Reference: | NZ375433 |
Haswell is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated 6miles east of the city of Durham, 9miles south of the city of Sunderland and north-west of the town of Peterlee.
The original settlement of Haswell was located where High Haswell is now on the hilltop before the village's centre moved downhill to its modern location on Salter's Lane. In the 14th century, Haswell's small population was nearly wiped out by the Black Death.[2]
Resting on a limestone escarpment, coal was discovered in the early 19th century and a colliery was sunk by 1831.[2] Haswell became home to the first coal mine in the world with a steel cable down its mine shaft. On 28 September 1844, a blackdamp explosion at killed 95 Haswell Coal Company workers, with just four survivors.[3] The colliery closed in 1896, and Haswell's population collapsed by 1901 after the miners left, leaving behind a rural settlement.[2]
Haswell was the birthplace of world champion road racing cyclist Tom Simpson, born 30 November 1937, who died aged 29 on Mont Ventoux during the 1967 Tour de France.