Ouston, in ancient times this village was known as Ulkirton a seemingly Viking name and was still called Ulkistan as late as 1244. Part of this name probably referred to a boundary stone. A map produced by Speed's in 1610 shows the name to be Owston.It is a small village which lies three miles North West of Chester-le-street and 5 and a 1/2 miles South of Newcastle upon Tyne.

In 1248 Bishop Farnham of Durham gave Ouston to St Edmund's Hospital in Gateshead but after Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries in the 1500’s lands were sold off to Private Land Lords and Ouston passed to the Anderson's and then the Heyworth’s. Ouston later passed to the Joliffe’s and Milbanke’s.

In 1843 Whelan's directory described Ouston as a township principally the property of Lady Noel Byron, it contains 636 acres, and its rateable valueis £1,613.6s.8d. Edward Fenwick Boyd was a farmer and colliery agent and Hannah Marshal was a farmer at Blue Barns. By 1865 Ouston belonged to the executors of the will of Lady Byron (Ann Milbanke), wife of the poet Lord Byron, who had inherited Ouston through her father Sir Ralph Milbanke, 6th Baronet. By 1921 the sole landowner was Baroness Wentworth.

Around 1865 Ouston was a just a small hamlet but already had a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, later to be accompanied by a Free and a Primitive Methodist Chapel as the Colliery Village grew. The first Pit (A) was opened before 1815 and was closed in 1959,in 1891 its output was 540 tons per day, with 500 men and boys employed. B Pit opened 1824 and closed 1875, E Pit opened 1888 employing 130 men and boys with an output of 100 tons per day and this also closed 1959. During the Pit’s most successful period around 1914 there were approximately 1581 workers employed there and at its closure 320 were employed. There were no major disasters reported however many deaths occurred in the pits by a variety of accidents. In 1823, four men were killed and two severely burnt by an explosion of inflammable air in a pit.Ownership of the pits, changed often, in 1823 owners were Messrs Perkins, Thompson and co.. 1858 they were worked by Birtley Iron Company. In 1860 they were worked by Mssrs Hunt & co and by 1891Charles Perkins and partners. By 1921 all the collieries were worked by Pelaw Main Collieries.

The Mechanics Institute was erected by the colliery proprietors in 1887 and contained reading, billiard, recreation rooms and a small library, supported by subscriptions of the workmen. To be a member of the Mechanics Institute you had to be male and over sixteen but at that time that was acceptable. It was, for the biggest part of its life the social centre of the village, which it served and it fulfilled most of the requirements set out for the movement originally. In recent years the site where the Mechanics Institute stood has been re-developed and there now stands a Residential Home for the elderly.

In 1859 the colliery erected a school at Perkinsville for mixed and infants it had place for 520 children and had an average attendance of 427.

Ouston village as it is known today was mostly constructed around 1961. Over time the village has expanded to its current size with further expansion seen from Penhill, Urpeth, in the early 1970's onwards. Most recent additions being Turnberry and Woodlands the former being a disused farmer field which contained some World War II bunkers and the later being an area next to the Brooms near Walters Wood. Surrounding the village are farmed fields and a number of farms. There are a few amenities in the village such as a Post Office, a handful of General Stores, two pubs, a petrol station, a community centre and three schools. The village also has a number of recreational sites as well an Allotment Garden site.

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