Sewell Barn Theatre space for presentations, meetings and other private hire uses. Originally the barn belonged to Clare House which was owned by Philip Sewell, a local benefactor, from 1864 to 1906. Anna Sewell, author of the children’s story "Black Beauty", was Philip’s sister and lived in the White House, Spixworth Road, Spixworth. Philip owned a mare called Black Bess which used to draw his carriage along Spixworth Road and it might be supposed that Bess was the original inspiration for Black Beauty, and the barn a prototype for Black Beauty’s stable. The book was published by Jarrolds in 1877. Philip Sewell died
Luke Sewell Chicago White Sox (1981–93). He caught three no-hitters in his career; Wes Ferrell in 1931, Vern Kennedy in 1935, and Bill Dietrich in 1938. In his book, "The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract", baseball historian Bill James ranked Sewell as the fourth best catcher in the American League during his career. James ranked Mickey Cochrane, Bill Dickey and Rick Ferrell as the top three, all of whom were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Sewell and his brother Joe, rank eighth on the all-time list of combined hits by brothers, with 3,619. Besides his brother, Joe Sewell, a Hall