Seaham Hall was built 1791 to 1792 for Sir Ralph and Lady Judith Milbanke.

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 "This morning a tremendous sea broke over the outer wall at Seaham harbour and destroyed everything within its reach. Six of the ships in the harbour were scuttled and sunk to prevent them being dashed to pieces on the rocks, and several other vessels were much damaged. Three sailors were lost by the calamity, and Mr. R. Thompson, master of the Friendship, of Shields, was drowned in endeavouring to save his ship." 20th February, 1833.

From: T Fordyce, J. Sykes. Local records; or, Historical register of remarkable events which have occurred in Northumberland and Durham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Berwick-upon-Tweed..., published 1867

Londonderry Collieries Ltd. announced their intentions to develop a new colliery in January 1923. A ceremony in which the first sod was cut was dug by the Viscount Castlereagh, to mark the start of the boring process, was held on the 19th of December 1923. Two shafts were sunk, the "Vane" and the "Tempest", named in honour of Lady Frances Anne Vane Tempest.  A freezing process was used, with the groundwater artificially frozen during the boring through sandy layers.

Source: Colliery Engineering, June, 1925. c/o Durham Mining Museum.

The first homes in the East Shore Village housing development in Seaham were occupied in September 2003. The 500 house development was built on the 32-hectare site of the former Vale Tempest Colliery, which had laid derelict for over a decade since the colliery closed. The former Regional Development Agency, One NorthEast, was involved in promoting the scheme.

Souce: The Independent 14 September, 2003.

'The Brothers' (aka 'Leaning Post') sculpture in Seaham was created by Brian Brown, who previously worked at Silksworth pit, and unveiled on the 31st July 2011 as part of the Seaham carnival. Celebrating Seaham's mining heritage, the sculpture of 3 miners represents the 3 mines of Seaham: Seaham Colliery, Dawdon Colliery and Vane Tempest.

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A distinctive metal statue of a First World War soldier, by local artist Ray Lonsdale, was installed near the seafront in Seaham in May 2014. It is entitled '1101' (after the Armistice which went into effect at 11am on November 11, 1918), but commonly known as 'Tommy' by the local community. It was initially intended to be a temporary feature, however, a local fund-raising drive succeeded in retaining the statue.

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