The Borough of Darlington 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

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

in County Durham,

Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

. The borough is named after the town of Darlington, and in 2011 had a population of 106,000. It is in 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 In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

. The borough borders three local authority areas; County Durham is to the north and west, Stockton-on-Tees to the east 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 ...

to the south, the River Tees forming the border for the latter.

History

The current borough boundaries were formed on 1 April 1974, by the creation of a new

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shi ...

of Darlington by the Local Government Act 1972, covering the previous

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 ...

of Darlington along with nearly all of Darlington Rural District (the

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 ...

parts of which went to

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 ...

). It remained part of County Durham for administrative purposes until reconstituted as a

on 1 April 1997. For ceremonial purposes it remains part of County Durham, with whom it continues to share certain local services, such as

Fire and Rescue A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

and

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

. It is included within the

area for both cultural and regional government administration.

Council

It is made up of 20 council wards, sixteen within the town of Darlington itself, which are also covered by the Darlington parliamentary constituency and four rural wards of Heighington & Coniscliffe, Hurworth, Middleton St George and Sadberge & Whessoe (part of the Sedgefield parliamentary constituency. The council operates a Leader and Cabinet model of political leadership although a group of local residents aimed to force a referendum on moving to a system with directly elected executive Mayor. Their bid was unsuccessful. The political composition of the council, as of a May 2019 local elections, is Conservative 22;Labour 20; Liberal Democrats 3; Independent 3 and Green Party 2. Since then, one Labour councillor has declared he is now an Independent.

Settlements

As well as Darlington itself the borough includes the surrounding villages of: * Archdeacon Newton * Barmpton * Beaumont Hill * Bishopton * Blackwell * Brafferton *

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 Newton Aycliffe is a town in County D ...

* Denton * Great Burdon * Great Stainton * Heighington *

High Coniscliffe High Coniscliffe is a parish and village in the borough of Darlington and ceremonial county of County Durham, England. The parish includes Carlbury and Low Coniscliffe. It is part of Heighington and Coniscliffe ward, and is situated approxima ...

*Houghton **

Houghton Bank Houghton Bank is a village in the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated a few miles west of Newton Aycliffe, on the A68 between Darlington and Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market t ...

Houghton-le-Side Houghton-le-Side is a small village in the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated a few miles to the south-west of Newton Aycliffe Newton Aycliffe is a town in County Durham, England. Founded ...

*Hurworth **

Hurworth-on-Tees Hurworth-on-Tees is a village in the borough of Darlington, within the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated in the civil parish of Hurworth. The village lies to the south of Darlington on the River Tees, close to its ...

** Hurworth Place **

Neasham Neasham is a village approximately four miles to the south east of Darlington in County Durham, England. Geography and recreation The village sits on the banks of the River Tees which, at that point, marks the border between the counties of D ...

* Killerby *

Little Stainton Little Stainton is a village in the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is a township in the parish of Bishopton, County Durham, situated a few miles west of Stockton-on-Tees. From the Census 2011 the p ...

Low Dinsdale Low Dinsdale is a village and former civil parish in the borough of Darlington (borough), Darlington and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. The Parish population taken at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 871. It is s ...

*Near airport ** Middleton One Row ** Middleton St George **

Oak Tree An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

Piercebridge Piercebridge is a village and civil parish in the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of Durham, England. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 113. It is situated a few miles west of the town of Darlington. It ...

Redworth Redworth is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Heighington in the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of Durham, England. It is west of Newton Aycliffe, between Darlington and Shildon. It had 190 residents at t ...

* Sadberge * Summerhouse *Walworth **

Walworth Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...

** Walworth Gate It is home to

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, ...

(previously known as Durham Tees Valley Airport).

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Darlington at current basic price
published
(pp. 240–253) by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. includes hunting and forestry includes energy and construction includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured Components may not sum to totals due to rounding

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Darlington.

Individuals

* John Williams: 24 November 2011. * Alasdair MacConachie: 24 November 2011.

Military Units

The Light Infantry The Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Light Division. The regiment was one of four 'large' regiments formed after the 1966 Defence White Paper through the amalgamation of units of the Light Infantry Brig ...

: 1996. *

The Rifles The Rifles is an infantry regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of four Regular battalions and three Reserve battalions, plus a number of companies in other Army Reserve battalions. Each battalion of The Rifles was formerl ...

: 17 September 2010.

References

External links

Darlington Borough Council

Darlington Tourist Information

Darlington Railway Centre & Museum

Darlington Arts Centre & Civic Theatre

Video clips

Darlington Borough Council YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darlington, Borough of Local government in County Durham Unitary authority districts of England Places in the Tees Valley Local government districts of North East England Boroughs in England