Regional Resource Centre, Beamish - 0191 370 4000 museum@beamish.org.uk

Stanley is a former colliery town and civil parish in County Durham, England. Centred on a hilltop between Chester-le-Street and Consett, the town lies south west of Gateshead.

Stanley was formerly divided into three distinct settlements - the main town of West Stanley and the mining villages of East Stanley and South Stanley. Through a process of gradual expansion, these have become amalgamated into one town, with East and South Stanley no longer officially used as town names (although they are still recognised colloquially). The village of South Moor lies to the south.

The town now stretches into what were formerly neighbouring villages and towns such as Annfield Plain to the west and Beamish and Pelton to the east. This sometimes creates confusion over which local authority is responsible for certain areas, particularly around the Durham-Gateshead border to the northeast near the Causey Arch.