Cockfield is a village on the edge of Teesdale,

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, England. It is situated 8 miles to the south-west of

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

, north-west of

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

and south-west of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. Remains found on Cockfield Fell suggest there was a settlement in the area during the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

. The parish church, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, probably dates from the late 12th century. Coal mining began in the area in the medieval period. When the South West Durham coalfield was opened in the 19th and 20th centuries the population of the village grew significantly. The last coal mine closed in 1962.

Notable residents

One of the more illustrious families to hail from Cockfield was the Martindale family. • George Dixon (1731–1785) George Dixon was someone who owned coal mines and was a keen inventor, he was probably the first to use

coal gas Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made from coal and supplied to the user via a piped distribution system. It is produced when coal is heated strongly in the absence of air. Town gas is a more general term referring to manufactured gaseous ...

for illumination. George Dixon died in Cockfield on 29 September 1785 at the age of 53 •

Jeremiah Dixon Jeremiah Dixon (27 July 1733 – 22 January 1779), British surveyor and astronomer, created the Mason–Dixon line with Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, which became significant during the American Civil War. Early life and education Dixon wa ...

(1733–1779) the brother of George Dixon,

was an astronomer, went to America with

Charles Mason Charles Mason (25 April 1728 Mason–Dixon line The Mason–Dixon line, sometimes referred to as Mason and Dixon's Line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia. It was Surveying, surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason ...

died unmarried in Cockfield on 22 January 1779 at the age of 45 * John White (3 January 1826 – 13 January 1891) Famed ethnographer of New Zealand Maori published "The Ancient History of the Maori". Other notable achievements are his work as an interpreter of Te Reo Maori to Governor Grey during the New Zealand Land Wars. He also, published other novels based in Maori fiction and cultural custom. *Brian Fletcher (18 May 1947 – 11 January 2017) was an English jockey known for riding the horse Red Rum to win the Grand National in 1973 and 1974 and for second place in 1975. He first won the Grand National at the age of 20, in 1968 riding Red Alligator. Fletcher was born and brought up in Cockfield, County Durham. He later farmed sheep and bred Welsh Cobs on a 36-acre (150,000 m2) farm in Carmarthenshire, Wales. 0After his move to Wales, Fletcher took part in Harness Racing, winning driving Hendre Harrier in September 2004 at Ammanford 1and was occasionally invited as VIP to racing meets in the UK. 2

Local amenities

Public houses

There are three public houses in the village, the Queen's Head, the King's Head, and the Cockfield Working Men's Club.

Stores

There are three stores in the village of Cockfield, a Co-operative, newsagents, and also a general store, which incorporates as coffee shop. The village also has a Pharmacy, which also contains the Post Office.

Schools

The local primary school is Cockfield County Primary School.

Churches

The two churches that can be found in Cockfield are the CofE Church of Saint Mary the Virgin and the Cockfield Methodist Church.

Transport

Whilst Cockfield once had a railway, this was closed to passengers in 1958, before its complete closure in 1962. It is now served by bus services from Arriva North East and Scarlet Band with links to Darlington, Bishop Auckland, Barnard Castle, Durham (number 6) and the retail park at Tindale crescent.

Cockfield Fell

Cockfield Fell is described as "one of the most important early industrial landscapes in Britain". In addition to four Iron Age (or Romano-British) settlement enclosures, there is evidence within the landscape of early coal mines (the Bishop of Durham licensed mining here at least as early as 1303), medieval agricultural field patterns, centuries of quarrying activity, a railway line established in the 1830s and several earlier tramways. All together, Cockfield Fell constitutes England's largest Scheduled Ancient Monument, described as 'an incomparable association of field monuments relating to the Iron settlement history and industrial evolution of a northern English County'. One reason for its preservation - unusual for a lowland fell - is that it was not subject to

enclosure Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

in the 18th or 19th century, perhaps due to its highly industrialised past.Guy & Atkinson, ''West Durham: the archaeology of industry'', Phillimore 2008

References

External links

Cockfield Fell Heritage Walk
{{authority control Villages in County Durham Civil parishes in County Durham Industrial archaeological sites in England