A Potted History of Durham Mustard

Previously mustard had been used as a condiment, but only in it's roughest 'wholegrain' state.

Mrs Clements decided to grind the seed in a mill and pass it through the various processes used for making flour.

This process she kept 'secret' for many years.

During her life, Mrs Clements supplied the principal towns and cities of England with her mustard.

She was particularly successful in London where King George 1st declared his fondness for her product. This was as good as bestowing a Royal Warrant and Mrs Clements success was assured.

As this astute businesswoman was a resident of Durham, her condiment became widely known as DURHAM MUSTARD. Indeed, at one time, it was said that nearly the whole of the County was covered in mustard seed.
However, as my farmer husband prosaically points out, it was probably grown as winter fodder for sheep!!

Little else is known about Mrs Clements except that she had a daughter who married one Joseph William Ainsley whose family were also involved in mustard making.

After Mrs Clements death the mustard business continued under the Ainsley name. (presumably the daughter now had the secret recipe!).

Eventually, Colmans of Norwich bought the Ainsley business and by 1810 mustard making in Durham was part of history.

Until recently, Durham Mustard lived on only in the local phrase a 'Durham Man', a name given to a knock kneed man, so called because he was said to grind mustard between his knees!

A local Durham farmer's wife a Mrs Pauleen Sedgewick (pictured on the left) revived the tradition of DURHAM MUSTARD in 1994.
Ironically, she went back to the old 'wholegrain' mustard, which was the type that Mrs Clements 'modernised' with her secret process.

This was a deliberate move since wholegrain mustard is far more popular and versatile than the smooth variety in today's modern world.

Mrs Sedgewicks DURHAM MUSTARD is made on a local farm within the City boundaries and the recipes are as closely guarded today as they were in 1720!

However, as Mrs Clements passed her recipes on to her daughter, Mrs Sedgewick has recently passed hers on to her son, James Wilkinson who is now carrying on the tradition of mustard making and selling but bringing it bang up to the Twenty-first Century with this web site.

James, with mum's advice, still experiments and produces at least two new varieties of mustard each year, they currently number 14 varieties.