Sunderland Bridge is a village and former

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, now in the parish of

Croxdale and Hett Croxdale and Hett is a civil parish in 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 Ap ...

, in the

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 ...

district, in the ceremonial county of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

, England. It is about south of

city. In 1961 the parish had a population of 907. The village takes its name from a grade I listed bridge just outside the village. Sunderland meaning sundered or separated land, in this case parish lands separated from the parish of St. Oswald's in Durham City, by the River Wear. The village is home to St. Bartholomew's Church, a Victorian church built between 1843 and 1846 (by George Pickering) and extended between 1876 and 1878 (by C.H. Fowler), with the addition of a new nave and chancel. The church was built to serve the new settlement of Croxdale Colliery which had rapidly developed less than half a mile south of the village to house workers for the new mine workings in the area (now simply known as

Croxdale Croxdale is a village in the civil parish of Croxdale and Hett, situated about south of Durham City, in County Durham, England and on the A167 road, formerly part of the Great North Road. It is on the route of the East Coast Main Line and at on ...

). The land for the church was given by the Salvin family of nearby

Croxdale Hall The Croxdale Hall Estate at Croxdale near Sunderland Bridge, County Durham, Sunderland Bridge, County Durham, England, has been owned by the Salvin family since the 15th century. Its principal building is the Grade I listed building, Grade I l ...

in exchange for the old chapel on the Croxdale estate. The churchyard is the resting place of James Finlay Weir Johnston the founding father of Durham Johnston School in near by Durham.

Governance

Sunderland Bridge was formerly a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in St. Oswald parish, from 1866 Sunderland Bridge was a civil parish in its own right until it was abolished on 1 April 1986 to form "Croxdale and Hett".

References

Villages in County Durham Former civil parishes in County Durham {{Durham-geo-stub