Sacriston

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Sacriston
latitude= 54.817
longitude= -1.626
civil_parish=
population =
shire_district= Chester-le-Street
shire_county= County Durham
region= North East England
constituency_westminster= North Durham
post_town= DURHAM
postcode_district= DH7
postcode_area= DH
dial_code= 0191
os_grid_reference= NZ240470

Sacriston is a village in Chester-le-Street District, County Durham, England, situated 5 km (3 miles) north of the city of Durham.

The first recorded settlement dates back to the 13th century to Sacristan's Heugh. According to old maps it was once known as "Segiston Heugh" and is now known to local people as "Segga". This farm and manor house was once the residence of the Sacristan, a monk who held the Office of the Sacristan of the monastery at Durham Cathedral. The Sacristan was responsible for providing everything necessary for the services of the Cathedral: bread and wine, the vestments etc. He was also responsible for repairs to Durham Cathedral. The funds for carrying out the official duties were generated from the estate of Sacristan's Heugh.

Sacriston was once a thriving coal mining community and still has a Colliery Band (see link below). Coal was mined from 1808 to 1985.

Sacriston narrowly avoided D classification in 1985 due to social deprivation and general poor quality of housing.

Sacriston has a number of schools in the village which include three infant schools, two juniors and Fyndoune Community College which is for 11-16 year olds.

Sport in the village consists of a village cricket team who play in the Northumberland and Tyneside senior league and have a 1st, 2nd and 3rd xl. Along with under 11's, 13's, 15's and 18's. The village also have two football teams which play on a Sunday and they are the Workingmens club F.C. and the Cricket club F.C. Both play in the Durham Stephy Coaches League Division 1 for the 2008-09 season.

Notable people

* Melvyn Betts,ex Durham, Warwickshire and Middlesex cricketer, born in Sacriston
* Ian Hunter, ex Durham and Now Derby cricketer, born in Sacriston
* Ian Jones, ex Durham, Somerset and Middlesex cricketer, born in Sacriston
* Wendy Craig, English actress, born in Sacriston
* Sir Bobby Robson, football player and manager, born in Sacriston

External links

* [http://circuit.webspace.fish.co.uk/sacriston.shtml Sacriston Methodist Church]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/sacriston/ Community and local history website]
* [http://www.sacristoncollieryband.co.uk Sacriston Colliery Band]
* [http://www.dmm.org.uk/colliery/s019.htm Sacriston Colliery]
* [http://sacriston.play-cricket.com/home/home.asp Sacriston Cricket Club]