Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for SEDGEFIELD

SEDGEFIELD, a small town, a township, a parish and a sub-district, in Stockton district, Durham. The town stands on a rising-ground, 1½ mile E of the Stockton and Ferryhill railway, and 9 N W by N of Stockton; commands extensive views, especially to the S and the S E; enjoys a remarkably salubrious climate; was visited, in July 1792, by an ice storm, with some pieces nearly a footin diameter; is a polling-place; comprises three principal streets, with a central market-place; and has a post-office‡ under Ferryhill, a r. station, a market-cross, a church, Wesleyan and Roman Catholic chapels, a mechanics' institute, a grammar-school with £18 a year from endowment, alms-houses with £155, apprenticing charities £8, and poors' charities £112. The church is cruciform, and partly early English; has a nave 72feet long, a chancel 36 feet long, and a lofty W tower; and was restored in 1852. A weekly market was formerly held on Friday; and fairs for pigs are now held on the first Friday of every month; and cattle fairs on the first Friday of April and Oct. The township comprises 5, 171 acres. Real property, £7, 877; of which £15 are in gas-works. Pop. in 1851, 1, 362; in 1861, 1,808. Houses, 317. The manor was given in 900 to the see of Durham. A workhouse and the Durhamshirelunatic asylumthe latter a large brick edifice of 1860 are in the township; and, at the census of 1861, had 31 and 340 inmates. The parish contains also six other townships, and comprises 17, 471 acres. Pop. in 1851, 2, 192; in 1861, 2, 656. Houses, 480. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Durham. Value, £1, 802.* Patron, the Bishop of D. A chapel of ease is at Embleton. Bishops Leyburn, Redmayne, Lesley, and Louth, and George Viscount Barrington were rectors.—The sub-district contains five parishes and three parts. Acres, 43, 953. Pop. 11, 774. Houses, 2, 263.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a small town, a township, a parish and a sub-district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Sedgefield AP/CP       Sedgefield SubD       Sedgefield RegD/PLU       County Durham AncC
Place: Sedgefield

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.