Sedgefield
Encyclopedia
Sedgefield is a small town and civil parish in County Durham
, England
. It has a population of 4,534.
Sedgefield has attracted particular attention as the Member of Parliament
for the wider Sedgefield constituency
was the former Prime Minister
Tony Blair
; he was the area's MP from 1983 to 2008, leader of the Labour Party
from 1994 to 2007, and prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 until 2007.
During November 2003, Sedgefield was visited by the American president George W. Bush
during a state visit
. He visited a local pub, as well as the local secondary school (Sedgefield Community College
). This event was preceded by high-intensity security, which included fastening down manhole cover
s and drains, and closing the centre of the village to all traffic. An anti-war protest coincided with his visit.
St Edmund's church in Sedgefield is noted for its ornate 17th century Cosin
woodwork, unique to County Durham
: this is especially precious now that the display in Brancepeth
has perished through fire.
The 18th century saw the architect James Paine commissioned by John Burdon in 1754 to design and construct a Palladian estate at nearby Hardwick Hall. Unfortunately the building work was never completed as Burdon went bankrupt, but sufficient landscaping was done to form the basis of the now renovated Hardwick Hall Country Park
.
The 19th century South African politician and industrialist Henry Barrington was born in Sedgefield and actions by his offsprings indirectly lead to the South African town Sedgefield, Western Cape
being named in honour of his birthplace.
In the 19th century, Sedgefield was a great hunting centre, dubbed 'the Melton of the North'. Ralph Lambton, the celebrated hunting man, had his headquarters at Sedgefield: the humorous writer, Robert Smith Surtees
, who lived at Hamsterley Hall
, was a friend of his. On 23 February 1815, (while Lord Byron was moping at Seaham Hall, not far away) Lord Darlington writes: 'Mr Ralph Lambton was out with some gentlemen from Sedgefield, and a most immense field.'
Sedgefield was also known in the area because of the very large complex Winterton Hospital
. This in its time was an isolation hospital and an 'asylum'. The site was like a village itself with its own fire station, bank and cricket team. Today little trace is left of the hospital apart from the church which is now surrounded by the Winterton housing estate and the NETPark
Science park.
Sedgefield is twinned with Hamminkeln
, Germany
.
.
Ball Game
still takes place in Sedgefield and is an example of Mob Football
. Another popular annual event is the Mediaeval Fayre, which takes place in mid-May.
, a regional thoroughbred horse-racing venue. Knotty Hill Golf Centre is a 45-hole golf course, composed of Courses A, B, C, D, and E. Course E, recently opened in the summer of 2006, is still maturing. Sedgefield Cricket Club is situated on the outskirts of the town, and is home to a number of senior and junior teams.
Sedgefield Harriers are a local running and athletics club based from Sedgefield Community College
. They compete in road race, in fell races (mainly on the North York Moors), in cross country and on the track. There is a large junior section which competes in track and field competitions and cross country. The club hosts the Serpentine Trail Race each September, Summer and Winter open handicaps in January and July and the Neptune Relays in April.
In 2011 Sedgefield Harriers were recognised by England Athletics as National Development Club of the Year and by UK Athletics as Club of the Year - notable acheivements by a village-based club.
Sedgefield Youth Football Club (SYFC) run an under 12's team in the Teesside junior football alliance. They are based at the local community college.
Sedgefield Tennis Club play on three courts at the Community College. The club enters one Ladies team, one Mixed Team, and two Men's teams in the Cleveland Tennis League.
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It has a population of 4,534.
Sedgefield has attracted particular attention as the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for the wider Sedgefield constituency
Sedgefield (UK Parliament constituency)
Sedgefield is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
was the former Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
; he was the area's MP from 1983 to 2008, leader of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
from 1994 to 2007, and prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 until 2007.
During November 2003, Sedgefield was visited by the American president George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
during a state visit
State visit
A state visit is a formal visit by a foreign head of state to another nation, at the invitation of that nation's head of state. State visits are the highest form of diplomatic contact between two nations, and are marked by ceremonial pomp and diplomatic protocol. In parliamentary democracies, heads...
. He visited a local pub, as well as the local secondary school (Sedgefield Community College
Sedgefield Community College
Sedgefield Community College is an 11-16 comprehensive school located in Sedgefield in County Durham.The College takes in students from most of the surrounding villages including Sedgefield itself, Fishburn, Trimdon, Trimdon Grange, Trimdon Station, Trimdon Colliery, Coxhoe, Bishop Middleham and...
). This event was preceded by high-intensity security, which included fastening down manhole cover
Manhole cover
A manhole cover is a removable plate forming the lid over the opening of a manhole, to prevent anyone from falling in and to keep unauthorized persons out....
s and drains, and closing the centre of the village to all traffic. An anti-war protest coincided with his visit.
St Edmund's church in Sedgefield is noted for its ornate 17th century Cosin
John Cosin
John Cosin was an English churchman.-Life:He was born at Norwich, and was educated at Norwich grammar school and at Caius College, Cambridge, where he was scholar and afterwards fellow. On taking orders he was appointed secretary to Bishop Overall of Lichfield, and then domestic chaplain to...
woodwork, unique to County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
: this is especially precious now that the display in Brancepeth
Brancepeth
Brancepeth is a village and civil parish in County Durham, in England. It is situated about from Durham on the A690 road between Durham and Weardale. Brancepeth Castle was until 1570 the fortress of the Neville Earls of Westmorland. The castle was extensively modified and rebuilt in the 19th century...
has perished through fire.
The 18th century saw the architect James Paine commissioned by John Burdon in 1754 to design and construct a Palladian estate at nearby Hardwick Hall. Unfortunately the building work was never completed as Burdon went bankrupt, but sufficient landscaping was done to form the basis of the now renovated Hardwick Hall Country Park
Hardwick Hall Country Park
Hardwick Hall County Park is a park located in County Durham near Sedgefield. It is registered with the Register of Parks and Gardens as a II* site, which indicates that a park is "of exceptional historic interest."-History:...
.
The 19th century South African politician and industrialist Henry Barrington was born in Sedgefield and actions by his offsprings indirectly lead to the South African town Sedgefield, Western Cape
Sedgefield, Western Cape
Sedgefield is a coastal town on the Garden Route in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated on the N2 national road, between George and Knysna...
being named in honour of his birthplace.
In the 19th century, Sedgefield was a great hunting centre, dubbed 'the Melton of the North'. Ralph Lambton, the celebrated hunting man, had his headquarters at Sedgefield: the humorous writer, Robert Smith Surtees
Robert Smith Surtees
Robert Smith Surtees was an English editor, novelist and sporting writer. He was the second son of Anthony Surtees of Hamsterley Hall, a member of an old County Durham family.-Early life:...
, who lived at Hamsterley Hall
Hamsterley Hall
Hamsterley Hall is an 18th century country house at Hamsterley, Rowlands Gill, County Durham, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.The estate at Hamsterley was given, in 1762, by Sir John Swinburne Bt to his younger brother Henry Swinburne...
, was a friend of his. On 23 February 1815, (while Lord Byron was moping at Seaham Hall, not far away) Lord Darlington writes: 'Mr Ralph Lambton was out with some gentlemen from Sedgefield, and a most immense field.'
Sedgefield was also known in the area because of the very large complex Winterton Hospital
Winterton Hospital
Winterton Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in County Durham, England and was one of the biggest in Europe.-History:A site for the Durham County Asylum was purchased in 1855 on land between the villages of Fishburn and Sedgefield. The hospital was to be designed by the architect John Howison, the...
. This in its time was an isolation hospital and an 'asylum'. The site was like a village itself with its own fire station, bank and cricket team. Today little trace is left of the hospital apart from the church which is now surrounded by the Winterton housing estate and the NETPark
Netpark
NETPark or North East Technology Park is a science park in County Durham, England.The park is built the site of the former Winterton Hospital and is home to several high-tech companies specialising in fields such as nanotechnology, X-Ray technology, forensics and semiconductor technology...
Science park.
Sedgefield is twinned with Hamminkeln
Hamminkeln
Hamminkeln is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Issel, approximately 10 kilometers north of Wesel. It is twinned with Sedgefield, United Kingdom...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Education
There are two primary schools in Sedgefield, Sedgefield Hardwick Primary, and Sedgefield County Primary, and a secondary school, Sedgefield Community CollegeSedgefield Community College
Sedgefield Community College is an 11-16 comprehensive school located in Sedgefield in County Durham.The College takes in students from most of the surrounding villages including Sedgefield itself, Fishburn, Trimdon, Trimdon Grange, Trimdon Station, Trimdon Colliery, Coxhoe, Bishop Middleham and...
.
Culture & Customs
The Shrove TuesdayShrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is a term used in English-speaking countries, especially in Ireland, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Germany, and parts of the United States for the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of the season of fasting and prayer called Lent.The...
Ball Game
Sedgefield Ball Game
Shrove Tuesday Football still takes place in Sedgefield in County Durham; locally it is known as the Ball Game.According to the old custom, the parish clerk is obliged to furnish a football on Shrove Tuesday, which he throws into the market place, where it is contested for by the mechanics against...
still takes place in Sedgefield and is an example of Mob Football
Mob football
Mob football is the name given to some varieties of Medieval football, which emerged in Europe during the Middle Ages.Mob football distinguished itself from other codes by typically having an unlimited number of players and very few rules. By some accounts, any means could be used to move the ball...
. Another popular annual event is the Mediaeval Fayre, which takes place in mid-May.
Sport
Sedgefield is home to the Sedgefield RacecourseSedgefield Racecourse
Sedgefield Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Sedgefield, County Durham, England. The course is undulating, left-handed and about ten furlongs in circumference. The steeplechase course consists of eight fences per circuit, with the open ditch the penultimate obstacle...
, a regional thoroughbred horse-racing venue. Knotty Hill Golf Centre is a 45-hole golf course, composed of Courses A, B, C, D, and E. Course E, recently opened in the summer of 2006, is still maturing. Sedgefield Cricket Club is situated on the outskirts of the town, and is home to a number of senior and junior teams.
Sedgefield Harriers are a local running and athletics club based from Sedgefield Community College
Sedgefield Community College
Sedgefield Community College is an 11-16 comprehensive school located in Sedgefield in County Durham.The College takes in students from most of the surrounding villages including Sedgefield itself, Fishburn, Trimdon, Trimdon Grange, Trimdon Station, Trimdon Colliery, Coxhoe, Bishop Middleham and...
. They compete in road race, in fell races (mainly on the North York Moors), in cross country and on the track. There is a large junior section which competes in track and field competitions and cross country. The club hosts the Serpentine Trail Race each September, Summer and Winter open handicaps in January and July and the Neptune Relays in April.
In 2011 Sedgefield Harriers were recognised by England Athletics as National Development Club of the Year and by UK Athletics as Club of the Year - notable acheivements by a village-based club.
Sedgefield Youth Football Club (SYFC) run an under 12's team in the Teesside junior football alliance. They are based at the local community college.
Sedgefield Tennis Club play on three courts at the Community College. The club enters one Ladies team, one Mixed Team, and two Men's teams in the Cleveland Tennis League.