city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
of
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 N ...
.
The county borders
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...
to the west,
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 ...
to the south, and
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newc ...
and
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land ...
to the north. Boundaries initially aligned to the historic county, stretching between the rivers Tyne and Tees. The County Borough of Teesside formed in 1968, the ceremonial boundaries adjusted while the historic boundaries remained. The Local Government Act 1972 in 1974 further separated the boundaries. The largest settlement is Darlington (92,363) followed by Hartlepool (88,855) and Stockton-on-Tees (82,729).
History
Toponymy
The ceremonial county is officially named ''Durham'', but the county has long been commonly known as ''County'' Durham and is the only English county name prefixed with "County" in common usage (a practice common in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Ăire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
). Its unusual naming (for an English shire) is explained to some extent by the relationship with the
Bishops of Durham
The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...
, who for centuries governed Durham as a
county palatine
In England, Wales and Ireland a county palatine or palatinate was an area ruled by a hereditary nobleman enjoying special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom. The name derives from the Latin adjective ''palÄtÄ«nus'', "relating to ...
(the County Palatine of Durham) outside the usual structure of county administration in England.
The situation regarding the formal name in modern local government is less clear:
*The 2009 structural change legislation created the present unitary council (that covers a large part â but not all â of the ceremonial county) refers to "the
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
of County Durham" and names the new unitary
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
"County Durham" too.
**Later amendment to that legislation refers to the "county of Durham" and the amendment allows for the unitary council to name itself "The Durham Council".
*The council retains the name as Durham County Council. With either option, the name does not include ''County'' Durham.
*The former postal county was named "County Durham" to distinguish it from the
post town
A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...
of Durham.
Anglian Kingdom of Bernicia
Around AD 547, an Angle named
Ida
Ida or IDA may refer to:
Astronomy
* Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter
*243 Ida, an asteroid
*International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station
Computing
*Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...
founded the kingdom of Bernicia after spotting the defensive potential of a large rock at Bamburgh, upon which many a fortification was thenceforth built. Ida was able to forge, hold and consolidate the kingdom; although the native British tried to take back their land, the Angles triumphed and the kingdom endured.
Kingdom of Northumbria
In AD 604, Ida's grandson
Ăthelfrith
Ăthelfrith (died c. 616) was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until his death. Around 604 he became the first Bernician king to also rule the neighboring land of Deira, giving him an important place in the development of the later kingdom of Nor ...
forcibly merged Bernicia (ruled from
Bamburgh
Bamburgh ( ) is a village and civil parish on the coast of Northumberland, England. It had a population of 454 in 2001, decreasing to 414 at the 2011 census.
The village is notable for the nearby Bamburgh Castle, a castle which was the seat of ...
) and Deira (ruled from
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 ...
, which was known as Eforwic at the time) to create the
Kingdom of Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
. In time, the realm was expanded, primarily through warfare and conquest; at its height, the kingdom stretched from the River Humber (from which the kingdom drew its name) to the Forth. Eventually, factional fighting and the rejuvenated strength of neighbouring kingdoms, most notably Mercia, led to Northumbria's decline. The arrival of the Vikings hastened this decline, and the Scandinavian raiders eventually claimed the Deiran part of the kingdom in AD 867 (which became
JĂłrvĂk
Scandinavian York ( non, JĂłrvĂk) Viking Yorkshire or Norwegian York is a term used by historians for the south of Northumbria (modern-day Yorkshire) during the period of the late 9th century and first half of the 10th century, when it was do ...
). The land that would become County Durham now sat on the border with the
Great Heathen Army
The Great Heathen Army,; da, Store Hedenske HĂŠr also known as the Viking Great Army,Hadley. "The Winter Camp of the Viking Great Army, AD 872â3, Torksey, Lincolnshire", ''Antiquaries Journal''. 96, pp. 23â67 was a coalition of Scandin ...
, a border which today still (albeit with some adjustments over the years) forms the boundaries between Yorkshire and County Durham.
Despite their success south of the river Tees, the Vikings never fully conquered the Bernician part of Northumbria, despite the many raids they had carried out on the kingdom. However, Viking control over the
Danelaw
The Danelaw (, also known as the Danelagh; ang, Dena lagu; da, Danelagen) was the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. The Danelaw contrasts with the West Saxon law and the Mercian ...
, the central belt of Anglo-Saxon territory, resulted in Northumbria becoming isolated from the rest of Anglo-Saxon Britain. Scots invasions in the north pushed the kingdom's northern boundary back to the
River Tweed
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the ...
, and the kingdom found itself reduced to a dependent earldom, its boundaries very close to those of modern-day Northumberland and County Durham. The kingdom was annexed into England in AD 954.
City of Durham founded
In AD 995, St Cuthbert's community, who had been transporting Cuthbert's remains around, partly in an attempt to avoid them falling into the hands of Viking raiders, settled at Dunholm (Durham) on a site that was defensively favourable due to the horseshoe-like path of the River Wear. St Cuthbert's remains were placed in a shrine in the White Church, which was originally a wooden structure but was eventually fortified into a stone building.
Once the City of Durham had been founded, the Bishops of Durham gradually acquired the lands that would become County Durham. Bishop Aldhun began this process by procuring land in the Tees and Wear valleys, including Norton, Stockton, Escomb and Aucklandshire in 1018. In 1031,
King Canute
Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, KnĂștr inn rĂki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norw ...
gave Staindrop to the Bishops. This territory continued to expand, and was eventually given the status of a
liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
. Under the control of the Bishops of Durham, the land had various names: the "Liberty of Durham", "Liberty of St Cuthbert's Land" "the lands of St Cuthbert between Tyne and Tees" or "the Liberty of Haliwerfolc" (holy
Wear
Wear is the damaging, gradual removal or deformation of material at solid surfaces. Causes of wear can be mechanical (e.g., erosion) or chemical (e.g., corrosion). The study of wear and related processes is referred to as tribology.
Wear in ...
folk).
The bishops' special jurisdiction rested on claims that King
Ecgfrith of Northumbria
Ecgfrith (; ang, EcgfriĂ° ; 64520 May 685) was the King of Deira from 664 until 670, and then King of Northumbria from 670 until his death in 685. He ruled over Northumbria when it was at the height of its power, but his reign ended with a d ...
had granted a substantial territory to St Cuthbert on his election to the
see
See or SEE may refer to:
* Sight - seeing
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Music:
** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals
*** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See''
** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho
* Television
* ...
of Lindisfarne in 684. In about 883 a cathedral housing the saint's remains was established at
Chester-le-Street
Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea at ...
and
Guthfrith, King of York
Guthred Hardacnutsson (Old Norse: ''GuĂ°rÞðr''; la, Guthfridus; born c.844 â died 24 August 895 AD) was the Christian king of Viking Northumbria from circa 883 until his death.
Life
Kings of Northumbria in the Norse era
The first known ...
granted the community of St Cuthbert the area between the Tyne and the
Wear
Wear is the damaging, gradual removal or deformation of material at solid surfaces. Causes of wear can be mechanical (e.g., erosion) or chemical (e.g., corrosion). The study of wear and related processes is referred to as tribology.
Wear in ...
, before the community reached its final destination in 995, in Durham.
Following the
Norman invasion
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
, the administrative machinery of government extended only slowly into northern England. Northumberland's first recorded Sheriff was Gilebert from 1076 until 1080 and a 12th-century record records Durham regarded as within the shire. However the bishops disputed the authority of the sheriff of Northumberland and his officials, despite the second sheriff for example being the reputed slayer of
Malcolm Canmore
Malcolm III ( mga, MĂĄel Coluim mac Donnchada, label=Medieval Gaelic; gd, Maol Chaluim mac Dhonnchaidh; died 13 November 1093) was King of Scotland from 1058 to 1093. He was later nicknamed "Canmore" ("ceann mĂČr", Gaelic, literally "big head" ...
, King of Scots. The crown regarded Durham as falling within Northumberland until the late thirteenth century.
County Palatine of Durham
Matters regarding the bishopric of Durham came to a head in 1293 when the bishop and his steward failed to attend proceedings of ''
quo warranto
In law, especially English and American common law, ''quo warranto'' (Medieval Latin for "by what warrant?") is a prerogative writ requiring the person to whom it is directed to show what authority they have for exercising some right, power, or ...
'' held by the justices of Northumberland. The bishop's case went before parliament, where he stated that Durham lay outside the bounds of any English shire and that ''"from time immemorial it had been widely known that the sheriff of Northumberland was not sheriff of Durham nor entered within that liberty as sheriff. . . nor made there proclamations or attachments"''. The arguments appear to have prevailed, as by the fourteenth century Durham was accepted as a liberty which received royal mandates direct. In effect it was a private shire, with the bishop appointing his own sheriff. The area eventually became known as the "
County Palatine
In England, Wales and Ireland a county palatine or palatinate was an area ruled by a hereditary nobleman enjoying special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom. The name derives from the Latin adjective ''palÄtÄ«nus'', "relating to ...
of Durham".
Sadberge was a liberty, sometimes referred to as a county, within Northumberland. In 1189 it was purchased for the see but continued with a separate sheriff, coroner and court of pleas. In the 14th century Sadberge was included in Stockton ward and was itself divided into two wards. The division into the four wards of Chester-le-Street, Darlington, Easington and Stockton existed in the 13th century, each ward having its own coroner and a three-weekly court corresponding to the
hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...
court. The
diocese
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...
was divided into the archdeaconries of Durham and Northumberland. The former is mentioned in 1072, and in 1291 included the deaneries of Chester-le-Street, Auckland, Lanchester and Darlington.
The term ''palatinus'' is applied to the bishop in 1293, and from the 13th century onwards the bishops frequently claimed the same rights in their lands as the king enjoyed in his kingdom.
Early administration
Overview
The
historic
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
boundaries of County Durham included a main body covering the
catchment
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
in the east and the Rivers Tyne and Derwent in the north.Vision of Britain â Durham historic boundaries Retrieved 30 November 2007. The county palatinate also had a number of
liberties
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society f ...
Islandshire
Islandshire was an area of Northumberland, England, comprising Lindisfarne or Holy Island, plus five parishes on the mainland.
It is historically associated with the Bishop of Durham, and was administratively an exclave of County Palatinate of ...
Norhamshire
Norhamshire was an exclave of County Durham in England. It was first mentioned in 995, when it formed part of the lands of the priory at Lindisfarne. When the lands north of the River Tees were partitioned into Northumberland and County Durham it ...
exclaves
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
within Northumberland, and the
Craikshire
Crayke is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England, about east of Easingwold.
Etymology
The name ''Crayke'' is of Brittonic origin, derived from the neo-Brittonic Cumbric ''cráșč:g'', meaning "a crag" o ...
exclave within the North Riding of Yorkshire. In 1831 the county covered an area of Vision of Britain â Durham (Ancient): area . Retrieved 30 November 2007 and had a population of 253,910.National Statistics â 200 years of the Census in... Durham . Retrieved 2 December 2007. These exclaves were included as part of the county for parliamentary electoral purposes until 1832, and for judicial and local-government purposes until the coming into force of the
Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844
The Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. 61), which came into effect on 20 October 1844, was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which eliminated many outliers or exclaves of counties in England and Wales for civil purposes. ...
, which merged most remaining exclaves with their surrounding county. The boundaries of the county proper remained in use for administrative and ceremonial purposes until the
1972 Local Government Act
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
.
The Early English and Norman period
Following the Battle of Hastings,
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33â 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
appointed Copsig as Earl of Northumbria, thereby bringing what would become County Durham under Copsig's control. Copsig was, just a few weeks later, killed in Newburn. Having already being previously offended by the appointment of a non-Northumbrian as Bishop of Durham in 1042, the people of the region became increasingly rebellious. In response, in January 1069, William despatched a large
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
army, under the command of
Robert de Comines
Robert de Comines (died 28 January 1069) (also Robert de Comines, Robert de Comyn) was very briefly Earl of Northumbria.
Life
His name suggests that he originally came from Comines, then in the County of Flanders, and entered the following of W ...
, to Durham City. The army, believed to consist of 700 cavalry (about one-third of the number of Norman knights who had participated in the Battle of Hastings), entered the city, whereupon they were attacked, and defeated, by a Northumbrian assault force. The Northumbrians wiped out the entire Norman army, including Comines, all except for one survivor, who was allowed to take the news of this defeat back.
Following the Norman slaughter at the hands of the Northumbrians, resistance to Norman rule spread throughout Northern England, including a similar uprising in York.
William The Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33â 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
subsequently (and successfully) attempted to halt the northern rebellions by unleashing the notorious Harrying of the North (1069â1070). Because William's main focus during the harrying was on Yorkshire, County Durham was largely spared the Harrying.Douglas, D.C. ''William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England'' The best remains of the Norman period include Durham Cathedral and
Durham Castle
Durham Castle is a Norman castle in the city of Durham, England, which has been occupied since 1837 by University College, Durham after its previous role as the residence of the Bishops of Durham. Designated since 1986 as a cultural World Heri ...
, and several parish churches, such as St Laurence Church in
Pittington
Pittington is a village and civil parish in County Durham, in England. It is situated a few miles north-east of Durham. The population as taken at the 2011 census was 2,534.
Pittington is made up of the neighbouring settlements of Low Pittingto ...
. The
Early English period
English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ...
has left the eastern portion of the cathedral, the churches of Darlington, Hartlepool, and St Andrew, Auckland, Sedgefield, and portions of a few other churches.
11th to 15th centuries
Until the 15th century, the most important administrative officer in the Palatinate was the steward. Other officers included the sheriff, the coroners, the
Chamberlain
Chamberlain may refer to:
Profession
*Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure
People
*Chamberlain (surname)
**Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855â1927), German-British philosop ...
and the chancellor. The palatine exchequer originated in the 12th century. The palatine assembly represented the whole county, and dealt chiefly with fiscal questions. The bishop's council, consisting of the clergy, the sheriff and the barons, regulated judicial affairs, and later produced the Chancery and the courts of
Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
and
Marshalsea
The Marshalsea (1373â1842) was a notorious prison in Southwark, just south of the River Thames. Although it housed a variety of prisoners, including men accused of crimes at sea and political figures charged with sedition, it became known, ...
.
The prior of Durham ranked first among the bishop's barons. He had his own court, and almost exclusive jurisdiction over his men. A UNESCO site describes the role of the Prince-Bishops in Durham, the "buffer state between England and Scotland":
From 1075, the Bishop of Durham became a Prince-Bishop, with the right to raise an army, mint his own coins, and levy taxes. As long as he remained loyal to the king of England, he could govern as a virtually autonomous ruler, reaping the revenue from his territory, but also remaining mindful of his role of protecting Englandâs northern frontier.
A report states that the Bishops also had the authority to appoint judges and barons and to offer pardons.
There were ten palatinate barons in the 12th century, most importantly the Hyltons of
Hylton Castle
Hylton Castle ( ) is a stone castle in the North Hylton area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. Originally built from wood by the Hilton (later Hylton) family shortly after the Norman Conquest in 1066, it was later rebuilt in stone in ...
, the Bulmers of
Brancepeth
Brancepeth is a village and civil parish in County Durham, in England. It is situated about from Durham on the A690 road between Durham and Weardale. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 414.
Brancepeth Castle was u ...
, the Conyers of Sockburne, the Hansards of Evenwood, and the Lumleys of
Lumley Castle
Lumley Castle is a 14th-century quadrangular castle at Chester-le-Street in the North of England, near the city of Durham and a property of the Earl of Scarbrough. It is a Grade I listed building. It is currently a hotel.
History
It is named a ...
. The Nevilles owned large estates in the county.
John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby
John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville, (c.1337 â 17 October 1388) was an English peer, naval commander, and soldier.
Origins
He was born between 1337 and 1340 at Raby Castle, County Durham, the eldest son of Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville d ...
rebuilt
Raby Castle
Raby Castle () is a medieval castle located near Staindrop in County Durham, England, among of deer park. It was built by John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby, between approximately 1367 and 1390. Cecily Neville, the mother of the Kings Ed ...
quo warranto
In law, especially English and American common law, ''quo warranto'' (Medieval Latin for "by what warrant?") is a prerogative writ requiring the person to whom it is directed to show what authority they have for exercising some right, power, or ...
'' proceedings of 1293 showed twelve lords enjoying more or less extensive franchises under the bishop. The repeated efforts of
the Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
to check the powers of the palatinate bishops culminated in 1536 in the Act of Resumption, which deprived the bishop of the power to pardon offences against the law or to appoint judicial officers. Moreover, indictments and legal processes were in future to run in the name of the king, and offences to be described as against the peace of the king, rather than that of the bishop. In 1596 restrictions were imposed on the powers of the chancery, and in 1646 the palatinate was formally abolished. It was revived, however, after the
Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
, and continued with much the same power until 5 July 1836, when the
Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836
The Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 (6 & 7 Will 4 c 19) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It abolished the temporal authority of the Bishop of Durham within the County Palatine of Durham, placing the county under lay administ ...
provided that the palatine jurisdiction should in future be vested in the Crown.
15th century to the modern era
During the 15th-century
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses (1455â1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...
, Henry VI passed through Durham. On the outbreak of the Great Rebellion in 1642 Durham inclined to support the cause of the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
, and in 1640 the high sheriff of the palatinate guaranteed to supply the Scottish army with provisions during their stay in the county. In 1642 the
Earl of Newcastle
Earl of Newcastle-upon-Tyne is a title that has been created twice. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1623 in favour of Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox. He was made Duke of Richmond at the same time. For information on thi ...
formed the western counties into an association for the King's service, but in 1644 the palatinate was again overrun by a Scottish army, and after the
Battle of Marston Moor
The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1639 â 1653. The combined forces of the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester and the Scottish Covenanters und ...
(2 July 1644) fell entirely into the hands of the parliament.
In 1614, a
bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
was introduced in parliament for securing representation to the county and city of Durham and the borough of
Barnard Castle
Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...
. The bishop strongly opposed the proposal as an infringement of his palatinate rights, and the county was first summoned to return members to parliament in 1654. After the Restoration of 1660 the county and city returned two members each. In the wake of the
Reform Act of 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...
the county returned two members for two divisions, and the boroughs of Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland acquired representation. The bishops lost their secular powers in 1836. The boroughs of Darlington, Stockton and Hartlepool returned one member each from 1868 until the Redistribution Act of 1885.
'
Durham Castle and Cathedral
Durham Castle and Cathedral is a World Heritage Site (WHS ID No. 370).
The site includes Durham Castle, Durham Cathedral, Durham University, Palace Green and University College, Durham.
See also
*List of World Heritage Sites in the United Kingd ...
' is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other attractions in the County include; Auckland Castle,
North of England Lead Mining Museum
The North of England Lead Mining Museum, better known as Killhope, is an industrial museum near the village of Cowshill, County Durham, England. The museum stands on the site of the former Park Level Mine, which is being restored to show the w ...
The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 reformed the municipal boroughs of Durham, Stockton on Tees and Sunderland. In 1875, Jarrow was incorporated as a municipal borough,Vision of Britain â Jarrow MB . Retrieved 1 December 2007. as was West Hartlepool in 1887.Vision of Britain â West Hartlepool MB/CB . Retrieved 30 November 2007. At a county level, the
Local Government Act 1888
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
* Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...
reorganised local government throughout England and Wales. Most of the county came under control of the newly formed Durham County Council in an area known as an
administrative county
An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...
. Not included were the
county borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...
s of Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland. However, for purposes other than local government, the administrative county of Durham and the county boroughs continued to form a single county to which the Crown appointed a
Lord Lieutenant of Durham
This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Durham.
*Henry Neville, 5th Earl of Westmorland 1552–?
* Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon 2 August 1586 â 1595
*''vacant''
*Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset 4 February ...
.
Over its existence, the administrative county lost territory, both to the existing county boroughs, and because two municipal boroughs became county boroughs: West Hartlepool in 1902 and Darlington in 1915.Vision of Britain â Darlington MB/CB . Retrieved 30 November 2007. The county boundary with the North Riding of Yorkshire was adjusted in 1967: that part of the town of Barnard Castle historically in Yorkshire was added to County Durham,Vision of Britain â Yorkshire, North Riding . Retrieved 30 November 2007. while the administrative county ceded the portion of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in Durham to the North Riding.Vision of Britain â Stockton on Tees . Retrieved 30 November 2007. In 1968, following the recommendation of the Local Government Commission, Billingham was transferred to the County Borough of Teesside, in the North Riding.Vision of Britain â Billingham UD . Retrieved 30 November 2007. In 1971, the population of the countyâincluding all associated county boroughs (an area of )âwas 1,409,633, with a population outside the county boroughs of 814,396.
In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 abolished the administrative county and the county boroughs, reconstituting County Durham as a
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 ...
. The reconstituted County Durham lost territory to the north-east (around Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland) to
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newc ...
Arnold-Baker, C., ''Local Government Act 1972'', (1973) and to the south-east (around Hartlepool) to
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
. At the same time it gained the former area of Startforth Rural District from the North Riding of Yorkshire.Durham County Council â About Us: Council Logo . Retrieved 1 December 2007. The area of the Lord Lieutenancy of Durham was also adjusted by the Act to coincide with the non-metropolitan countyElcock, H., ''Local Government'', (1994) (which occupied in 1981).
In 1996, as part of
1990s UK local government reform
The structure of local government in the United Kingdom underwent large changes in the 1990s. The system of two-tier local government introduced in the 1970s by the Local Government Act 1972 and the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 was abol ...
by
Lieutenancies Act 1997
The Lieutenancies Act 1997 (c. 23) is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that defines areas that lord-lieutenants are appointed to in Great Britain. It came into force on 1 July 1997.
Creation of modern local government
Prior to the Loca ...
, Cleveland was abolished. Its districts were reconstituted as unitary authorities. Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees (north Tees) were returned to the county for the purposes of Lord Lieutenancy.OPSI â Cleveland (Structural Change) Order 1995 . Retrieved 30 November 2007. Darlington also became a third unitary authority of the county. The Royal Mail abandoned the use of postal counties altogether, permitted but not mandatory being at a writer wishes.OPSI â Cleveland (Further Provision) Order 1995 . Retrieved 30 November 2007.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004)
As part of the
2009 structural changes to local government in England
Structural changes to local government in England were effected on 1 April 2009, whereby a number of new unitary authorities were created in parts of the country which previously operated a "two-tier" system of counties and districts. In five s ...
initiated by the
Department for Communities and Local Government
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local governme ...
, the seven district councils within the County Council area were abolished. The County Council assumed their functions and became the fourth unitary authority. Changes came into effect on 1 April 2009.Durham County Council â Local Government Review in County Durham . Retrieved 30 November 2007.
On 15 April 2014, North East Combined Authority was established under the
Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009
The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The legislation places a duty on local authorities to promote understanding of the functions and democratic arrangements of th ...
with powers over economic development and regeneration. In November 2018,
Newcastle City Council
Newcastle City Council is the local government authority for the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. The council consists of 78 councillors, three for each of the 26 wards in the city. It is currently controlled by the Labou ...
,
North Tyneside Borough Council
North Tyneside Council is the local authority of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in Tyne and Wear and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of lo ...
North of Tyne Combined Authority
The North of Tyne Combined Authority is a mayoral combined authority which consists the local authorities of Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, and Northumberland, all in North East England. The authority came into being on 2 November 2018 u ...
Hart
Hart often refers to:
* Hart (deer)
Hart may also refer to:
Organizations
* Hart Racing Engines, a former Formula One engine manufacturer
* Hart Skis, US ski manufacturer
* Hart Stores, a Canadian chain of department stores
* Hart's Reptile Wo ...
,
Dalton Piercy
Dalton Piercy is a village and civil parish in the borough of Hartlepool, County Durham, in England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 Cernsus was 289.
Location
Dalton Piercy is situated 1 mile east of the A19 and 1 mile to ...
and Greatham all issued individual votes of no confidence in Hartlepool Borough Council, and expressed their desire to join the County Durham district.
In October 2021, County Durham was shortlisted for the
UK City of Culture
UK City of Culture is a designation given to a city (or a local area from 2025) in the United Kingdom for a period of one calendar year, during which the successful bidder hosts cultural festivities through culture-led regeneration for the ye ...
County Durham is underlain by Carboniferous rocks in the west.
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last ...
and
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...
strata overlie these older rocks in the east. These
sedimentary
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...
sequences have been cut by
igneous
Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...
The following climate figures were gathered at the Durham weather station between 1981 and 2010:
Green belt
County Durham contains a small area of
green belt
A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which ...
in the north of the county, surrounding primarily the city of Durham, Chester-le-Street and other communities along the shared county border with Tyne and Wear, to afford protection from the
Wearside
Wearside () is a built-up area in both Tyne and Wear and County Durham, Northern England. It is named after the River Wear which flows through it and traditionally all in the County of Durham. In the 2011 census, its official name was the Sunderl ...
conurbation. A smaller green belt separates
Urpeth
Urpeth (Urpeth Grange) is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated a short distance from Ouston and Beamish, near the border with Tyne and Wear. The parish population taken at the 2011 census was 3,630.
Urpeth started its life as a ...
, Ouston, Pelton, and Perkinsville from Birtley in Tyne and Wear. A further small segment by the coast separates Seaham from the Sunderland settlements of Beckwith Green and
Ryhope
Ryhope ( ) is a coastal village along the southern boundary of the City of Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, North East England. With a population of approximately 14,000, measured at 10.484 in the 2011 census, Ryhope is 2.9 miles to the centre of ...
. It was first drawn up in the 1990s.
North Pennines
The county contains a sizeable area of the
North Pennines
The North Pennines is the northernmost section of the Pennine range of hills which runs northâsouth through northern England. It lies between Carlisle to the west and Darlington to the east. It is bounded to the north by the Tyne Valley and ...
, designated an
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...
, primarily west of
Tow Law
Tow Law is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is situated a few miles to the south of Consett and 5 miles to the north west of Crook.
According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,952, increasing to 2,138 at the 201 ...
and
Barnard Castle
Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...
. The highest point (
county top
The mountains and hills of the British Isles are categorised into various lists based on different combinations of elevation, prominence, and other criteria such as isolation. These lists are used for peak bagging, whereby hillwalkers attempt ...
) of historic County Durham is the
trig point
A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The nomenclature varies regionally: they a ...
(not the summit) of
Burnhope Seat
Burnhope Seat is a high moorland fell in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in northern England. It lies between the heads of the Rivers Tees, South Tyne and Wear. The summit is crossed by the boundary between County ...
, height , between Weardale and Teesdale on the border with historic Cumberland in the far west of the county. The local government reorganisation of 1974 placed the higher
Mickle Fell
Mickle Fell is a mountain in the Pennines, the range of hills and moors running down the middle of Northern England. It has a maximum elevation of . It lies slightly off the main watershed of the Pennines, about south of Cross Fell. After Cro ...
south of Teesdale (the county top of
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
) within the administrative borders of Durham (where it remains within the ceremonial county). However, it is not generally recognised as the highest point in Durham.
The two main dales of County Durham (Teesdale and Weardale) and the surrounding fells, many of which exceed in height, are excellent
hillwalking
Walking is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in the United Kingdom, and within England and Wales there is a comprehensive network of rights of way that permits access to the countryside. Furthermore, access to much unculti ...
country, although not nearly as popular as the nearby
Yorkshire Dales
The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954.
The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...
and Lake District national parks. The scenery is rugged and remote, and the high fells have a landscape typical of the Pennines with extensive areas of
tussock grass
Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perenni ...
and blanket
peat bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
in the west, with heathermoorland on the lower slopes descending to the east.
Hamsterley Forest
Hamsterley Forest is a commercial forest in County Durham owned and managed by Forestry England. It is the largest forest in County Durham and covers more than . Recreational activities within the forest are focused at the eastern end, around th ...
near
Crook
Crook is another name for criminal.
Crook or Crooks may also refer to:
Places
* Crook, County Durham, England, a town
* Crook, Cumbria, England, village and civil parish
* Crook Hill, Derbyshire, England
* Crook, Colorado, United States, a ...
is a popular recreational area for local residents.
Birds
A total of 152 species are recorded as breeding; however, not all are considered regular breeders.
Urban areas
County Durham does not have many urban areas as it is mostly rural in character. Small urban areas form around the city of Durham and the towns of Newton Aycliffe, Peterlee, Shildon and Bishop Auckland. Although the south east side of the county at Billingham, Hartlepool, Norton and Stockton-on-Tees form part of
Teesside
Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire.
Historically a hub for heavy manu ...
with
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
Yarm
Yarm, also referred to as Yarm-on-Tees, is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It was previously a port town before the industry moved down the River Tees to more accessible settlements n ...
,
Thornaby-on-Tees
Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and civil parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,741 at the 2011 census, in t ...
and Ingleby Barwick in North Yorkshire. While the north part of the county at Chester-le-Street (which is on the border with Tyne and Wear) forms part of
Wearside
Wearside () is a built-up area in both Tyne and Wear and County Durham, Northern England. It is named after the River Wear which flows through it and traditionally all in the County of Durham. In the 2011 census, its official name was the Sunderl ...
with Sunderland, Houghton-le-Spring, Hetton-le-Hole and Washington (these four were historically part of County Durham).
Governance
County Durham, as considered a county for lieutenancy purposes by the Lieutenancies Act 1997, is administered as a part of the constituent country of England in the United Kingdom. The area is appointed a lord lieutenant and a high sheriff.
The ceremonial county is divided into four administrative counties (see table below), one of which - Stockon-on-Tees - also extends into North Yorkshire. Technically, for administrative purposes, the County of Durham only consists of the area goverened by Durham County Council.The County Durham (Structural Change) Order 2008 Section 3. Retrieved 6 April 2022. The three other areas are counties in their own right.The Durham (Borough of Darlington) (Structural Change) Order 1995 Part II. Retrieved 6 April 2022.The Cleveland (Further Provision) Order 1995 Retrieved 6 April 2022.
The county is partially parished. The city of Durham is the most populous settlement in the county to have a parish. Multiple parishes are styled as having
town council
A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities.
Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions.
Republic of Ireland
Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second t ...
s:
Billingham
Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed i ...
(in Stockton Borough),
Barnard Castle
Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...
Ferryhill
Ferryhill is a town in County Durham, England, with an estimated population in 2018 of 9,362. The town grew in the 1900s around the coal mining industry. The last mine officially closed in 1968. It is located between the towns of Bishop Auckland ...
,
Great Aycliffe
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
,
Newton Aycliffe
Newton Aycliffe is a town in County Durham, England. Founded in 1947 under the New Towns Act of 1946, the town sits about five miles to the north of Darlington and ten miles to the south of Durham. It is the oldest new town in the north of Eng ...
Peterlee
Peterlee is a town in County Durham, England. It lies between Sunderland to the north, Hartlepool to the south, the Durham Coast to the east and Durham to the west. It gained town status in 1948 under the New Towns Act 1946. The act also cre ...
,
Seaham
Seaham is a seaside town in County Durham, England. Located on the Durham Coast, Seaham is situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham. The town grew from the late 19th century onwards as a result of investments in its harbour and ...
,
Sedgefield
Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham.
History Roman
A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...
,
Shildon
Shildon is a town and civil parish in 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 the Stockton and Darli ...
,
Spennymoor
Spennymoor is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is south of the River Wear and is south of Durham. The civil parish includes the villages of Kirk Merrington, Middlestone Moor, Byers Green and Tudhoe.
History Origins
The ...
,
Stanley
Stanley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Film and television
* ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film
* ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy
* ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short
* ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...
and
Tow Law
Tow Law is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is situated a few miles to the south of Consett and 5 miles to the north west of Crook.
According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,952, increasing to 2,138 at the 201 ...
.
1836 to 1889
The county was aligned to other
historic counties of England
The historic counties of England are areas that were established for administration by the Normans, in many cases based on earlier kingdoms and shires created by the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Celts and others. They are alternatively known as an ...
from 1836 until 1889; multiple acts were passed removing exclaves, splitting the county from the bishopric and reforming its structure.
1889 to 1974
The ceremonial county and
administrative county
An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...
were created under the
Local Government Act 1888
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
* Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...
in 1889. Darlington, Gateshead, West Hartlepool (later known as Hartlepool), South Shields and Sunderland became
county boroughs
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...
during the administrative counties years of administrating; each remained in the ceremonial county while outside of the administrative county.
The ceremonial county remained under the same borders as the historic county until 1968 when the County Borough of Teesside formed. Ceremonial duties of the borough (which were made up of areas from two counties) were in the North Riding of Yorkshire ceremonial county.
1974 to 1996
From the 1974 until 1996, the ceremonial county was split into eight districts:Durham County Council â Districts of Durham map . Retrieved 30 November 2007.
*
Chester-le-Street
Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea at ...
Derwentside
Derwentside was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in County Durham, England.
The district took its name from the River Derwent, which made up part of the northern border of the district. Its main towns were Consett and Stanley, ...
Stanley
Stanley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Film and television
* ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film
* ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy
* ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short
* ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...
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 N ...
Seaham
Seaham is a seaside town in County Durham, England. Located on the Durham Coast, Seaham is situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham. The town grew from the late 19th century onwards as a result of investments in its harbour and ...
and
Peterlee
Peterlee is a town in County Durham, England. It lies between Sunderland to the north, Hartlepool to the south, the Durham Coast to the east and Durham to the west. It gained town status in 1948 under the New Towns Act 1946. The act also cre ...
Spennymoor
Spennymoor is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is south of the River Wear and is south of Durham. The civil parish includes the villages of Kirk Merrington, Middlestone Moor, Byers Green and Tudhoe.
History Origins
The ...
,
Sedgefield
Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham.
History Roman
A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...
and
Newton Aycliffe
Newton Aycliffe is a town in County Durham, England. Founded in 1947 under the New Towns Act of 1946, the town sits about five miles to the north of Darlington and ten miles to the south of Durham. It is the oldest new town in the north of Eng ...
*
Teesdale
Teesdale is a dale, or valley, in Northern England. The dale is in the River Teesâs drainage basin, most water flows stem from or converge into said river, including the Skerne and Leven.
Upper Teesdale, more commonly just Teesdale, falls b ...
, including
Barnard Castle
Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...
and the villages of Teesdale
*
Wear Valley
Wear Valley was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in County Durham, England. Its council and district capital was Crook.
The district covered much of the Weardale area. In the west it was parished and rural, whereas in the eas ...
Crook
Crook is another name for criminal.
Crook or Crooks may also refer to:
Places
* Crook, County Durham, England, a town
* Crook, Cumbria, England, village and civil parish
* Crook Hill, Derbyshire, England
* Crook, Colorado, United States, a ...
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) â the second-largest AONB in England and Wales. Th ...
*
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 of 106,000.
It is in the Tees Valley mayoralty. The borough border ...
, Darlington along with nearby villages around the town.
A
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 ...
replaced the administrative county. The boundaries only deviated from the ceremonial boundaries after 1995 when the Darlington Borough became 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 ...
.
1996 to present
On the 1 April 1996, the county of Cleveland was abolished with its boroughs of Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees (north of the River Tees) becoming a part of the ceremonial county.
The non-metropolitan county was reconstituted on 1 April 2009: the strategic services-providing Durham County Council was re-organised into a single district of the same name, merging with the seven local facility-providing districts in the non-metropolitan county and became structured as 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 ...
. It has 126 councillors. The three pre-existing unitary authorities were unaffected.
Parliament
The county boundaries used for parliamentary constituencies are those used between 1974 and 1996, consisting of the County Durham district and the Darlington Borough. This area elects seven Members of Parliament. As of the 2019 General Election, four of these MPs are
Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
and three MPs are
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
The police and fire services operate according to the 1974-96 ceremonial county boundaries:
*
Durham Constabulary
Durham Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing ceremonial county of County Durham in North East England. The forceâs area is bordered by Cumbria Constabulary to the west, Cleveland Police to the south east, Nor ...
,Durham Constabulary â Force Geography . Retrieved 1 December 2007.
Ron Hogg
Adam Ronald Hogg (1 October 1951 â 17 December 2019) was a British politician and police officer. He was the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner, elected for the Labour Party. He was the first person to hold the post and was elected on 15 ...
was first elected the
Durham Police and Crime Commissioner
The Durham Police and Crime Commissioner is the elected official who sets out the way crime is tackled by Durham Constabulary in the English county of County Durham. The post was created in November 2012, following an election held on 15 November ...
for the force on 15 November 2012.
*
Cleveland Police
Cleveland Police is the territorial police force responsible for the policing area corresponding to the former county of Cleveland in Northern England. As of September 2017, the force had 1,274 police officers, 278 police staff, 124 police com ...
*
County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service
County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering an area of , for the unitary authority areas of County Durham and Darlington. The service area borders with Cleveland Fire Brigade, Nort ...
, it is under supervision of a combined fire authority consisting of 25 local councillors: 21 from Durham County Council and 4 from Darlington Borough Council.
*
Cleveland Fire Brigade
Cleveland Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the boroughs of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland & Stockton-on-Tees in the North East of England. The name originates from the former county of Cleveland ...
NHS
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
. Northumbria Ambulance Service and County Durham Ambulance Service (following historic county borders) merged on 1 April 1999 to become the North East service. In 2005 the area was adapted to the modern North East England regional extent.
Air ambulance services are provided by the
Great North Air Ambulance
The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) is a registered charity and air ambulance based in the United Kingdom. It operates a dedicated helicopter emergency service for the North of England with three aircraft. It serves North Yorkshire, ...
. The charity operates three bases, including one in Eaglecliffe.
Teesdale
Teesdale is a dale, or valley, in Northern England. The dale is in the River Teesâs drainage basin, most water flows stem from or converge into said river, including the Skerne and Leven.
Upper Teesdale, more commonly just Teesdale, falls b ...
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) â the second-largest AONB in England and Wales. Th ...
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 t ...
estimated in 2016 that the Durham County Council area had a population of 522,100, 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 of 106,000.
It is in the Tees Valley mayoralty. The borough border ...
a population of 105,600, the Borough of Hartlepool a population of 92,800, and the part of the
Borough of Stockton-on-Tees
The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees is a unitary authority with borough status in the counties of County Durham and North Yorkshire, England. The borough had a population of 191,600 in 2011.
The main settlement and namesake of the borough is Stock ...
in County Durham (the other part being in North Yorkshire) a population of 137,300. This gives the total estimated population of the ceremonial county at 857,800.
Former non-metropolitan county
At the 2001 Census, Easington and Derwentside districts had the highest proportion (around 99%) in the county council area of resident population who were born in the UK.National Statistics â Census 2001 â Ethnicity and religion in England and Wales . Retrieved 2 December 2007. 13.2% of the county council area's residents rate their health as ''not good'', the highest proportion in England.
96.6% of County Durham's residents are White British, with other white groups making up a further 1.6% of the population. Around 77% of the county's population are Christian whilst 22% have no religion, and around 1% come from other religious communities. These figures exclude around 6% of the population who did not wish to state their religion.
As at 2001, Chester-le-Street district has the lowest number of available jobs per working-age resident (0.38%).Hastings, D., Local area labour market statistical indicators incorporating the Annual Population Survey '', National Statistics â Labour Market Trends, (2006). Retrieved 2 December 2007.
Economy
Economic output
The chart and table summarise unadjusted
gross value added
In economics, gross value added (GVA) is the measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy. "Gross value added is the value of output minus the value of intermediate consumption; it is a measure o ...
(GVA) in millions of
pounds sterling
Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: ÂŁ) is the main unit of sterling, and ...
for County Durham across 3 industries at current basic prices from 1995 to 2004.
Businesses
Phileas Fogg snacks Phileas Fogg is a brand of snack products in the United Kingdom that was created in 1982 by Derwent Valley Foods. The brand is named for Phileas Fogg, the protagonist of Jules Verne's ''Around the World in Eighty Days'', and the products are made in ...
are made by the
United Biscuits
United Biscuits (UB) is a British multinational food manufacturer, makers of McVitie's biscuits, Jacob's Cream Crackers, and Twiglets. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In ...
subsidiary
KP Snacks
KP Snacks is a British producer of branded and own-label maize-, potato-, and nut-based snacks, "Choc Dips" and nuts. The ''KP'' stands for âKenyon Produceâ. The company is based in Slough, England, UK.
History
The company was founded in ...
in Consett on the Number One Industrial Estate. Nearby
ice protection system
In aeronautics, ice protection systems keep atmospheric moisture from accumulating on aircraft surfaces, such as wings, propellers, rotor blades, engine intakes, and environmental control intakes. Ice buildup can change the shape of airfoils ...
s for aircraft.
Thomas Swan
Founded in England in 1926, Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. is a leading independent manufacturer of performance and fine chemical
In chemistry, fine chemicals are complex, single, pure chemical substances, produced in limited quantities in multipu ...
, an international chemicals company, is in
Crookhall
Crookhall is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated between Consett and Delves Lane. It is named after Crook Hall which once stood nearby.
History
Crookhall village was created in about 1844 when George Baker, MP of Crook Ha ...
Elddis
Elddis is a caravan and motorhome manufacturer based in Consett, County Durham, England.
History
Elddis was founded in 1965 by Siddle Cook and his son, Raymond, and is named for 'Siddle' spelt backwards. They established a factory in Consett, Co ...
Carrville
Belmont is a suburb forming the north-eastern parts of the city of Durham, England. Belmont Parish covers four old coal mining villages of Belmont, Carrville, Broomside and Gilesgate Moor, which have been joined together by industrial and subu ...
, Durham was the second largest employer in the north east after Nissan, before the company went bankrupt in 2006.
Northumbrian Water
Northumbrian Water Limited is a water company in the United Kingdom, providing mains water and sewerage services in the English counties of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham and parts of North Yorkshire, and also supplying water as Essex and ...
is in
Pity Me
Pity Me is a suburban village of Durham, England, located north of Framwellgate Moor and west of Newton Hall.
Etymology
There are various theories on the origin of Pity Me's unusual name. Most likely, as speculated in the ''Oxford Dictionary o ...
,
Framwellgate Moor
Framwellgate Moor is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is situated to the north of Durham, and is adjacent to Pity Me and Newton Hall. It has a population of 5,404,
. Esh Group is a large construction company based south of Durham in
Bowburn
Bowburn is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated about to the south-east of Durham, on the A177, between Coxhoe to the south-east, and High Shincliffe to the north-west.
It is part of the Cassop-cum-Quarrington parish.
History ...
.
Schmitz Cargobull
Schmitz Cargobull AG is a German manufacturer of semi-trailers, trailers and truck bodies. The company's head office is located in Horstmar, Germany, and its registered office is in the neighbouring city of Altenberge in the state of North Rhine- ...
UK is the UK's biggest trailer manufacturer, notably for
refrigerated trailer
A refrigerator truck or chiller lorry (also called a Reefer), is a van or truck designed to carry perishable freight at low temperatures. Most long-distance refrigerated transport by truck is done in articulated trucks pulling refrigerated semi ...
s, and is based at
Harelaw
Harelaw is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated to the north of Annfield Plain
Annfield Plain is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated on a plateau between the towns of Stanley, to the north-east, and Cons ...
Black & Decker
Black+Decker Inc. is an American manufacturer of power tools, accessories, hardware, home improvement products, home appliances and fastening systems headquartered in Towson, Maryland, north of Baltimore, Maryland, USA, where the company was o ...
and
Electrolux
Electrolux AB () is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool.
Electrolux products sell under a variety ...
had large factories at
Spennymoor
Spennymoor is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is south of the River Wear and is south of Durham. The civil parish includes the villages of Kirk Merrington, Middlestone Moor, Byers Green and Tudhoe.
History Origins
The ...
, but moved production overseas. Thorn Lighting of the
Zumtobel Lighting Group
The Zumtobel Group is an Austrian company specialising in lighting headquartered in Dornbirn. Zumtobel engages in the development, production and sales of lighting, luminaires, lighting management and lighting components for indoor and outdoor ap ...
are on the Green Lane Industrial Estate at Spennymoor. Since 2007
RF Micro Devices
RF Micro Devices (also known as RFMD or RF Micro), was an American company that designed and manufactured high-performance radio frequency systems and solutions for applications that drive wireless and broadband communications. Headquartered in Gr ...
(RFMD) have made electronic
wafer
A wafer is a crisp, often sweet, very thin, flat, light and dry biscuit, often used to decorate ice cream, and also used as a garnish on some sweet dishes. Wafers can also be made into cookies with cream flavoring sandwiched between them. They ...
s on the Heighington Lane Business Park at
Newton Aycliffe
Newton Aycliffe is a town in County Durham, England. Founded in 1947 under the New Towns Act of 1946, the town sits about five miles to the north of Darlington and ten miles to the south of Durham. It is the oldest new town in the north of Eng ...
, on the site formerly owned by Fujitsu. Slightly to the north, TKA Tallent make automotive axles and chassis components. Husqvarna-
Flymo
Flymo is a hover lawnmower invented by Karl Dahlman in 1964, after seeing Sir Christopher Cockerell's hovercraft
A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, m ...
, formerly owned by Electrolux, are on the Aycliffe Industrial Estate, where the world's first hover
mower
A mower is a person or machine that cuts (mows) grass or other plants that grow on the ground. Usually mowing is distinguished from reaping, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for harvesting grain crops, e.g. with reape ...
Barnard Castle
Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...
that makes pharmaceuticals.
NSK make ball bearings on the North West Industrial Estate at Peterlee, and
GWA International
GWA Group Limited (formerly Great Western Australia Ltd.)() is an Australian company that distributes household consumer products and was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in May 1993. GWA closed its last remaining factory in 2017. This s ...
garage door
A garage door is a large door on a garage that opens either manually or by an electric motor (a garage door opener). Garage doors are frequently large enough to accommodate automobiles and other vehicles. Small garage doors may be made in a sin ...
s.
Mecaplast Group
The Novares Group is a French manufacturer of car parts. It was started in 1955 by Charles Manni, and was previously known as Mecaplast.Easington Village near Peterlee.
Reckitt Benckiser
Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, trade name, trading as Reckitt, is a United Kingdom, British multinational corporation, multinational fast moving consumer goods, consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, England. It is a producer of health, ...
make
cough syrup
Cold medicines are a group of medications taken individually or in combination as a treatment for the symptoms of the common cold and similar conditions of the upper respiratory tract. The term encompasses a broad array of drugs, including ...
Walkers Crisps
Walkers is a British snack food manufacturer mainly operating in the UK and Ireland. The company is best known for manufacturing potato crisps and other (non-potato-based) snack foods. In 2013, it held 56% of the British crisp market. Walker ...
have a site north of Peterlee.
Education
Durham
LEA
Lea or LEA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Lea River, Tasmania, Australia
* Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows
* RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA"
England
* Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish
* Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...
has a comprehensive school system with 36 state secondary schools (not including
sixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate Di ...
s) and five independent schools (four in Durham and one in Barnard Castle). Easington district has the largest school population by year, and Teesdale the smallest with two schools. Only one school in Easington and Derwentside districts have sixth forms, with about half the schools in the other districts having sixth forms.
Durham University is based in
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 N ...
Teesside University
, mottoeng = Deeds Not Words
, established = 1930 â Constantine Technical College1969 â as Teesside Polytechnic 1992 â gained university status
, type = Public
, endowment = ÂŁ0.23 m (2019/20)
, chancellor ...
Peterlee
Peterlee is a town in County Durham, England. It lies between Sunderland to the north, Hartlepool to the south, the Durham Coast to the east and Durham to the west. It gained town status in 1948 under the New Towns Act 1946. The act also cre ...
, controversial piece of concrete art designed by
Victor Pasmore
Edwin John Victor Pasmore, CH, CBE (3 December 190823 January 1998) was a British artist. He pioneered the development of abstract art in Britain in the 1940s and 1950s.
Early life
Pasmore was born in Chelsham, Surrey, on 3 December 1908. He ...
Barnard Castle
Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...
Castle Eden
Castle Eden is a village in County Durham, in England. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 642. It is situated a short distance to the south of Peterlee, Wingate, Hutton Henry, the A19 and Castle Eden Dene. The village is fam ...
Castle Eden Dene
Castle Eden Dene is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserve in the Easington district of County Durham, England. It is located mostly in Peterlee, between the A19 and A1086 roads.
The dene is the largest, and biolo ...
, Nature reserve with coal mining heritage.
*
Causey Arch
The Causey Arch is a bridge near Stanley in County Durham, northern England. It is the oldest surviving single-arch railway bridge in the world, and a key element of the industrial heritage of England. It carried an early wagonway (horse-draw ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
*
Durham Dales
The Durham Dales is the name given to a large area of landscape in the west of County Durham, consisting primarily of the Durham portion of the North Pennines, in England.
Geography
The Durham Dales consist primarily of a series of high expos ...
Finchale Priory
Finchale Priory () sometimes referred to as Finchale Abbey was a 13th-century Benedictine priory. The remains are sited by the River Wear, four miles from Durham, England. It is a Grade I listed building.
Early history
Godric was born about ...
Hamsterley Forest
Hamsterley Forest is a commercial forest in County Durham owned and managed by Forestry England. It is the largest forest in County Durham and covers more than . Recreational activities within the forest are focused at the eastern end, around th ...
Sedgefield
Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham.
History Roman
A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...
*
High Force
High Force is a waterfall on the River Tees, near Middleton-in-Teesdale, Teesdale, England. The waterfall is within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the European Geopark. The waterfall is part of the historic coun ...
and
Low Force
Low Force is an 18-foot (5.5m) high set of falls on the River Tees, England, UK. Further upstream is the High Force waterfall. Low Force is also the site of the Wynch Bridge, completed in 1830. It is suggested that only one person at a time shou ...
waterfall
A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...
Ireshopeburn
Ireshopeburn ( ''EYE-sup-burn'' ) is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated on the south side of Weardale, between St John's Chapel and Wearhead, and on the other side of the Wear from West Blackdene and New House. In the 2001 ...
â oldest Methodist chapel in the world to have held continuous services. Site of the 'Weardale Museum'
* Killhope Wheel, part of the North of England Lead Mining Museum in
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) â the second-largest AONB in England and Wales. Th ...
* Kynren, night show in Bishop Auckland, depicting British History.
*
Locomotion
Locomotion means the act or ability of something to transport or move itself from place to place.
Locomotion may refer to:
Motion
* Motion (physics)
* Robot locomotion, of man-made devices
By environment
* Aquatic locomotion
* Flight
* Locomo ...
railway museum, in
Shildon
Shildon is a town and civil parish in 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 the Stockton and Darli ...
*
Longovicium
Longovicium (or Lanchester Roman Fort) was an auxiliary fort located on Roman Dere Street, in the Roman province of Britannia Inferior. It is located just southwest of Lanchester () in the English county of Durham, roughly to the west of the ...
Roman Fort, Lanchester â ruined auxiliary fort.
*
North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers
The North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers (NEIMME), commonly known as The Mining Institute, is a British Royal Chartered learned society and membership organisation dedicated to advancing science and technology in the N ...
, Newcastle
* Oriental Museum, Durham City â Asian artefacts and information.
*
Raby Castle
Raby Castle () is a medieval castle located near Staindrop in County Durham, England, among of deer park. It was built by John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby, between approximately 1367 and 1390. Cecily Neville, the mother of the Kings Ed ...
, near
Staindrop
Staindrop is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is situated approximately north east of Barnard Castle, on the A688 road. According to the 2011 UK Census the population was 1,310, this includes the hamlets of Cleatlam a ...
Seaham Hall
Seaham Hall is an English country house, now run as a spa hotel, in County Durham.
History
Seaham Hall was built in the 1790s by Sir Ralph Milbanke, 6th Baronet. In 1815 the poet Lord Byron married Anne Isabella Milbanke at Seaham Hall. The fr ...
*
Sedgefield
Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham.
History Roman
A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...
â St Edmund's Church has notable Cosin woodwork. Home to
Sedgefield Racecourse
Sedgefield Racecourse is an English left-handed horse racing course, used for jump racing. It is owned by Arena Racing Company and located close to the town of Sedgefield, County Durham.
The finishing straight is about three furlongs in length, wi ...
.
*
Spennymoor
Spennymoor is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is south of the River Wear and is south of Durham. The civil parish includes the villages of Kirk Merrington, Middlestone Moor, Byers Green and Tudhoe.
History Origins
The ...
- Jubilee park
*
Tanfield Railway
The Tanfield Railway is a heritage railway in Gateshead and County Durham, England. Running on part of a former horse-drawn colliery wooden waggonway, later rope & horse, lastly rope & loco railway. It operates preserved industrial stea ...
Ushaw College
Ushaw College (formally St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw), is a former Catholic seminary near the village of Ushaw Moor, County Durham, England, which is now a heritage and cultural tourist attraction. The college is known for its Georgian and Vict ...
, Catholic Seminary of great religious heritage.
*
Weardale Railway
The Weardale Railway is an independently-owned British single-track branch line heritage railway between , Witton-le-Wear, Wolsingham, Frosterley and Stanhope. Weardale Railway began services on 23 May 2010, but decided to run special trains r ...
, at
Stanhope, County Durham
Stanhope is a market town and civil parish in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England. It lies on the River Wear between Eastgate and Frosterley, in the north-east of Weardale. The main A689 road over the Penni ...
List of Deputy Lieutenants of Durham
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
List of High Sheriffs of Durham
This is a list of the High Sheriffs of County Durham, England.
In most counties the High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. In the Palatinate of Durham the officeholder was appointed by and was accountable to the Bishop of D ...
*
County Durham (UK Parliament constituency)
Durham or County Durham was a county constituency in northern England, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1675 until 1832.
History
The constituency consisted of the whole county of Durham (including t ...
â Historical list of MPs for County Durham constituency
Historic England Archive
The Historic England Archive is the public archive of Historic England, located in The Engine House on Fire Fly Avenue in Swindon, formerly part of the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway.
It is a public archive of architectural and arch ...