School Aycliffe
School Aycliffe is a village located in County Durham, England. It is situated a short distance to the west of Newton Aycliffe and to the east of Heighington. The name derives from a Viking called Scula who owned land in this part of South Durham.
School Aycliffe is split into two by the road named School Aycliffe Lane. The north side has the older, original village. This is under the remit of Durham County Council and part of the parish of Great Aycliffe. The School Aycliffe Wetlands is a wildlife habitat site which is situated behind this village. The southern side is a new housing estate named 'The Chestnuts', and under the remit of the Borough of Darlington and part of the parish of Heighington. The now closed Aycliffe Hospital, a mental health institute, was located here before the estate was built. The father of comedian, writer and actor Mark Gatiss worked at the hospital, and became the inspiration for a number of ideas used by Gatiss in the TV show The League Of Gentlemen. For some unknown reason, Winterton Hospital, in the same district of Sedgefield, is always wrongly cited as the inspiration, but this is completely inaccurate. Gatiss went to primary school in nearby Heighington, and has no connection to the village of Sedgefield at all.
