In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Sedgefield like this:
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.
Sedgefield through time
Click here for graphs and data of how Sedgefield has changed over two centuries. For statistics for historical units named after Sedgefield go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Sedgefield in County Durham | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/1919
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
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