Heighington ( ) is a village in the borough 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 underw ...

and

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

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. The population of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

at the 2011 census was 2,395. It is situated between

and Shildon, near

Newton Aycliffe Newton Aycliffe is a town in County Durham, England. Founded in 1947 under the New Towns Act of 1946, the town sits about five miles to the north of Darlington and ten miles to the south of Durham. It is the oldest new town in the north of Eng ...

. One of its most significant features is St Michael's Church that sits in the middle of a large

village green A village green is a common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for gathering cattle t ...

. The church is Norman, except for the 13th-century south aisle and the 19th-century north aisle. A rare feature in this church is a pre-

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

oak

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, acces ...

with six traceried

linen fold Linenfold (or linen fold) is a simple style of relief carving used to decorate wood panelling with a design "imitating window tracery", "imitating folded linen" or "stiffly imitating folded material". Originally from Flanders, the style became ...

panels, with an inscription bearing prayers for its donor: an Alexander Flettcher and his wife Agnes. Heighington previously boasted a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

Chapel, but this has since been converted into housing. The more recent expansion of the village is in the area around Pinewood Crescent and the area around the Beech Crescent, Manor Court and Orchard Gardens, built 1997. A recent, famous resident from Heighington, is actor, writer and producer

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series '' Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', and '' Dracula''. Together with ...

. It is often (wrongly) claimed that his father worked at nearby Winterton Hospital, and that this became the inspiration for ideas in ''

The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the live ...

'', but it was in fact Aycliffe Hospital where his father worked. The confusion likely arose, from the fact that both (now demolished) hospitals lay in the district of Sedgefield and someone assumed it was Winterton. This mistake then led onto the assumption that Gatiss must therefore have been born in the village of Sedgefield (being next to Winterton Hospital), but in actuality, he was born only in the ''district'' of Sedgefield, in the village of Heighington, some miles away. Heighington is also known for its Spar shop and three pubs, The Bay Horse, The George And Dragon and The Dog Inn, which lies just outside the village. The village up until recent years was home to a

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

(which included a shop) next to the village green. That shop closed down and the Post Office, along with the postbox, has been relocated to the village hall. Since the turn of the millennium, a field on the outskirts of the village (on the way to Shildon and

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surr ...

) has been converted into a football field. This site is currently undergoing development, including the construction of an adventure playground. In 2006 Heighington was judged, by

Ptolemy Dean Ptolemy Hugo Dean (born 1968) is a British architect, television presenter and the 19th Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey. He specialises in historic preservation, as well as designing new buildings that are in keeping with their histo ...

, from amongst 11 other villages around the UK to be the BBC's ''Perfect Village''.

Heighington CE Primary School Heighington CE Primary School is a Church of England primary school with academy status located in the village of Heighington, near Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. As of 2016 it educated 279 pupils aged 4–11. At its Ofsted inspection in ...

is a voluntary controlled

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

located in Hopelands. It educates around 260 pupils aged 4–11. It has been assessed by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions, incl ...

as providing an outstanding education."Heighington Church of England Primary School"

, 22 May 2007

Gallery

hstm.jpg, St. Michael's church tower, Heighington HeighingtonGreen.jpg, Heighington village green HeighingtonSign.jpg, Heighington village sign - outside the village hall since 2000

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in County Durham Places in the Borough of Darlington Places in the Tees Valley Civil parishes in County Durham