School Aycliffe
School Aycliffe is a village in County Durham, England. It used to be a civil parish on its own, but now it is part of the parish of Great Aycliffe.
It is located a short distance west of Newton Aycliffe and east of Heighington. The name comes from a Viking called Scula who owned land in the area.
The village is divided by School Aycliffe Lane into two parts. The north side is the original village and belongs to Durham County Council and the parish of Great Aycliffe. The School Aycliffe Wetlands, a wildlife habitat, are on the northern edge.
The south side is a newer housing area called The Chestnuts. It is in the Borough of Darlington and part of the parish of Heighington. The Aycliffe Hospital, a mental health facility, used to be there before the estate was built. The hospital’s staff included the father of comedian and writer Mark Gatiss, and the hospital inspired some ideas used in his TV show The League of Gentlemen.
Civil parish history: School Aycliffe was once a township in the parish of Heighington. It became a civil parish in its own right in 1866, but on 1 April 1946 the parish was abolished and merged back into Heighington. In 1931 the parish had a population of 16.
This page was last edited on 29 January 2026, at 05:40 (CET).