The Parish of the Upper Skerne was established in 2005 covers the churches of St Michael's Bishop Middleham, St Catherine's Fishburn, St Edmund's Sedgefield, St Mary Magdalene's Trimdon Village and St Alban's Trimdon Grange.

 The main communities in the parish are:

• Bishop Middleham and Mainsforth

Bishop Middleham is a village with a rich history. As its name suggests it was one of the main residences of the medieval Prince Bishops of Durham who built a fortified manor house near the present church. The centre of the village, including the church, the 17th-18th century hall and manor house, and a number of 18th and 19th century cottages, is a conservation area. The village also has a mixture of more recent housing including social housing and a number of private developments. Mainsforth is a hamlet a mile west of Bishop Middleham. It consists of a group of farms, cottages and more recent housing. Historically, the main employers were coal mining, quarrying and farming. The latter two remain although the coal mines closed in the 1950s. 

• Fishburn

Fishburn became a mining village in the early twentieth century. A very large coke oven complex was built, which dominated the whole village until 1987 when it was demolished and replaced with a landscaped area with trees and walks. A small light industrial estate was built on the site of the old pit entrance. 

• Sedgefield

Sedgefield is believed to have been founded over a thousand years ago. Although officially a town it still has a village feel. Until the 1970’s Sedgefield was primarily a market town. It is still very much a rural centre, with much of the local income generated from farming. Sedgefield has a growing population of 5,200 and is surrounded by beautiful farmland. On the western edge of the village is Hardwick Country Park. Many of the buildings within the village centre are three-four hundred years old, presenting a visually attractive and distinctive appearance and are protected in a conservation area. The village has an excellent website at www.sedgefieldweb.co.uk . Currently, the Durham Plan is being developed and Sedgefield is earmarked for up to 350 new homes.
The hamlets of Bradbury, Mordon and Foxton to the south and west of Sedgefield are within the Parish boundary. There are no longer any worship centres in these communities.

• Trimdon Village 

Trimdon Village has a population of about 3,000. It is an old farming medieval ‘long’ village. There are still some 18th and 19th century cottages around the church but the majority of houses in the village today are 20th century and council built. 

• Trimdon Grange and Trimdon Colliery

Trimdon Grange is an ex-mining village with a small industrial estate.  Trimdon Colliery is also an ex-mining village. The total population of the two villages is approximately 1,900. 
Main local employment for people in the Trimdons comes from industrial estates at Peterlee, Teesside, Spennymoor and a light industrial estate at Sedgefield.