Mainsforth

---

title: "Mainsforth" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["villages-in-county-durham", "former-civil-parishes-in-county-durham", "bishop-middleham"] description: "Village in County Durham, England" topic_path: "general/villages-in-county-durham" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainsforth" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Village in County Durham, England ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox UK place"]

Field	Value
official_name	Mainsforth
civil_parish	Bishop Middleham
country	England
region	North East England
coordinates
unitary_england	County Durham
lieutenancy_england	Durham
hide_services	Yes
static_image	File:Mainsforth Village.jpg
static_image_caption	Mainsforth
::

| official_name= Mainsforth | civil_parish = Bishop Middleham | country= England | region= North East England |coordinates = | os_grid_reference= | post_town= | postcode_area= | postcode_district= | dial_code= | constituency_westminster = | unitary_england= County Durham | lieutenancy_england= Durham | hide_services= Yes | population = | population_ref = | area_total_km2= |static_image=File:Mainsforth Village.jpg |static_image_caption=Mainsforth |website=

Mainsforth is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bishop Middleham, in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England. It is to the east of Ferryhill. The earliest settlement in Mainsforth may have been on Marble (Narble Hill). It has been suggested, without great historical foundation, that this was a Danish settlement. In 1961 the parish had a population of 229. From medieval times through to the early twentieth century the village was in effect a small collection of farms and farm workers' cottages.

Mainsforth Hall was a significant building in the centre of this small village, until its demolition in the 1960s. The hall was for many years the dwelling of the Surtees family. A notable member of the family was Robert Surtees (1779–1834), a County Durham historian.

Mainsforth Colliery, active from 1872-1968, lay between the village and Ferryhill Station.

Etymology

The name Mainsforth is of Old English origin. The second element is ford. The first is unknown, but may be one of the personal-names Maino or Maegen.

Civil parish

Mainsforth was formerly a township in the parish of Bishop-Middleham, from 1866 Mainsforth was a civil parish in its own right, on 1 April 1983 the parish was abolished and merged with Bishop Middleham and Ferryhill.

References

References

1. (2010). "Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 93 ''Middlesbrough (Darlington & Hartlepool)''". Ordnance Survey.
2. "Population statistics Mainsforth CP/Tn through time". [[A Vision of Britain through Time]].
3. "Robert Surtees (1779 - 1834)".
4. "Key to English Place-names - Mainsforth, Durham".
5. "History of Mainsforth, in Sedgefield and County Durham". A Vision of Britain through Time.
6. "Relationships and changes Mainsforth CP/Tn through time". A Vision of Britain through Time.
7. "Durham Western Registration District". UKBMD.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::