Sedgefield St Edmund

Parish Notes Durham

Sedgefield St Edmund the Bishop

[Population 1911: 4,077, incl. 1,784 persons enumerated in the County Lunatic Asylum]

Church

THE CHURCH, dedicated to St. Edmund the Bishop, is a handsome cruciform structure, combining the earlier and later styles of Gothic architecture; the windows are principally in the decorated style. The western tower is sixty feet in height, embattled, and supported by corner buttresses, from the tops of which spring lofty hexagonal turrets, surmounted by short conical spires. It contains five bells, and has a good clock on its western front. The transepts do not appear to have been part of the original building, but added thereto at separate times, the one on the foundation of St. Catharine's Chantry, and the other of St. Thomas'; or for a guild which was instituted here. The entrance to the church is by a plain porch on the south; and the nave is separated from the aisles by rows of pillars supporting pointed arches. Each aisle is lighted by two windows; and there are three clerestory windows on each side of the nave. The south transept, formerly St. Thomas' chantry, has a large window on the south and two on the sides; the north transept is lighted in a similar manner, and was long the burial-place of the Hotons and the Frevilles. It is now fitted up with a gallery, the space under which serves as a vestry. The chancel is separated from the nave by a rich screen of tabernacle work, in old oak, containing some canopied seats, divided by light pillars. This part of the church appears to be of the same date as the north transept: it is lighted by an eastern window of five compartments, on which several coats of arms are emblazoned, and three other windows an each side. The chancel is panelled in oak, about eight feet high, and stalled with seven seats on each side, which appear to date from the reign of Elizabeth. The font is an octagonal basin of black marble, sculptured with the arms of several of the old families of the neighbourhood. A good organ, the gift of Dr. Pickering, and bearing the date 1708, is situated under the belfry; and monuments to various persons, are placed in different parts of the church. There was, until recently, in the pavement of the north aisle, a large stone, with two inlaid figures of brass, representing skeletons in shrouds. Considerable repairs and alterations were effected in 1848 and 1849; at which period, the roof of the church, which had previously been ceiled, was renewed, and is now of high pitch and open. The expense amounted to between £200 and £300. The floor of the church is paved with diamond shaped tiles, and covered with wood beneath the seat the pews are all open, and furnish accomodation for 600 persons. ... The parish register commences in 1580. The living is a rectory in the deanery of Stockton, valued in the Liber Regis at £73 18s.: gross income, £1,500. The glebe is extensive, lying in the townships of Sedgefield, Bradbury, Embleton, and Fishburn. Patron, the Bishop of Durham: rector, Rev. Thomas L. Strong, M.A. [Whellan's History, Topography and Directory of Durham (and Newcastle) (1856), pages 523-24.]

Townships

Topography

History

The Parish Chest

Non-Parochial Records

Newcastle Courant 17/8/1849 The Bishop of Durham has given £15 towards the expense of repairing the south aisle of Sedgefield church.