The Five Churches Round links communities in the Parish of the Upper Skerne, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and the route has been devised by a member of Sedgefield Harriers Athletics Club, which also turns 20 in 2025. On Sunday 22 June, the parish and the club will host a special ‘tour’ of the round, and will welcome anyone who wants to join them.
The start of a recce run of the Five Churches Round by Sedgefield Harriers
The Parish of the Upper Skerne covers the parishes of Sedgefield, Bishop Middleham, Trimdon and Fishburn, and includes five active churches. In autumn 2024, parishioner and Fishburn parish councillor Vivienne Anderson suggested the idea of some sort of run to celebrate the 20th anniversaries, to Chris Lines, a Durham county councillor for the area and member of Sedgefield Harriers. Over the following few months, Chris developed an 18.5 mile route that links all five churches using footpaths and bridleways, and which takes walkers and runners through a variety of the County Durham countryside.
The Five Churches Round is not currently waymarked, but is a self-guided route that uses public rights of way. A leaflet has been designed and printed to promote the round, and the detailed route is available free of charge as a GPX file. People can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for a copy of the file and for details of where to find the leaflet. The route is also available on two navigational platforms: Komoot - https://www.komoot.com/tour/2273319167; Garmin Connect - https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/356144780.
A view of Hardwick Park from the Five Churches Round on a winters morning
To launch the Five Churches Round, the parish and the Harriers are inviting the public to join them to walk, jog or run the route, or sections of it. Those taking part will start outside St. Edmund’s Church in Sedgefield, where they will be sent on their way with a blessing from team rector Revd David Lucas, at 9:30am on Sunday 22 June. Members of the Harriers will lead groups of walkers and runners at different paces, and in each church along the route, parishioners will be waiting with refreshments. The other four churches are: St. Michael’s in Bishop Middleham; St. Alban’s in Trimdon Grange; St. Mary Magdalene’s in Trimdon Village; and St. Catherine’s in Fishburn. Participants will complete the round back at St. Edmund’s.
Chris Lines comments: “The project has been a labour of love and I’m really delighted that we’ve been able to bring it to life this way. It’s only been possible thanks to collaboration by a lot of passionate people in our community, from David and his colleagues at the Parish of the Upper Skerne, to my clubmates in Sedgefield Harriers, and many others. Whether testing the route, designing leaflets, or planning a rota so that there’s a welcome and refreshments in each church for every walker and runner on Sunday, this has been a wonderful example of people working together in a positive way, and it is very uplifting.
“Now that the route of the Five Churches Round is established and available, I hope that after Sunday, many more people will decide to tackle it. There’s a really nice mix of landscapes to enjoy, from Hardwick Park and Bishop’s Fen, to an old railway line and plenty of open countryside along the way. And it all links five very different churches, each of which has its own distinct character and great history, playing a key role at the heart of the parish community.”
To find out more about the Five Churches Round, find it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FiveCRound.