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Coordinates: 54°49′01″N 1°37′34″W / 54.817°N 1.626°W
| Sacriston | |
.png)  Sacriston shown within County Durham |
|
| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| Unitary authority | County Durham |
| Ceremonial county | County Durham |
| Region | North East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | DURHAM |
| Postcode district | DH7 |
| Dialling code | 0191 |
| Police | Durham |
| Fire | County Durham and Darlington |
| Ambulance | North East |
| European Parliament | North East England |
| UK Parliament | North Durham |
| List of places: UK • England • County Durham | |
Sacriston is a village in County Durham, England, situated 5 km (3 miles) north of the city of Durham.
Although the area has been populated since the Bronze Age, the first recorded settlement dated back to the 13th century to Sacristan's Heugh. According to old maps it was once known as "Segerston Heugh" and is now known to local people as "Segga". This farm and manor house was once the residence of the Sacristan, a monk who held the Office of the Sacristan of the monastery at Durham Cathedral. The Sacristan was responsible for providing everything necessary for the services of the Cathedral: bread and wine, the vestments etc. He was also responsible for repairs to Durham Cathedral. The funds for carrying out the official duties were generated from the estate of Sacristan's Heugh which was finally demolished shortly after World War Two.
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Mining History
Sacriston Colliery shaft was sunk in 1838 and by the 1890’s the pit employed 600 menproducing 1,000 tons of coal a day.Because of the exhaustion of thick coal seams, only 1,500 tons of best quality coal was being produced a week in 1975. The last coal production was the 15th of November 1985 and the colliery was closed on the 28th December 1985.
Disaster of 1903
On the 16th of November 1903, water poured into the mine workings of the 'Busty' Seam. The rising water killed two miners John Whittaker and Thomas McCormick. During the incident rescuers stumbled on another miner 'Richardson' was found standing on his container having been stranded for over 90 hours. The unfolding story made for headlines around the world. Decades later workers stumbled on the skeleton of one of the pit ponies that died during the accident and a full tub of coal that still bore the miners name, he then received his back pay
Disaster of 1945
On December 4 1940, a fall of stone on one of the work areas killed 5 miners they were: Joseph Welsh, 45 George W. Scott, 37 William Richardson, 54 William Smith, 35 John William Britton, 47
Sacriston narrowly avoided D classification in 1985 due to social deprivation and general poor quality of housing.
Sacriston has a number of schools in the village which include three infant schools, two juniors and Fyndoune Community College which is for 11-16 year olds.
Sport in the village consists of a village cricket team who play in the Northumberland and Tyneside senior league and have a 1st, 2nd and 3rd xl. Along with under 11's, 13's, 15's and 18's. The village also have two football teams which play on a Sunday and they are the Workingmens club F.C. and the Cricket club F.C. Both play in the Durham Stephy Coaches League Division 1 for the 2008-09 season.
Notable people
- Melvyn Betts,ex Durham, Warwickshire and Middlesex cricketer, born in Sacriston
- Ian Hunter, ex Durham and Now Derby cricketer, born in Sacriston
- Ian Jones, ex Durham, Somerset and Middlesex cricketer, born in Sacriston
- Wendy Craig, English actress, born in Sacriston
- Ben Brown, BBC News Journalist lives in Sacriston
- Sir Bobby Robson, football player and manager, born in Sacriston[1]
- Kevan Jones, Member of Parliament, Junior Minister of Defence, lives in Sacriston
References
- ^ Robson, Bobby (2005). "Going underground". Farewell but Not Goodbye. Hodder & Stoughton. pp. 6. ISBN 034582347X.
External links
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