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Sedgefield is a small town with a solidly
agricultural past and a modern country village character. It is one of
those places which the locals still call a village with some
justification. It is in an area just south of the old coalfield where, as
you travel north along the ancient eastern routes from England to
Scotland, the Vale of York gives way to the rolling countryside of the
magnesian limestone of County Durham. The village itself grew at an
ancient cross roads from the time when Roman armies marched north to
Hadrian's Wall and today is still an excellent centre for touring the
North of England.
Visit this magnificent Norman cathedral,
completed in 40 years between 1093 and 1133 - a stunning example of early
Norman architecture, the shrine of our own St Cuthbert, and a focus of
Christian worship in the North East. Together with the castle (formerly
the home of the Prince Bishops, now the home of students at the
university) it is a World Heritage Site.
If you want to visit a real English
mediaeval castle, Raby can't be beaten. Once the home of the famous
Neville family, Raby now belongs to Lord Barnard, whose family have lived
there for 370 years. In the castle you can see fine furniture and
paintings, and you can also see how the servants lived. Deer graze up to
the moat and you can relax in the beautiful gardens.
If you love gardens, walk through Durham
City to Crook Hall, a gem often missed by the tourist. It is a private
house but still contains a mediaeval hall (full of atmosphere) and a
Jacobean room and has been lovingly restored. The gardens include ancient
walled gardens ablaze with colour, a modern Cathedral Garden, a
Shakespeare Garden and a Silver and White garden, created for the then
owner's 25th Wedding Anniversary.
Beamish vividly recreates life in the
North of England in the early 1800s and 1900s. A tram will take you to the
town with its shops, houses, working pub, sweet factory and bank, or you
can instead alight at the farm and watch the pigs and poultry or smell the
baking in the old farmhouse kitchen. Or you could take an old bus to the
mining village, visit the mining cottages or take a guided tour down the
drift mine. You can even ride on a recreation of the first steam railway,
or visit the 19th Century Manor House. You will need at least a full
afternoon to visit Beamish, preferably a whole day.
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle.
This French-style chateau houses one of
Britain's finest museums, in particular paintings, ceramics, furniture,
and textiles.
Explore our industrial heritage in this
beautiful wild setting, at this very visitor-friendly museum. Guides are
on hand to explain the processes of lead mining and you can see how miners
lived and worked, where they slept and what they wore. You can actually go
down the mine and see the working conditions.
Walk through the woods to England's biggest waterfall, which crashes 70 feet over massive rocks into the River Tees. A short distance away you can walk to the gentler, but no less beautiful, Low Force., or from Bowlees Picnic Area walk to the waterfall at Gibson's Cave.
The North Peninnes is England's largest
official Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Travelling up the dales of
the Wear or the Tees then over some of England's highest roads across the
wild open moorland can provide an exhilarating day trip from Sedgefield.