I was Born and Bred in the Mining Village of Sacriston County Durham UK. As I was growing up I used to spend a lot of time hanging around the woods near the Colliery in Sacriston, known as Fullforth and Charlaw woods, myself family and friends spent many of good times down this area.
The History of our Village goes back to Historical finds from thousands of years ago, from Bronze Age, to Iron Age and Roman Occupancy. Below are some Quotes from the Northern Echo.
"Anglo-Saxons succeeded the Romans in the North and their presence is shown in place" names such as Plawsworth, Findon, Fulforth, Witton and Edmondsley.It has been reported that a Gold Pendant dating back to the 7th Century (Anglo Saxon) was found in 1991 at Daisy Hill between the villages of Sacriston and Edmondsley, although it is thought that the pendent may of not originated from the area, and could of arrived via a Landfill site in Daisy hill, I recall this site from the late 60s to early 70s .
"Sacriston’s history is focused around the wooded base of this hill as it runs south from" Sacriston Wood to Fulforth Wood on the outskirts of Witton Gilbert. Land below the wood formed the site of Sacriston’s two collieries.
A hill spur overlooking the wood, called the heugh or yuff, was the home of a medieval manor house that gave Sacriston its name.
"Hugh Pudsey, a Bishop of Durham, gave the spur and its surrounding land to the sacrist" of Durham Cathedral monastery in the 1100s.
Revenue from farming the land was used for financing the sacrist’s work and a country manor house was built for the sacrist here in the 13th century.
Sacrists were senior monks responsible for sacred relics, vessels, vestments, lighting, heating, sweeping and cleaning in a monastery.
Also called sextons or sacristans, their title derived from segrestein, a medieval English word of French origin.
In the 1300s, the sacrist’s manor was called Segrestaynheugh and was farmed and mined by Durham monks.
The estate, but not the manor house, was let to some Durham City merchants in the 1400s. In the 1500s, the house was home to a retired soldier called Leonard Temperley.
"Following the dissolution of the monasteries in the later 1500s, the house and estate" passed to Durham Cathedral’s Dean and Chapter.
On a 1576 map, the manor is called Segerston Heugh but was sometimes called Sacristan Heugh.
"When the mining village developed in the 19th century, it adopted the name" Sacriston rather than Sacristan because it looked more like a village name. However, many local people still use the old pronunciation, Segerston.
Unfortunately, the building was demolished in the 1950s owing to mine subsidence, but the site can still be reached by footpath.
Remnants of the medieval manor house survived within Heugh House, a farm building on a cleared area of the heugh above the wood.
"Agriculture was the main activity at Segerston Heugh, Fulforth and Findon, in times past," but coal mining was undertaken in the area by a small number of people in medieval times.I can remember discovering these remains when I was around 14 years old behind Sacriston Colliery just to the left of what we call Blacket's Bank (spooky place) I have heard stories, that there was a Tunnel leading from this building into Durham Cathedral. When we were growing up the Colliery and the woods played a big part in our childhood
When larger collieries developed at Sacriston in the 19th century, traces of medieval workings were occasionally uncovered.
Although Sacriston’s mining village came into being in the mid-1800s, one of the two collieries that caused its development was already operating in the 1700s.
Records show that in 1733, Charlaw Colliery, on the edge of the wood, was leased to a Ralph Ferry for a period of 21 years. A little later, in 1740, a pit at nearby Findon Hill was also mentioned in a 21-year lease to a man called John Richardson.
These were tiny mines employing small numbers of people and brought no major population changes to the district.
In 1839, the Charlaw mine reopened as a larger enterprise and, about the same time, a colliery also opened further north along the woodland edge below Segerston Heugh.
The history of our Colliery can be seen Here thanks to Lawrence Claughan.
Villagers have remained loyal to their Mining Heritage and attend the Durham Miners Gala
(The Big Meeting) Year after Year! in Durham City this years Gala will be held on the 12th of July 2014.
I Will be hoping I can attend to show my support and Loyalty!
