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ON-LINE GUIDE TO COUNTY DURHAM
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This brief guide provides
summary information on towns, villages and places to visit
in County Durham as well as some interesting
facts and anecdotes on the local area. To find a specific
place either scroll down the page or use the find
facility on your browser. Much more information can be
found in our
TRAVEL GUIDES -
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for details.
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covers over 5,000 entries in Great Britain and Ireland.
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County Durham is dominated by the marvellous city of Durham and, in particular,
the magnificent cathedral that is now a World Heritage Site. The county's prosperity
was founded largely on coal mining, and now that
the industry has all but disappeared the scars it created are being swept away. County
Durham's countryside has always supported an
important farming industry, and Central and South
Durham still retain a gentle landscape of fields,
woodland, streams and country lanes.
Durham City
Arriving in Durham by train, the visitor is presented with what
must be one of the most breathtaking urban views in Europe.
Towering over the tumbling roofs of the city is the magnificent bulk
of Durham Cathedral, third only to Canterbury and York
in ecclesiastical significance but excelling them in
architectural splendour. The cathedral owes its
origin to the monks of Lindisfarne, who, in AD 875,
fled from Viking attacks, taking with them the coffin of St Cuthbert.
In AD 980 they finally settled at this easily defended site, where
the River Wear makes a wide loop around a rocky outcrop, and
they built the White Church, where St Cuthbert's remains were finally
laid to rest. The founder of the present cathedral was a
Norman, William de St Carileph, Bishop of
Durham from 1081 to 1096. He was determined to replace
the little church with a building of the scale and style of
the splendid new churches he had seen being built
in France and in 1093 the foundation stones were laid. The result
was the creation of the finest and grandest example of
Norman architecture in Europe. Sharing the same rocky peninsula is
Durham Castle, whose impregnability ensured that Durham was one
of the few towns in Northumbria that was never captured by the
Scots through force. The castle is now used as a hall of residence for
the students of Durham University, which was founded in
1832, making it the third oldest English university, after Oxford
and Cambridge.
The rest of Durham reflects the long history of the castle
and cathedral it served. There are winding streets, the ancient
Market Place, elegant Georgian houses and quiet courts and
alleyways, churches, museums, art galleries and heritage centres.
The Botanic Gardens, run by the University, feature a
large collection of North American trees, including junior-sized
giant redwoods, a series of small
`gardens-within-gardens' and walks through mature woodland.
Around Durham
Hartlepool
15 miles SE of Durham on the A179
On 16 December, 1914 Hartlepool was the first town in Britain
to suffer from enemy action, when it was shelled from German
warships lying off the coast. Nowadays it is a thriving shopping centre,
with some outstanding tourist attractions, including
the Hartlepool Historic Quay and Museum. Guided tours
are available of HMS Trincomalee, Britain's oldest surviving
warship, and the PSS Wingfield
Castle, an old paddle steamer.
Stockton-on-Tees
17 miles SE of Durham on the A177
Stockton-on-Tees is famous for being one end of the Stockton
to Darlington railway, which opened in 1825 so that coal from the
mines of South Durham could have
access to the River Tees. Notable natives of Stockton include
John Walker, the inventor of the humble friction match, born here in
1781; Thomas Sheraton, the furniture maker and designer, born here
in 1751; and Ivy Close, who won Britain's first ever beauty contest
in 1908.
Darlington
17½ miles S of Durham on the A167
An ancient market town that was founded in Saxon
times, Darlington's greatest claim to fame lies in the role it played, with
its neighbour Stockton, in the creation of the world's first
commercially successful public railway. The Darlington Railway
Centre and Museum houses relics of the pioneering Stockton and
Darlington Railway, including a replica of
Stephenson's Locomotion No 1.
Chester-le-Street
5½ miles N of Durham on the A167
A busy market town on the River Wear, the town's medieval
Church of St Mary and St Cuthbert stands on the site of a 9th
century cathedral that was established by the monks of Lindisfarne
while they stayed here for 113 years before moving to
Durham. Waldridge Fell Country Park, southwest of Chester-le-Street,
is County Durham's last surviving area of lowland heathland.
To the northeast lies one of the regions most popular
attractions, the award-winning North of England Open Air
Museum at Beamish. Set in 200 acres of
countryside, it illustrates life in the North of England in the late
19th and early 20th centuries by way of a cobbled street full of
shops, banks and offices, a colliery village complete with drift mine, an
old engine shed, a horse yard and terraced gardens. To the
northwest of Beamish is Causey Arch, which claims to be the world's first
single-arch railway bridge; it carried the Tanfield Railway between
Sunniside and Causey.
In the old part of Washington, northeast of
Chester-le-Street, is Washington Old Hall, the home of the Washington
family, ancestors of George Washington, the first American president.
The present house was built in around 1623 and the interiors re-create
a typical manor house of the 17th century. Also in Washington is
the Washington Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre, a
conservation area and bird watchers' paradise, and the
Glaxo Wellcome Wetland Discovery Centre.
Sunderland
11½ miles NE of Durham on the A690
Sunderland is one of Britain's newer cities: the Church of
St Michael and All Angels, the first minster to be created in
England since the Reformation, was proclaimed Sunderland Minster
in January 1998. To the south of the city centre is the
Ryhope Engines Museum, based on a pumping station that supplied the city
and surrounding area with water.
On the north side of the Wear, in the suburb of
Monkwearmouth,
is an important site of early Christianity. Glass was first made
in Sunderland in the 7th century at St Peter's Church and the
National Glass Centre is close by.
Peterlee
10½ miles E of Durham on the A1086
Peterlee was established as a New Town in 1948 to re-house
the mining families that lived in the colliery villages around
Easington and Shotton. It is named after an outstanding Durham miner
and county councillor, Peter Lee, who fought all his life for the
well-being of the local community. Castle Eden Dene National
Nature Reserve, on the south side of the town, is one of the
largest woodlands in the North East that has not been planted or
extensively altered by man.
Barnard
Castle
This old market town derives its name from its
Castle, founded in the 12th century by Bernard,
son of Guy de Baliol, one of the knights who fought
alongside William I. The town has an especially rich
architectural heritage, with handsome houses, cottages, shops and inns
dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries and an
impressive octagonal Market Cross.
The town is home to the extraordinary Bowes
Museum, a grand and beautiful building styled on a French château. The
fabulous collections on show include paintings by Goya, El
Greco, Turner, Boudin and Canaletto, tapestries, ceramics, a
wonderful display of toys (the world's first toy train set) and the breathtaking
life-size Silver Swan that is an
automaton and music box.
Around Barnard Castle
Bishop Auckland
12 miles NE of Barnard Castle
on the A688
Auckland Castle, still the official palace of the Bishop of
Durham, began as a small 12th century manor house and was added to
by successive bishops. The palace grounds contain an ancient herd
of red deer.
Piercebridge
10 miles E of Barnard Castle
on the A67
The picturesque village green stands on the site of a
once important Roman fort, one of a chain of forts on Dere Street.
The remains of the fort, which are visible today, can be dated
from coin evidence to around AD 270.
To the northwest lies Gainford, County Durham's
most beautiful village. It sits just north of the River Tees and its core is
a jostling collection of 18th and 19th century cottages and
houses grouped around a green.
Middleton-in-Teesdale
8 miles NW of Barnard Castle
on the B6277
Middleton is the centre for some magnificent walks in
Upper Teesdale; the most famous of these is The Pennine
Way on its 250-mile route from Derbyshire to
Kirk
Yetholm in Scotland. It passes through
Middleton-in-Teesdale from the south, then turns
west along Teesdale, passing traditional, whitewashed farmsteads
and spectacular, riverside scenery, including the thrilling waterfalls
at Low Force and High Force.
Ireshopeburn
18 miles NW of Barnard Castle on the A689
This small village is home to the Weardale
Museum that includes a carefully re-created room in
a typical Weardale lead miner's cottage, with furnishings
and costumes in period. There is also a room dedicated to John
Wesley, who visited the area on more than one occasion.
To the northwest lies Killhope Mine, the focal point of what
is now the remarkable North of England Lead Mining
Museum, which is dominated by the massive 34-feet high water wheel.
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