Place:Cockfield, Durham, England

Watchers
NameCockfield
TypeParish (ancient), Civil parish
Coordinates54.613°N 1.806°W
Located inDurham, England
See alsoDarlington Ward, Durham, Englandancient county division in which it was located
Barnard Castle Rural, Durham, Englandrural district of which it was part 1894-1974
Teesdale District, Durham, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area 1974-2009
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog
the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Cockfield is a village on the edge of Teesdale, County Durham, England. It is situated 8 miles to the south-west of Bishop Auckland, 15 miles northwest of Darlington and 40 miles southeast of Newcastle upon Tyne. Remains found on Cockfield Fell suggest there was a settlement in the area during the Iron Age. 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.

Cockfield was an ancient parish in the Darlington Ward of County Durham. The ancient parish included the township of Woodland. It was made a civil parish in the 19th century and became part of the Barnard Castle Rural District from 1894 until 1974. Between 1974 and 2009 it became part of the larger Teesdale non-metropolitan district.

A nineteenth century description

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Cockfield from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"COCKFIELD, a township and a parish in Teesdale district, Durham. The township lies under Cockfield fell, near Raby Park, 7 miles NE-of Barnard Castle; and has a station on the railway, and a post office under Darlington. Real property: £2,463; of which £350 are in mines and £25 in quarries. Population: 1,004. Houses: 196.
The parish contains also the township of Woodland. Acres, 4,416. Real property: £3,472. Population: 1,256. Houses: 250. Coal has been worked here for five centuries; but is worked less now than formerly. The coal seams are thrown up three fathoms by a trap dyke. Stone also has been largely quarried. Lines of intrenchment are on Cockfield fell. The living is a rectory, united with the vicarage of Staindrop, in the diocese of Durham. Value: £354. Patron: the Duke of Cleveland. The church has a carved pulpit and an octagonal font. The vicarage of Ingleton is a separate benefice."

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