Brancepeth is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, in England. It is situated about from

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

on the

A690 road The A690 is a road in County Durham running from Sunderland in the east through Durham to Crook. Route Sunderland section Throughout the Sunderland section it is known as either ''Durham Road'' or ''New Durham Road'', and is one of the major ...

between Durham and

Weardale Weardale is a dale, or valley, on the east side of the Pennines in County Durham, England. Large parts of Weardale fall within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) – the second-largest AONB in England and Wales. T ...

. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 414.

Brancepeth Castle Brancepeth Castle is a castle in the village of Brancepeth in County Durham, England, some 5 miles south-west of the city of Durham (). It is a Grade I listed building. History A succession of buildings has been on the site. The first was a Norm ...

was until 1570 the fortress of the Neville Earls of

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

. The castle was extensively modified and rebuilt in the 19th century by

Viscount Boyne Viscount Boyne, in the province of Leinster, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1717 for the Scottish military commander Gustavus Hamilton, 1st Baron Hamilton of Stackallan. He had already been created Baron Hamilton of St ...

(later Baron Brancepeth). It was later a military hospital. St Brandon's Church was famed for its exceptional 17th-century woodwork, until it was destroyed in a major fire in 1998; the church has since been restored and reroofed. In 1924,

Harry Colt Henry Shapland "Harry" Colt (4 August 1869 – 21 November 1951) was a golf course architect born in Highgate, England. He worked predominantly with Charles Alison, John Morrison, and Alister MacKenzie, in 1928 forming Colt, Alison & Morrison ...

laid out a golf course on the deer park which formed part of the estate surrounding the castle. A club house was created from the old coach house and stables and remains in use by Brancepeth Castle Golf Club. The 6,400-yard, par 70 course is regarded as one of the finest in the north-east of England. Brancepeth Station 1884709 4b94bac7

According to one story, the village's name is said to derive from " Brawn's Path". There is a legend that Brancepeth was once terrorised by an enormous brawn, which was eventually killed by a knight named Sir Roger de Ferie in 1208. A commemorative stone marks the traditional location of the brawn's death. A more likely explanation is that it derives from "Brandon's Path", after St Brandon, the patron saint of the parish church.

Notable residents

Arthur Prowse Lieutenant Colonel William Arthur Prowse (1907– 14 July 1981) was a British physicist and academic administrator. He was the founding Master of Van Mildert College, Durham. Prowse matriculated at Hatfield College, Durham and graduated with a de ...

(1907–1981) *

Frederick William Sanderson Frederick William Sanderson (13 May 1857 – 15 June 1922) was headmaster of Oundle School from 1892 until his death. He was an education reformer, and both at Oundle, and previously at Dulwich College where he had started as assistant master, he ...

(1857–1922)

References

*Margot Johnson. "Brancepeth" in ''Durham: Historic and University City and surrounding area''. Sixth Edition. Turnstone Ventures. 1992. . Pages 34 to 37.

External links

Villages in County Durham Civil parishes in County Durham {{Durham-geo-stub