Darlington is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

in the Borough of Darlington,

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 ...

, England. The

River Skerne The River Skerne is a tributary of the River Tees. It flows through County Durham in England. Course The Skerne is about long and begins in Magnesian Limestone hills between Trimdon and Trimdon Grange and ends at Hurworth Place where it joi ...

flows through the town; it is a tributary of the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...

. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwent substantial industrial development, spurred by the establishment there of the world's first permanent steam-locomotive-powered passenger railway: the

Stockton and Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected collieries near Shildon with Darl ...

. Much of the vision (and financing) behind the railway's creation was provided by local

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

families in the

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

and

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

s. In the 2011 Census, the town had a population of 92,363 (the county's largest settlement by population) which had increased by the 2020 estimate population to 93,417. The borough's population was 105,564 in the census, It is a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

and is a constituent member of the

Tees Valley Combined Authority The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) is the combined authority for the Tees Valley urban area in England consisting of the following five unitary authorities: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees ...

therefore part of the

Tees Valley Tees Valley is a mayoral combined authority and Local enterprise partnership area in northern England, around the River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley. The LEP was established in 2011 and the combined authority was establish ...

mayoralty.

History

Darnton

Darlington started as an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

settlement. The name Darlington derives from the Anglo-Saxon ''Dearthington'', which seemingly meant 'the settlement of Deornoth's people', but by Norman times the name had changed to Derlinton. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the town was usually known by the name of Darnton. Darlington has a historic market area in the town centre.

St Cuthbert Cuthbert of Lindisfarne ( – 20 March 687) was an Anglo-Saxon saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Nor ...

's Church, built in 1183, is one of the most important early English churches in the north of England and is

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed. The oldest church in Darlington is St Andrew's Church, built around 1100 in

Haughton-le-Skerne Haughton-le-Skerne is a village in the borough of Darlington in the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated in the north east of Darlington. The village lies to the west of the River Skerne. At the centre of the village green, ...

. When the author

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

visited the town during the 18th century, he noted that it was eminent for "good bleaching of linen, so that I have known cloth brought from Scotland to be bleached here". However he also disparaged the town, writing that it had "nothing remarkable but dirt." (roads would have typically been unpaved in the 18th century.) The so-called "

Durham Ox The Durham Ox (March 1796 – 15 April 1807) was a steer who became famous in the early 19th century for his shape, size and weight. He was an early example of what became the Shorthorn breed of cattle and helped establish the standards by which ...

" came from Darlington (born in the early 19th century, this steer became renowned for its excellent proportions, which came to inform the standard for Shorthorn cattle.)

Victorian era

Stivvies

Stooperdale Offices, Darlington (geograph 6393231)

During the early 19th century, Darlington remained a small market town. The

ran steam locomotives designed for passengers and goods, built to a standard gauge, on a permanent main line with branches. On 27 September 1825, George Stephenson's engine, "

Locomotion No. 1 ''Locomotion'' No. 1 (originally named ''Active'') is an early steam locomotive that was built in 1825 by the pioneering railway engineers George and Robert Stephenson at their manufacturing firm, Robert Stephenson and Company. It became the ...

", travelled between

Shildon Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...

and

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

via Darlington, an event that was seen as ushering in the modern railway age. Later in the 19th century, the town became an important centre for railway manufacturing. An early railway works was the

Hopetown Carriage Works Hopetown Carriage Works, also known as the Stockton and Darlington Railway Carriage Works, was a carriage works of the Stockton and Darlington Railway built in 1853 in Hopetown, near Darlington, County Durham, England. The works built railway ...

(est. 1853), which supplied carriages and locomotives to the Stockton and Darlington Railway. The engineering firm of

William and Alfred Kitching Whessoe is a company based in Darlington and on Teesside in North East England. It was formerly a supplier of chemical, oil and nuclear plant and instrumentation, and today is a manufacturer of low temperature storage. History Background – ...

also manufactured locomotives there around this time. The town eventually developed three significant railway works. The largest of these was the main-line Darlington Works, whose main factory, the North Road Shops, opened in 1863 and remained in operation until 1966. A second works, Robert Stephenson & Co. (colloquially: "Stivvies"), moved to Darlington from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

in 1902. It was renamed "Robert Stephensons & Hawthorns" in 1937, was absorbed by

English Electric N.º UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail) The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during th ...

around 1960, and had closed by 1964. The third was

Faverdale Wagon Works Faverdale is a suburb of Darlington in County Durham, England. It is situated in the north west of Darlington, north of Cockerton. The area was rural until the 20th century, a large wagon works was established in the 1920s, with housing develop ...

, which was established in 1923 and closed in 1962. In the 1950s, it was a UK pioneer in applying mass-production techniques to the manufacture of railway goods wagons.

Quakers and the Echo

As the 19th century progressed,

families in the Darlington area, such as the Peases and Backhouses, became prominent employers and philanthropists. Darlington's most famous landmark, the clock tower, was given to the town by the industrialist

Joseph Pease Joseph Pease may refer to: * Joseph Pease (railway pioneer) (1799–1872), railway owner, first Quaker elected Member of Parliament ** Sir Joseph Pease, 1st Baronet (1828–1903), MP 1865–1903, full name Joseph Whitwell Pease, son of Joseph Pease ...

in 1864. The clock's face was crafted by T. Cooke & Sons of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, and the tower bells were cast by

John Warner & Sons John Warner and Sons was a metalworks and bellfoundry based in various locations in the UK, established in 1739 and dissolved in 1949. Previous businesses A company was founded by Jacob Warner, a Quaker, in 1739 and originally produced water pu ...

of nearby

Norton-on-Tees Norton is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. It stands on higher ground to the south, further away from the River Tees than Stockton town centre. They are small areas west of the area called Roseworth an ...

. These bells were the sister bells to those inside the Elizabeth Tower at the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the most famous of which is

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The officia ...

. The

Darlington Mechanics Institute Darlington Mechanics Institute is a large, imposing building at 82 Skinnergate in Darlington in the North East of England. Mechanics' Institutes were introduced in 1821 to help the working class educate themselves, giving access to newspapers and ...

was opened in 1854 by

Elizabeth Pease Nichol Elizabeth Nichol (''née'' Pease; 5 January 1807 – 3 February 1897) was a 19th-century British abolitionist, anti-segregationist, woman suffragist, chartist and anti-vivisectionist. She was active in the Peace Society, the Temperance movemen ...

, who had made the largest donation towards its building costs. The 91-acre

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

was redeveloped into its current form in 1853, with financial support from the Backhouse family.

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known f ...

, who designed London's

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

and

Manchester Town Hall Manchester Town Hall is a Victorian, Neo-gothic municipal building in Manchester, England. It is the ceremonial headquarters of Manchester City Council and houses a number of local government departments. The building faces Albert Square to th ...

, also designed Darlington’s

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

-listed old Town Hall and Market Hall (in 1860), and its Backhouse's Bank building (in 1864). The latter, which took three years to build, is today now a branch of

Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

bank. During this period, the architect

George Gordon Hoskins George Gordon Hoskins FRIBA (28 October 1837 – 11 December 1911), was an English architect responsible for the design of several public buildings in the North East of England. His works include many large and important buildings - mansions, ba ...

was responsible for much of the town's architecture, designing buildings such as The King's Head Hotel. The Darlington Free Library, a Grade II listed building situated in Crown Street, was built with £10,000 funding from Edward Pease, who lived from 1834 to 1880. It was opened on 23 October 1885 by his daughter, Lady Lymington, after the town council accepted the gift of the purpose-built library and agreed to run it in perpetuity. (The library building today houses a central lending department, a reference library and a "centre for local studies".) In 1870, ''

The Northern Echo ''The Northern Echo'' is a regional daily morning newspaper based in the town of Darlington in North East England, serving mainly southern County Durham and northern Yorkshire. The paper covers national as well as regional news. In 2007, its t ...

'' newspaper was launched.

William Thomas Stead William Thomas Stead (5 July 184915 April 1912) was a British newspaper editor who, as a pioneer of investigative journalism, became a controversial figure of the Victorian era. Stead published a series of hugely influential campaigns whilst ed ...

, a notable editor of ''The Northern Echo'', died in the ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

'' disaster in 1912. Opposite the Northern Echo building in Priestgate is the William Stead

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

Wars

In 1939, Darlington had the most cinema seats per capita in the United Kingdom. On the night of 13 January 1945, a

Lancaster bomber The Avro Lancaster is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the S ...

piloted by

Pilot Officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

William Stuart McMullen of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

was on a training exercise when one of its engines caught fire and it crashed on farmland near Lingfield Lane. McMullen heroically stayed at the controls while his crew parachuted to safety and directed the stricken aircraft away from the houses below. He was killed on impact. His heroism was honoured by renaming Lingfield Lane "McMullen Road" and erecting a memorial monument.

Tornado and the brick train

Starting in 1993, the rail enthusiast group A1 Steam Locomotive Trust worked on building an all-new steam locomotive, the first to be constructed since the 1960s. It was intended to be the 50th member of the long withdrawn

LNER Peppercorn Class A1 The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Peppercorn Class A1 is a type of express passenger steam locomotive. Forty-nine original Peppercorn Class A1s were built to the design of Arthur Peppercorn (who was the last Chief Mechanical Engi ...

engine, called ''Tornado'' and numbered 60163, from scratch in the 1853 former

Stockton and Darlington Railway Carriage Works Stockton may refer to: Places Australia * Stockton, New South Wales * Stockton, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region New Zealand *Stockton, New Zealand United Kingdom *Stockton, Cheshire *Stockton, Norfolk *Stockton, Chirb ...

at Hopetown. Many of the original fleet had been built at Darlington locomotive works in the late 1940s. ''Tornado'' was completed in January 2008. To commemorate the town's contribution to the railways,

David Mach David Mach (born 18 March 1956) is a Scottish sculptor and installation artist. Life and work Mach was born in Methil, Fife. His artistic style is based on flowing assemblages of mass-produced objects. Typically these include magazines, vi ...

's 1997 work ''Train'' is located alongside the A66, close to the original Stockton–Darlington railway. It is a life-size brick sculpture of a steaming locomotive emerging from a tunnel, made from 185,000 Accrington Nori bricks. The work had a budget of £760,000.

21st century

Darlington was the first town in England to allow same-sex civil ceremonies in 2001. The town hosts an annual Gay Pride Festival which comprises a series of celebrations of local

LGBT culture LGBT culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture (indicating people who are queer), while the term gay culture may be used to mean "LGBT culture" o ...

and acceptance held at venues across the town. The town centre has undergone a full refurbishment entitled ''The Pedestrian Heart'', which has seen the majority of the town centre pedestrianised. Initially, the project received criticism surrounding changes to public transport, and removal of Victorian features along High Row. There is now growing evidence, however, that the now-completed changes are meeting with local approval. Then in 2014, the town saw the revamp of one of its old cinemas, The Majestic, into a soft play centre and theatre. In August 2008 the King's Head Hotel in the town centre was devastated by fire, severely damaging the roof and 100 bedrooms. Several shops, including

Woolworths Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...

, were damaged and had to close for weeks afterwards. No one was killed in the blaze. The hotel was carefully restored to its former glory and re-opened in 2012.

Governance

On 1 April 1997, the Borough of Darlington became a

unitary authority area A unitary authority is a local government, local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the ...

with the formation of

Darlington Borough Council The Borough of Darlington is a unitary authority and borough in County Durham, Northern England. The borough is named after the town of Darlington, and in 2011 had a population of 106,000. It is in the Tees Valley mayoralty. The borough bord ...

, which separated it from the

non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.8 million. The term ''shire county'' is, however, an unoffi ...

of Durham for administrative purposes only, as the town is still within

for ceremonial purposes. Although the former districts and boroughs of Durham now form the unitary authority of

. This means that County Durham now has four

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

. , the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for this seat is Conservative

Peter Gibson Sir Peter Leslie Gibson (born 10 June 1934), is a former British barrister and Lord Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, and is currently a judge of the Qatar International Court. Gibson has also served, between April ...

. Former members of parliament for the town include

Jenny Chapman Jennifer Chapman, Baroness Chapman of Darlington (born 25 September 1973) is a British politician and life peer attending shadow cabinet as a Shadow Minister of State at the Cabinet Office since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she served ...

, Alan Milburn, the former

Secretary of State for Health The secretary of state for health and social care, also referred to as the health secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department of Health and Social Care. The incumbent ...

under the

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

Labour government and

Michael Fallon Sir Michael Cathel Fallon (born 14 May 1952) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 2014 to 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Sevenoaks from 1997 to 2019, h ...

, who was

Secretary of State for Defence The secretary of state for defence, also referred to as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Ministry of Defence. The incumbent is a membe ...

under the

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

coalition government and

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

's Conservative government.

Geography

River Skerne, Darlington (geograph 5228944)

Darlington is located in the south of

close to the River Tees, which acts as the border between Durham and Yorkshire. Both the

and

pass through the borough, the Skerne later joining the Tees which then flows east and into the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

Areas within the Borough

In the north are Harrowgate,

Coatham Mundeville Coatham Mundeville is a village in the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated a short distance from Brafferton, on the A167 between Newton Aycliffe and Darlington Darlington is a market ...

and

Beaumont Hill Beaumont Hill is a village in the borough of Darlington and the traditional and ceremonial counties of Durham in England, situated directly to the north of Darlington on the A167 road The A167 and A167(M) is a road in North East England. ...

and to the north-east are

Whinfield Whinfield is a suburb of Darlington, in the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated to the north of the centre of Darlington. Facilities within the community include a doctor's surgery and pharmacy, two local public hous ...

and Haughton Le Skerne. To the east is the suburb of Eastbourne and Red Hall with

Firthmoor Firth Moor, or Firthmoor is a place in the borough of Darlington The Borough of Darlington is a unitary authority and borough in County Durham, Northern England. The borough is named after the town of Darlington, and in 2011 had a population ...

and

Skerne Park Skerne Park is a predominantly council owned housing estate in the southern part of the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated on the southern edge of Darlington. Skerne Park comprises streets ...

to the south. Situated in the west end are

Hummersknott Hummersknott is an area in the western end of Darlington, County Durham England. It is a ward in the unitary authority of Darlington. It consists of mainly post-war houses, and is closely linked to Mowden. The population of the ward taken at ...

, Mowden and

Blackwell Blackwell may refer to: Places ;Canada * Blackwell, Ontario ;United Kingdom * Blackwell, County Durham, England * Blackwell, Carlisle, Cumbria, England * Blackwell (historic house), South Lakeland, Cumbria, England * Blackwell, Bolsover, Alfre ...

. Finally, to the north-west are Branksome,

Cockerton Cockerton is an area, or township, of north-west Darlington in the borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The Cocker Beck flows through the area and empties into the River Skerne via The Denes, an area and string of valleyed parks do ...

Faverdale Faverdale is a suburb of Darlington in County Durham, England. It is situated in the north west of Darlington, north of Cockerton. The area was rural until the 20th century, a large wagon works was established in the 1920s, with housing develop ...

The Denes The Denes is a centrally located area of Darlington in the borough of Darlington, County Durham,England. It consists mainly of semi-detached and 1900s terraced housing, surrounding valley areas of wooded public park and Cocker beck. The area run ...

, West Park, High Grange and Pierremont which is associated with the notable

Henry Pease (MP) Henry Pease (4 May 1807 – 30 May 1881)http://www.saltburnbysea.com/history/LeedsMercTues31May1881.jpg was an English railway owner, peace campaigner and a Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who represented South Durham (UK Parliament consti ...

Distance to other places

Economy

The trend of regional gross value added of Darlington at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for th ...

, with figures in £ millions. Darlington was un-industrial throughout the 20th century, with finance and manufacturing as the main elements of its economy.

Service Sector

A major employer in the area is the English division of the

Student Loans Company The Student Loans Company (SLC) is an executive non-departmental public body company in the United Kingdom that provides student loans. It is owned by the UK Government's Department for Education (85%), the Scottish Government (5%), the Welsh ...

, Student Finance England, which is based at Lingfield Point and employs over 1,000 people. Other large service sector companies with offices in the town include Darlington Building Society. Darlington Borough Council announced that the site for the DL1 complex, previously a car park for

Darlington Town Hall Darlington Town Hall is a municipal building in Feethams, Darlington, County Durham, England. It is the meeting place of Darlington Borough Council. History In the late 1960s proposals were developed by the Shepherd Building Group to demoli ...

, was also to be redeveloped to house riverside office space for the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...

to replace its previous office on the edge of the town in Mowden, in an effort to safeguard Darlington jobs. This was officially opened on 19 March 2015. The Disclosure and Barring Service has a national office in the town.

Amazon UK Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

operates a warehouse facility, which opened in early 2020, employing 1,300 full-time staff, one of the town’s biggest employers.

Telecommunication

EE is the largest private sector employer in the town, with 2,500 staff. The company took over its operations from one of its predecessors, Orange Mobile. The international telecommunications company BT Group recently announced Darlington as one of the economically important locations in England to have BT fibre-optic cables installed underground as part of the company's BT Infinity superfast broadband rollout project. BT Group cites its decision to include Darlington in the national rollour of multi-provider fibre optic (cable) broadband as necessary due to the towns relatively large amount of IT demanding firms and future plans for developments including space for high-tech firms.

Morton Park

The Morton Park area of Darlington is currently undergoing a partial redevelopment, with areas of unused waste land being redeveloped into modern industrial and office space. Companies based in Morton Park and the surrounding area are Infoserve Ltd and vehicle rental company Northgate Vehicle Hire. Morrisons supermarket at Morton Park opened in August 1995. Other commercial spaces in Darlington include North Road Industrial Estate, which includes a

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqua ...

supermarket; Cleveland Trading Estate and Faverdale Industrial Estate. The council depot on Central Park is also to be redeveloped into commercial space.

Engineering

Darlington has a rich engineering heritage and several notable engineering firms established locally.

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

building was particularly important in the town. Bridges built in Darlington span the

River Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...

and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

. Local engineering firms include: *

Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, filtration, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipment, including fuel systems, controls, air ...

has an engine building facility near Morton Park. *

AMEC Amec Foster Wheeler plc was a British multinational consultancy, engineering and project management company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. In October 2017, it was acquired by Wood Group. It was focused on the Oil, Gas & Chemicals, M ...

‘s industrial arm is headquartered in the town *Darlington Forge Company originated in the town, circa 1967 *

Whessoe Whessoe is a company based in Darlington and on Teesside in North East England. It was formerly a supplier of chemical, oil and nuclear plant and instrumentation, and today is a manufacturer of low temperature storage. History Background � ...

originated in Darlington

Retail and leisure

Darlington clock tower and market hall (geograph 6299652)

Tubwell Row, Darlington (geograph 5230683)

As an historic market town, a weekly outdoor market was held on the market square, which is one of the biggest in the country. An indoor market is located underneath the town clock on Prebend Row. They are a number of shops in the area: *Prebend Row also hosts the Cornmill Shopping centre *Grange Road and Skinnergate has a number of independent shops *Duke Street houses art galleries and restaurants *

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses * ...

, a UK retail company, has its largest warehouse distribution centre in the North of England located in Darlington. This centre is within the Faverdale Industrial Estate, North West of the town. The Argos shop is located in the town centre

Sainsbury’s J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...

. * Magnet Group has a shop and site in the town *

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...

has a shop and distribution centre * Bannatyne’s Fitness is headquartered in Darlington and runs a gym in the town. *

House of Fraser House of Fraser (also operating as Frasers) is a British department store group with 44 locations across the United Kingdom, which is now part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it w ...

, trading as

Binns (department store) H. Binns, Son & Co. was a chain of department stores based in Sunderland, later purchased and absorbed by House of Fraser. Early history George Binns moved to Sunderland from Yorkshire in 1804, establishing a small drapery business in 1807 befo ...

, is a major retailer in the town. In November 2012, a deal was signed between Darlington Borough Council and developer Terrace Hill for a £30 million re-development of the site of the former Feethams bus depot. The development includes a new multiplex cinema run by

Vue Cinemas Vue International (, like "view"), is a multinational cinema holding company based in London, England. It operates in the United Kingdom and Ireland as Vue, with international operations in Denmark and Germany (as CinemaxX); Italy (as The Space ...

to serve Darlington and the wider South Durham area, as the area currently has no multiplex cinema. The development has an 80 bedroom

Premier Inn Premier Inn is a British limited service hotel chain and the UK's largest hotel brand, with more than 72,000 rooms and 800 hotels. It operates hotels in a variety of locations including city centres, suburbs and airports competing with the like ...

hotel, and various food and drink venues including

Prezzo Prezzo (german: Pretz) is a ''frazione'' of the commune of Pieve di Bono-Prezzo, in Trentino, northern Italy, located about southwest of Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, ...

Bella Italia Bella Italia (formerly known as Bella Pasta) is a chain of over 90 restaurants offering meals inspired by Italian cuisine in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The chain is part of The Big Table Group, which also owns Café Rouge and Las Iguanas. ...

and

Hungry Horse Hungry Horse is a chain of 284 pub restaurants in England, Wales and Scotland which is owned by Greene King Brewery. It was first established in 1995 and promotes itself as offering low cost meals for families and groups. Work began on a new ...

. The proposal had an expected completion date of late 2014, though this did overrun with completion early 2016.

Hospital

Darlington Memorial Hospital is on Hollyhurst Road, in the corridor between Woodland Road and The Denes.

Culture and landmarks

Theatre

The former Civic Theatre, now The Hippodrome, is a popular arts venue in the town, hosting a mix of musicals, dramas, plays and pantomimes. In 2016, Darlington Civic Theatre closed to mark the start of a £12.3 million renovation project that included a £4.5 million lottery grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and revamped as 'The Hippodrome' and connects to the children's theatre 'Hullabaloo'.

Forum Music Centre

The Forum Music Centre, opened in 2004, hosts regular live music events, from Ska and Punk to Indie and Classic Rock. It also runs a comedy club. As well as live music, the facility houses a state of the art recording studio and several rehearsal rooms. The Carmel Rhythm Club, at Carmel College in the Hummersknott end of town, was another music venue. It opened the same year as the Forum.

Dog Show

Darlington Dog Show was a championship event from 1969. It was usually held in September on the showground in

; but it has now moved to Ripon.

Mosque

The Jamia Mosque and Islamic Society of Darlington is located in the North Lodge Terrace area of the town, an area with a relatively high proportion of ethnic minority residents (39.2% of the population in that area, compared to a town average of 6.3%). Constituted as a charity under UK law in 1982, the mosque offers worship facilities, as well as Islamic education, and has its own

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

mast for calls to prayer.

Transport

Air

Teesside International Airport Teesside International Airport , previously Durham Tees Valley Airport, is an international airport located between Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees, Northern England. It is about south-west of Middlesbrough. The airport serves the North East ...

is east of Darlington town centre and serves

and

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

. The airport was known as Durham Tees Valley Airport from 2004 until mid-2019. It has flights to a few domestic locations across the UK and international flights to some locations in Europe. Many private or general aviation Flights use the airport. The airport has a Fire Training Centre which trains many airport firefighters. The nearest large airports are

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

() and

Leeds Bradford Leeds Bradford Airport is located in Yeadon, in the City of Leeds Metropolitan District in West Yorkshire, England, about northwest of Leeds city centre, and about northeast from Bradford city centre. It serves Leeds and Bradford and th ...

().

Rail

Class 156 Multiple Unit at Darlington (geograph 6953576)

Local services run from

North Road railway station North Road is a railway station on the Tees Valley Line, which runs between and via . The station, situated north-west of Darlington, serves the market town of Darlington in County Durham, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed b ...

, the town's original station.

Darlington railway station Darlington railway station is on the East Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom, serving the town of Darlington, County Durham. It is north of and on the main line it is situated between to the south and to the north. Its three-letter st ...

lies on the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...

and has regular services to

London Kings Cross King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the List of busiest railway stations in ...

Leeds City Leeds City Football Club was the leading professional club in Leeds, England, before the First World War. It was dissolved in 1919 due to financial irregularities, after which Leeds United was established as a replacement. History The club was ...

, Edinburgh Waverley,

Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...

Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...

and

. Darlington railway station also serves as the mainline interchange for

Middlesbrough station Middlesbrough is a railway station on the Durham Coast Line, Esk Valley Line and Tees Valley Line. The station serves the town of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by TransPennine Express. Accor ...

, which itself has few intercity services. Darlington also has access to the

Tees Valley Line The Tees Valley Line is a rail route, in Northern England, following part of the original Stockton and Darlington Railway route of 1825. The line covers a distance of , and connects to via , and 14 other stations in the Teesdale. The sect ...

connecting all the main settlements along the River Tees, running from Bishop Auckland to Saltburn via Darlington, Stockton-on-Tees and Middlesbrough. Darlington railway station has a large

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

clock tower which can be seen throughout large areas of the town.

Roads

Darlington is well connected to the North East's major trunk route, the

A1(M) A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate motorway sections in England. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1, a major north–south road which connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capit ...

, which bypasses the town to the west. It was completed in 1965, replacing the Great North Road route which is now known as the A167. The town is served by three closely-spaced junctions of the A1(M): Junctions 57

A66(M) The A66 is a major road in Northern England, which in part follows the course of the Roman road from Scotch Corner to Penrith. It runs from east of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire to Workington in Cumbria. Route From its eastern term ...

, 58 A68, and 59 A167. Junction 59 is the access exit for Darlington motorway services (Newton Park), with an onsite filling station, hotel and restaurant. Darlington is also close to other major trunk routes, including the A66 trans-Pennine route connecting Darlington to Stockton-on-Tees and the A19. The £5.9 million A66 Darlington eastern bypass opened on 25 November 1985. The Darlington Eastern Transport Corridor, linking the Central Park regeneration zone (Haughton Road) and Darlington town centre to a new roundabout on the A66, was opened in the summer of 2008.

Bus

Arriva Optare Solo buses in Darlington 5 May 2009 pic 1

Bus transport in the town is provided by

Arriva North East Arriva North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus, which operates bus and coach services across the United K ...

. Stagecoach used to operate in the town until 2007, when it sold its operations to Arriva. Arriva services connect Darlington to neighbouring towns such as Durham, Bishop Auckland, Richmond, Stockton, and Middlesbrough. There are also two smaller independent operators running services in the town, called Dales & District and Scarlet Band.

Pavement

Darlington was chosen by the Department for Transport as one of three national Sustainable Travel Demonstration Towns (together with Peterborough and Worcester) in 2004 and delivering a three-year research and marketing programme to promote sustainable travel choices under the brand name 'Local Motion'. It was also chosen as one of six cycling demonstration towns in October 2005, receiving £3 million worth of funding from the government and local council money. 2007 Town Centre Pedestrian Heart Project worth 10 million pounds, saw some of Darlington Town Centre modernised, with an emphasis on vehicles becoming less common in the centre and some roads pedestrianised completely. Other improvements were to cycling facilities and routes, and linking the town to the national cycle route network. Darlington is the only place to win both sustainable travel and cycling demonstration town status.

Education

Museums and heritage

The town's main museum is

Head of Steam Head of Steam, formerly known as the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum, is a railway museum located on the 1825 route of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which was the world's first steam-powered passenger railway. It is based inside the ...

, sited near North Road railway station – it and

Piercebridge Roman Fort Piercebridge Roman Fort (possibly originally known as ''Morbium'' or ''Vinovium'') is a scheduled ancient monument situated in the village of Piercebridge on the banks of the River Tees in modern-day County Durham, England. There were Romans h ...

near the town are run by the Darlington Museum Service.

Institutions

Teesside University , mottoeng = Deeds Not Words , established = 1930 – Constantine Technical College1969 – as Teesside Polytechnic 1992 – gained university status , type = Public , endowment = £0.23 m (2019/20) , chancellor ...

opened a Darlington campus in 2011. It offers

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

in the town to students and businesses. The town has one

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...

college,

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

. It has two

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

s, the

Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, or QE as it is commonly known, is a sixth form college on Vane Terrace in Darlington, County Durham, England. It educates nearly 2000 students from Darlington and the surrounding areas with students coming fro ...

and Carmel College, Darlington sixth form. There are multiple secondary schools including: Carmel College,

Wyvern A wyvern ( , sometimes spelled wivern) is a legendary winged dragon that has two legs. The wyvern in its various forms is important in heraldry, frequently appearing as a mascot of schools and athletic teams (chiefly in the United States, Unit ...

, Haughton,

Hurworth School Hurworth School is an coeducational secondary school located on Croft Road, Hurworth-on-Tees, in the borough of Darlington, England. It is part of the Swift Academies Multi Academy Trust. It is an over-subscribed 5 form entry comprehensive sc ...

Longfield Longfield is a village in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located 6 miles south east of Dartford and the same distance south-west of Gravesend. History The place in Kent is recorded as ''Langanfelda'' in the Saxon Charters of ...

and

St Aidan's St Aidan's is a 355 hectare (877 acres) nature park located between Leeds and Castleford in West Yorkshire, England. The land was formerly an opencast coal mining area that was flooded in 1988, after the riverbank collapsed. Repairs and remedia ...

. Polam Hall is a former independent school and is now a free school. There are also multiple primary schools including: Federation of Abbey Schools, Mowden School, West Park School, Skerne Park primary school

Media

Darlington is home to the regional daily newspaper ''

'' and its sister weekly newspaper '' Darlington & Stockton Times''. The regional radio station 'Darlo Radio' broadcasts from the town. In November 2009 the town appointed an official 'Twitterer in residence', the first of its kind in the UK. Mike McTimoney (known on Twitter as TheDarloBard) is a local regular Twitter user who has been officially charged with tweeting for and about Darlington, and to help promote The Darlington Experiment 2.0, the town's

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

campaign. In August 2022, Darlington Borough Council confirmed that it would be placing a bid for Darlington to host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. However, the town was not part of the shortlist of potential host cities released on 12 August.

Sport

Football codes

The town is home to

Darlington Football Club Darlington Football Club is an association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League North, at the sixth tier of English football. The club was founded in ...

which play at Blackwell Meadows and play in

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

Darlington Railway Athletic F.C. Darlington Railway Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Darlington, England. They are currently members of the and play at Brinkburn Road. History The club was formed after World War I and initially played in the Darlington & Di ...

, plays in the

Wearside League The Wearside Football League is a non-league football competition based in northern England. It consists of three divisions which sits at steps 7 to 9 (or levels 11 to 13) of the National League System and is a feeder to the Northern League Di ...

Division One and play at Brinkburn Road. Darlington FC is known as The Quakers because of the contributions made to the town by men such as

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

and

, members of the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

. Before the 2012 administration, played at the 25,000 capacity

Darlington Arena The Darlington Arena is a rugby union stadium, located in Darlington, County Durham. The arena was opened in the summer of 2003, as the new home ground of Darlington F.C., following the decision to leave their previous ground, Feethams, afte ...

(after 120 years at the

Feethams Feethams is a cricket and former football grounds in Darlington, England. The cricket ground has hosted Durham CCC matches. The football ground was the home of Darlington F.C. for from 1883 to 2003 until the club moved into another ground, ...

ground) when it opened on Neasham Road in 2003. In the 2010–11 season Darlington won the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

however they were relegated from the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, into the then Football Conference. Administration caused Darlington to play home games at Heritage Park in

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

and relegation by four divisions to Division One of the

Northern Football League The Northern League is a men's football league in north east England. Having been founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest football league in the world still in existence after the English Football League. It contains two divisions; Division ...

, of which the club was one of the founders of in 1889, for the 2012–13 season. It moved back to Darlington from the 2016/17 season with a long term groundshare arrangement with

Darlington RFC Darlington RFC are a rugby union team that are situated in the North East town of Darlington, County Durham. They play at Blackwell Meadows on the south side of the town running parallel to the town's A66 by-pass. The first XV plays in Durham/ ...

at Blackwell Meadows. Darlington's first home game at Blackwell Meadows (a 3–2 home win against

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

) took place on 26 December 2016. In the subsequent season, the club was allowed to change back to its current name. Darlington arena 001

Darlington has two

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

clubs Darlington Mowden RFC and

. Darlington Mowden Park play in

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

, the third tier of English rugby union. The club own and play at the Darlington Arena, which played a role in the 2015 Rugby World Cup as hosts to the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

national team. Darlington RFC play at Blackwell Meadows in

Durham/Northumberland 2 Counties 2 Durham & Northumberland, formerly known as Durham/Northumberland 2, is an English rugby union league at the eighth tier of the domestic competition for teams from North East England. The champions and runner-up are promoted to Count ...

Other

Cricket clubs are Darlington Cricket Club and Darlington Railway Athletic Cricket Club. Both play in the

North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League The North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League, commonly abbreviated to NYSD, is the top level competition for recreational club cricket in the north of Yorkshire and south of Durham, England. The league was founded as long ago as 1892, th ...

, Darlington CC won the league twenty times during the 20th century. Athletics Track, Eastbourne Leisure Centre (geograph 4429468)

Darlington's leading athletics club, the Darlington Harriers, was formed in 1891 and has had a number of successful athletes wearing the club colours as well as GB vests. The club celebrated its 125th year in 2016, with anniversary games held at Eastbourne Sports Complex. The Darlington 10K road run is held every August, and attracts several thousand competitors. The Dolphin Centre, which provides a wide range of sporting facilities, was opened by

Roger Bannister Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister (23 March 1929 – 3 March 2018) was an English neurologist and middle-distance athlete who ran the first sub-4-minute mile. At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Bannister set a British record in the 1500 metres and ...

in 1982. It received a £5 million refurbishment in 2006 and was later officially opened by

Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdivision had a population of ...

athlete

Tanni Grey-Thompson Carys Davina Grey-Thompson, Baroness Grey-Thompson, (born 26 July 1969), known as Tanni Grey-Thompson, is a Welsh politician, television presenter and former wheelchair racer. Athletic career Grey-Thompson's Paralympic career started in the 1 ...

Notable people

George Allison George Frederick Allison (24 October 1883 – 13 March 1957) was an English football journalist, broadcaster and manager. He was the BBC's first sports commentator and Arsenal's second longest serving manager. Journalism career Allison was ...

– football manager in 1930s * James Atkinson (1780–1852) – surgeon, artist and Persian scholar *

Duncan Bannatyne Duncan Walker Bannatyne, (born 2 February 1949) is a Scottish entrepreneur, philanthropist, and author. His business interests include hotels, health clubs, spas, media, TV, and property. He is most famous for his appearance as a business an ...

– entrepreneur, residence in Darlington and company offices of Bannatyne Fitness Ltd *

Nick Bilton Nick Bilton is a British-American journalist, author, and filmmaker. He is currently a special correspondent at ''Vanity Fair''. Life and career Bilton was born in Darlington, UK, and grew up in Leeds. He attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas Hi ...

– columnist for ''The New York Times'' and bestselling author *

Julie Bindel Julie Bindel (born 20 July 1962) is an English radical feminist writer. She is also co-founder of the law reform group Justice for Women, which has aimed to help women who have been prosecuted for assaulting or killing violent male partners. A ...

– journalist, columnist, political activist, lesbian and gay rights campaigner, born in Darlington *

Zoe Birkett Zoe Birkett (born 16 June 1985) is an English singer and musical theatre performer. Birkett was the highest placing female contestant on Pop Idol in 2001 and later appeared on Big Brother. Her first single, Treat Me Like A Lady, was release ...

– singer, runner up on television show ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and par ...

'' *

Sandra Bowman Sandra Bowman (born 10 April 1967) is a British swimmer. Swimming career Bowman competed in the women's 100 metre breaststroke at the 1984 Summer Olympics. She represented England in the 100 and 200 metres breaststroke events, at the 1982 Co ...

– Olympic and Commonwealth Games swimmer in 1980s * Aidan Chambers – children's author * Peter Chapman – convicted murderer, born in Darlington in 1977, brought up in nearby Stockton on Tees. *

Tom Craddock Thomas Craddock (born 14 October 1986) is a retired English professional footballer who played for multiple clubs including Spennymoor Town, Middlesbrough, and Portsmouth as a striker. Career Middlesbrough Born in Darlington, County Durham, ...

– footballer * James Cudworth – Locomotive Superintendent for the South Eastern Railway (1845–76) *

Alex Cunningham Alexander Cunningham (born 1 May 1955) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stockton North since 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Shadow Minister for Courts and Sentencing since 2020. Born i ...

– MP for Stockton North *

Giles Deacon Giles Deacon (born 1969) is a British fashion designer, Creative Director and Founder of Giles Deacon group, a fashion enterprise. Deacon joined the Paris Fashion Week in 2016. Deacon has been known to challenge the traditional ideas of womenswe ...

– fashion designer *

J. M. Dent Joseph Malaby Dent (30 August 1849 – 9 May 1926) was a British book publisher who produced the Everyman's Library series. Early life Dent was born in Darlington in what is now part of the Grade II listed Britannia Inn. After a short and ...

– publisher, produced Everyman's Library series * Frederick Dickens – Charles Dickens' beloved scapegrace brother, buried in the West Cemetery. *

Harry Dobinson Harold Dobinson (2 March 1898 – 1990) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre forward in the Football League for Durham City, Burnley and Queens Park Rangers. Life and career Dobinson was born in 1898 in Darlington, Co ...

– footballer *

Elizabeth Esteve-Coll Dame Elizabeth Anne Loosemore Esteve-Coll (née Kingdon; born 14 October 1938) is a British academic and former museum director and librarian. Career The daughter of a Darlington bank clerk, she was educated at Darlington High School, Trini ...

(née Kingdon) – Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the first woman to head a national arts institution. * John W. Ewbank – landscape and marine painter *

Simon Farnaby Simon Farnaby (born 2 April 1973) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is a member of the British Horrible Histories troupe in which he starred in the television series ''Horrible Histories'', ''Yonderland'' and ''Ghosts''. He has writte ...

– actor, writer and comedian * Don Featherstone – filmmaker *

Ruth Gemmell Ruth Katrin Gemmell (born October 1967) is an English actress. She starred in the film ''Fever Pitch'' in 1997 which was followed by supporting roles in television series ''EastEnders'', ''Casualty'', '' Home Fires'' and ''Penny Dreadful.'' Sh ...

– actress * Ian Hamilton – poet and editor *

Ann Heron Ann Heron was a British woman who was murdered on 3 August 1990 at her home in Darlington, County Durham, by an unidentified killer. The case was heavily featured in British media as well as on the BBC programme ''Crimewatch'' in October 1990 ...

– victim of notorious unsolved murder in the town in 1990 *

Ralph Hodgson Ralph Hodgson (9 September 1871 – 3 November 1962), Order of the Rising Sun (Japanese 旭日章), was an English poet, very popular in his lifetime on the strength of a small number of anthology pieces, such as ''The Bull''. He was one of th ...

– poet *

– architect responsible for many of Darlington's

buildings *

Glenn Hugill Alwyn Glenn Hugill (born 8 February 1970 in Darlington, County Durham) is an English television presenter, actor, musician and producer. He is best known for playing policeman Alan McKenna in '' Coronation Street'' during the 1990s, presentin ...

– actor and television producer *

Richard Hurndall Richard Gibbon Hurndall (3 November 1910 – 13 April 1984) was an English actor. He is best remembered for replacing William Hartnell in the role of the First Doctor for '' Doctor Who's'' 20th anniversary special ''The Five Doctors''. Career ...

– actor *

Robert Anderson Jardine The Reverend Robert Anderson Jardine (1878–1950), who published a memoir as R. Anderson Jardine, was an ordained priest of the Church of England and vicar of a parish in Darlington in the north of England. He is best known for performing the ma ...

– vicar *

John Kenworthy John Kenworthy B.Sc., F.R.Aes (1883–1940) was an English aviation engineer and aircraft designer. John Kenworthy appears in the 1901 Census of Darlington, aged 17, living with four sisters, one brother and his parents George and Ellen Kenworth ...

– aeronautical engineer and aircraft designer in World War I * Alan Kitching – typographic artist and teacher *

Philippa Langley Philippa Jayne Langley (born 29 June 1962) is a British writer, producer, and Ricardian, who is best known for her role in the discovery and exhumation of Richard III in 2012 (the ''Looking for Richard'' project), for which she was awarded an ...

– discovered the remains of Richard III in a car park in Leicester in 2012 * Mary Lawson (1910–1940) – stage and film actress of 1920s and 1930s, born in Darlington, killed in air raid on Liverpool * Michael Lee – hard rock drummer (

Little Angels Little Angels were an English hard rock band predominantly active between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. The band reformed on 8 June 2012 to play the Download Festival. History 1984–1994: Early history and UK popularity Little Angels formed i ...

The Cult The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury's ...

Page and Plant Page and Plant (also known as Jimmy Page & Robert Plant) was an English rock band active between 1994 and 1998. The group consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant (both formerly of English rock band Led Zeppelin), accompanied ...

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

) *

Neil Maddison Neil Stanley Maddison (born 2 October 1969) is an English football coach, former professional footballer and co-commentator. He is the academy ambassador and player welfare officer at Middlesbrough. As a player, he was predominantly a central ...

– footballer *

Jann Mardenborough Jann Mardenborough (born 9 September 1991) is a British professional racing driver competing in the Japanese Super GT series. In 2011 he became the third (and youngest) winner of the GT Academy competition, beating 90,000 entrants. He was rewar ...

– racing driver, Le Mans podium finisher * James Morrison – footballer *Christopher M Pattinson GB International Swimmer (1976–1980) * Al Pease – racing driver, only F1 driver disqualified for going too slow (

1969 Canadian Grand Prix The 1969 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Mosport Park on September 20, 1969. It was race 9 of 11 in both the 1969 World Championship of Drivers and the 1969 International Cup for Formula One ...

) * Edward Pease (1767–1858) – Quaker industrialist and railway pioneerODNB entries for Edward Pease and Joseph Peas
Retrieved 31 July 2011, pay-walled.
/ref> *

(1799–1872) – Quaker industrialist and railway pioneer, first Quaker M.P. *

Julie Rayne Julie Rayne is a British singer and entertainer, noted for her television appearances and recordings from the early 1960s. Life and work Rayne was born in Darlington and was educated at the Darlington High School for Girls. Rayne started out at ...

– singer and actress *

Vic Reeves James Roderick Moir (born 24 January 1959), better known by his stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian, artist, surrealist, musician, actor and television presenter, best known for his double act with Bob Mortimer as Reeves & Mortimer. ...

– comedian and author, lived in Darlington as teenager Jim Moir in 1970s *

Katherine Routledge Katherine Maria Routledge (), née Pease (11 August 1866 – 13 December 1935), was an English archaeologist and anthropologist who, in 1914, initiated and carried out much of the first true survey of Easter Island. She was the second child o ...

(née Pease) – archaeologist and anthropologist, made first scientific survey of

Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...

* Paul Smith OBE – former radio executive and technology entrepreneur * Willie Smith – "possibly the best non-specialised, all round billiard player of all time", twice winner of World Billiards Championship out of two entries * Sir

John Summerson Sir John Newenham Summerson (25 November 1904 – 10 November 1992) was one of the leading British architectural historians of the 20th century. Early life John Summerson was born at Barnstead, Coniscliffe Road, Darlington. His grandfather wo ...

– architectural historian *

Paul Swift Paul Swift (August 18, 1934 – October 7, 1994) was an American actor. Career Between 1970 and 1977 he appeared in roles in four of the early feature films directed by John Waters. He additionally appeared as himself in two Waters-relate ...

– professional stunt and precision driver *

Russ Swift Paul Russell "Russ" Swift (born 24 March 1951) is a British driver who is known for performing stunts and for precision driving. Career Starting out as a rally co-driver, and later moving into the sport of Autotesting, Russ Swift has built his c ...

– professional stunt and precision driver *

Geoffrey Thwaites Geoffrey Thwaites (born 24 April 1947) is a British former swimmer. He competed in two events at the 1964 Summer Olympics. References 1947 births Living people British male swimmers Olympic swimmers of Great Britain Swimmers at the ...

GB International Swimmer, 200m Backstroke at the 1964 Olympics *

– campaigning journalist, editor of ''

'', died in sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'' * Cherry Valentine (1993–2022) – drag queen *

David Varey David William Varey (born 15 October 1961) is a former English cricketer. Varey was a right-handed batsman who occasionally fielded as a wicket-keeper. He was born in Darlington, County Durham. Varey made his first-class debut for Cambridge ...

(born 1961) – cricketer *

Paul Walton Paul Walton is a British motoring journalist and photographer. He started his career in 1999, working for ''Classic Cars'' magazine before moving to BBC Top Gear'' magazine in 2002. Highlights during his time at the two magazines included a twin ...

– motoring journalist *

Giuseppe Wilson Giuseppe Wilson (, born Joseph Wilson, 27 October 1945 – 6 March 2022), also known as Pino Wilson, was an Italian footballer who played as a centre back. Although born in Northern England, he played the majority of his football career in Italy ...

– footballer (Lazio and Italy)

Gallery

file:Darlington, "Train" - geograph.org.uk - 796996.jpg, Brick Train sculpture file:Darlington - geograph.org.uk - 52377.jpg, Darlington in 2004 file:darlingtonRailwayStation.jpg,

file:Darlington town centre.jpg, North side of Darlington centre square

Twin towns

Darlington is twinned with: *

Mülheim an der Ruhr Mülheim, officially Mülheim an der Ruhr () and also described as ''"City on the River"'', is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen. It is home to many compan ...

in Germany. *

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

in France.

References and notes

External links

* www.pioneercourt.co.uk *
Darlington Borough Council

Statistics
about Darlington from the

Census 2001 2001 census may refer to a census covered by: * Census in Australia#2001 * 2001 Bangladesh census * 2001 Bolivian census * Canada 2001 Census * 2001 census of Croatia * 2001 Census of India * Lithuanian census of 2001 * 2001 Nepal census * 2001 ...

Darlington Tourist Information

Darlington Railway Centre & Museum

Historic Postcards of Darlington

{{Authority control Towns in County Durham Railway towns in England Places in the Tees Valley Unparished areas in County Durham Places in the Borough of Darlington