It is part of Heighington and Coniscliffe ward, and is situated approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Darlington.

It has always been a small village, but its history goes back to Anglo-Saxon times, and the earliest part of St Oswald's church is Norman.

[4] The cliff itself is walled, towered and crenellated in places,[5] and in the mid−19th century the village was surrounded by quarries.

The name, Coniscliffe, means king's cliff, first recorded in 1040 as Cingcesclife, from the Old English cyning and clif together with the Old Norse konungr.

[12] Richard Thirkeld, a Catholic missionary priest from the village, was executed at York on 29 May 1583 for high treason due to his Catholicism.

[13] A venerable native of the village was carpenter Matthew Greathead (23 April 1770−31 December 1871), who became the oldest living Freemason of his time.

A native man called Dickenson returned to his village on 28 June 1848 to attempt a cure for paralysis.

There is a carving in St Edwin's church of two winged figures on either side of a calf or ram; this is thought to be an Anglo-Saxon re-carving of a Roman dedication stone.

[19][20][21] Old Hall Farm incorporates a farmhouse, at 23 The Green, whose north-west wing could be a 13th-century bastle house, built as sanctuary during raids from Scotland.

The Spotted Dog pub is named after a foxhound called Blue Cap which won a race at Newmarket for a wager with a stake of 500 guineas in 1792.

[2] The pub's car park is the site of the old post office which doubled as the hackney carriage station, and where an Elizabethan stone sundial was found in the garden.

[23] The church is dedicated to Edwin of Northumbria, who declared himself overking of all England and converted to Christianity on 11 April 627 AD.

It is built of limestone, it is dedicated to Edwin of Northumbria and has a Norman carved and arched doorway under the north porch.

In that year it was reseated, the floor relaid, and a new screen, altar and tower clock added; all at a cost of £600.