Skerne river dam looking north - geograph

River Skerne in flood, April 2005 - geograph

Skerne Railway Bridge South Side May 2021

The River Skerne is a tributary of the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...

. It flows through

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Course

The Skerne is about long and begins in

Magnesian Limestone The Magnesian Limestone is a suite of carbonate rocks in north-east England dating from the Permian period. The outcrop stretches from Nottingham northwards through Yorkshire and into County Durham where it is exposed along the coast between Ha ...

hills between

Trimdon Trimdon is a village in County Durham, in England, previously known as Tremeldon (1196) or Tremedon (1262).Eilert Ekwall,1959, ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Placenames'' (4th edition), OUP, Oxford, p. 480; he cites taxation sources, ...

and

Trimdon Grange Trimdon Grange is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated ten miles to the west of Hartlepool, and a short distance to the north of Trimdon. Colliery disaster At 14:40 on 16 February 1882 the Trimdon Grange colliery suffered a ma ...

and ends at Hurworth Place where it joins the River Tees. Three miles after the source the Skerne is joined by Hurworth Burn and enters Hurworth Burn Reservoir on the borders of

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

and County Durham. On leaving the reservoir, the Skerne heads south-west towards

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. History Roman A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...

. It flows through farmland between

Fishburn Fishburn is a village and civil parish in County Durham, in England. It is situated about 12 miles west of Hartlepool. It had a population of 2,454, increasing to 2,588 at the 2011 Census. Location The village lies scattered along a dry swell ...

and Sedgefield and it seems likely that the Skerne is "the fish-stream" that gives Fishburn its name. Three miles west of Fishburn, it is crossed by the

A1(M) A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate motorway sections in England. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1, a major north–south road which connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capit ...

motorway near Bradbury interchange. At this point the Skerne takes a southerly course and, for about five miles (8 km) as far south as Aycliffe, it runs roughly parallel to the motorway and the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...

. A number of smaller tributaries join the Skerne in the area and often form little islands like the Great Isle and Little Isle near Bradbury. One major tributary of the Skerne is the Woodham Burn, which rises near

Shildon Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...

and flows through

Newton Aycliffe Newton Aycliffe is a town in County Durham (district), County Durham, England. Founded in 1947 under the New Towns Act 1946, New Towns Act of 1946, the town sits about five miles to the north of Darlington and ten miles to the south of Durham, E ...

. The Skerne skirts the village of Aycliffe before crossing under the motorway near its junction with the

A167 The A167 and A167(M) is a road in North East England. It is partially a trunk road and partially a motorway, where it is commonly referred to as Newcastle Central Motorway. Most of the road’s route was formerly that of the A1, until it was ...

. After this it passes close to Brafferton and the farmland where the famous

Durham Ox The Durham Ox (March 1796 – 15 April 1807) was a steer who became famous in the early 19th century for his shape, size and weight. He was an early example of what became the Shorthorn breed of cattle and helped establish the standards by which ...

was bred, before heading for

Barmpton Barmpton is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was less than 100. Details are maintained in the parish of Great Burdon. I ...

Great Burdon Great Burdon is a village in the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated to the north-east of Darlington. References External links Villages in County Durham Places in ...

and

Haughton-le-Skerne Haughton-le-Skerne is a village in the borough of Darlington in the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated in the north east of Darlington. The village lies to the west of the River Skerne. At the centre of the village green, ...

on the outskirts of

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

, The Skerne then flows underneath 17 bridges in Darlington, including the

railway bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whic ...

built by the Stockton and Darlington Railway and crossed by the inaugural train in 1825. The river lends its name to the

Skerne Park Skerne Park is a predominantly council owned housing estate in the southern part of the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated on the southern edge of Darlington. Skerne Park comprises streets ...

estate in Darlington. To the south of Darlington the Skerne passes through

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

, and then, after flowing under the A66 bridge, leaves the town to flow through countryside for its last two miles (3 km), before joining the Tees at Hurworth Place.

Settlements

''from source'' *

Bishop Middleham Bishop Middleham is a village in County Durham, in England. The population of the parish as taken at the 2011 census was 1,275 It is close to Sedgefield. History Bishop Middleham lies in a dry valley about 9 miles (14 km) south-east of ...

* Bradbury *

* Aycliffe Village * Brafferton *

* Hurworth Place (Joins River Tees)

Restoration

The River Skerne underwent a comprehensive restoration scheme between 1995 and 1998 as part of an EU-LIFE demonstration project carried out by the River Restoration Project (now The River Restoration Centre). A 2 km stretch of the river running through the town of Darlington was improved including the formation of four new meanders, planting to strengthen banks, reshaping and narrowing of the bed, installation of footpaths and a planting scheme aimed to "bring the countryside into town".

References

{{authority control Skerne

Course

Settlements

Restoration

See also

References