Durham, England

The name "Durham" comes from the Brythonic element {{lang|cel|dun}}, signifying a hill fort, and the Old Norse {{lang|non|holme}}, which translates as island.Surtees, R. (1816) History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham (Classical County Histories) The Lord Bishop of Durham uses a Latin variation of the city's name in his official signature, which is signed "N. Dunelm". Some attribute the city's name to the legend of the Dun Cow and the milkmaid who in legend guided the monks of Lindisfarne carrying the body of Saint Cuthbert to the site of the present city in 995 AD.{{Cite book

|last=Liddy

|first=Christian D

|title= The Bishopric of Durham in the Late Middle Ages: Lordship, Community and the Cult of St. Cuthbert

|year= 2008

|publisher=Boydell Press

|isbn= 978-1-84383-377-2

}} Dun Cow Lane is said to be one of the first streets in Durham, being directly to the east of Durham Cathedral and taking its name from a depiction of the city's founding etched in masonry on the south side of the cathedral. The city has been known by a number of names throughout history. The original Nordic Dun Holm was changed to Duresme by the Normans and was known in Latin as {{lang|la|Dunelm}}. The modern form Durham came into use later in the city's history. The north-eastern historian Robert Surtees chronicled the name changes in his History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham but states that it is an "impossibility" to tell when the city's modern name came into being.

Durham is likely to be {{lang|owl|Gaer Weir}} in Armes Prydein, derived from Brittonic cajr meaning "an enclosed, defensible site, fort" from Latin {{lang|la|castrum}}, “fort, military settlement” (cf. Carlisle; Welsh {{lang|cy|caer}}) and the river-name Wear.{{cite web |last1=James |first1=Alan G. |title=A Guide to the Place-Name Evidence – Guide to the Elements |url=https://spns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Alan_James_Brittonic_Language_in_the_Old_North_BLITON_Volume_II_Dictionary_2019_Edition.pdf |website=Scottish Place Name Society – The Brittonic Language in the Old North |access-date=25 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307061257/https://spns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Alan_James_Brittonic_Language_in_the_Old_North_BLITON_Volume_II_Dictionary_2019_Edition.pdf |archive-date=7 March 2019 |url-status=dead }}

Archeological evidence suggests a history of settlement in the area since roughly 2000 BC. The present city can clearly be traced back to AD 995, when a group of monks from Lindisfarne chose the strategic high peninsula as a place to settle with the body of Saint Cuthbert, that had previously lain in Chester-le-Street, founding a church there.

File:UK Durham Dun-Cow.jpg

Local legend states that the city was founded in A.D. 995 by divine intervention. The 12th-century chronicler Symeon of Durham recounts that after wandering in the north, Saint Cuthbert's bier miraculously came to a halt at the hill of Warden Law and, despite the effort of the congregation, would not move.Symeon of Durham, Libellus de exordio atque procurso istius, hoc est Dunhelmensis (Tract on the origins and progress of this the church of Durham) Aldhun, Bishop of Chester-le-Street and leader of the order, decreed a holy fast of three days, accompanied by prayers to the saint.Dufferwiel, Martin (2004/1996). [https://books.google.com/books?id=gqTyBp8W2GAC&pg=PT12 Durham: Over 1,000 Years of History and Legend]. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. {{ISBN|9781840189148}}. Chapter 1, "Beginnings". During the fast, Saint Cuthbert appeared to a certain monk named Eadmer, with instructions that the coffin should be taken to Dun Holm. After Eadmer's revelation, Aldhun found that he was able to move the bier, but did not know where Dun Holm was.

The legend of the Dun Cow, which is first documented in The Rites of Durham, an anonymous account about Durham Cathedral, published in 1593, builds on Symeon's account.Fowler, Joseph Thomas (1891). "Preface", in Fowler (Ed.), [https://archive.org/stream/lifeofstcuthbert00surtuoft#page/n15/mode/2up The Life of St. Cuthbert in English Verse, C. A.D. 1450: From the Original Ms. in the Library at Castle Howard]. Publications of the Surtees Society, vol. 87. Durham: Andrews & Co., for the Society. p. xi. According to this legend, by chance later that day, the monks came across a milkmaid at Mount Joy (southeast of present-day Durham). She stated that she was seeking her lost dun cow, which she had last seen at Dun Holm. The monks, realising that this was a sign from the saint, followed her. They settled at a wooded "hill-island" – a high wooded rock surrounded on three sides by the River Wear. There they erected a shelter for the relics, on the spot where Durham Cathedral would later stand. Symeon states that a modest wooden building erected there shortly thereafter was the first building in the city. Bishop Aldhun subsequently had a stone church built, which was dedicated in September 998.Crook, John (2000). The Architectural Setting of the Cult of Saints in the Early Christian West, c. 300–c. 1200. Oxford: Clarendon Press. {{ISBN|9780198207948}}. p. 167. This no longer remains, having been supplanted by the Norman structure.

The legend is interpreted by a Victorian relief stone carving on the north face of the cathedral and, more recently, by the bronze sculpture 'Durham Cow' (1997, Andrew Burton), which reclines by the River Wear in view of the cathedral.

File:Durham 1610.jpgDuring the medieval period the city gained spiritual prominence as the final resting place of Saint Cuthbert and Saint Bede the Venerable. The shrine of Saint Cuthbert, situated behind the High Altar of Durham Cathedral, was the most important religious site in England until the martyrdom of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury in 1170.

Saint Cuthbert became famous for two reasons. Firstly, the miraculous healing powers he had displayed in life continued after his death, with many stories of those visiting the saint's shrine being cured of all manner of diseases. This led to him being known as the "wonder worker of England". Secondly, after the first translation of his relics in 698 AD, his body was found to be incorruptible.Missale Romanum (Roman missal) Apart from a brief translation back to Holy Island during the Norman InvasionThe Lives of the Saints as contained in the "New English Missal" the saint's relics have remained enshrined to the present day.Durham Cathedral Illustrated Guide (available from the Cathedral Bookshop) Saint Bede's bones are also entombed in the cathedral, and these also drew medieval pilgrims to the city.

Durham's geographical position has always given it an important place in the defence of England against the Scots.{{Cite book|last=Richardson|first= Michael|title= Durham City: Past & Present|year= 2007|publisher= Breedon Books Publishing Co Ltd|isbn= 978-1-85983-581-4

}} The city played an important part in the defence of the north, and Durham Castle is the only Norman castle keep never to have suffered a breach.Brown, Nicholas (1931) Durham Castle In 1314, the Bishopric of Durham paid the Scots a 'large sum of money' not to burn Durham.{{cite book |last1=Maxwell |first1=Sir Herbert |title=The Chronicle of Lanercost |date=1913 |publisher=Macmillan and Co. |page=210}} The Battle of Neville's Cross took place around half a mile west of the city on 17 October 1346 between the English and Scots and was a disastrous loss for the Scots.{{cite book |last1=Gray |first1=Sir Thomas |title=Scalacronica |date=2005 |publisher=Boydell Press |page=137}}

The city suffered from plague outbreaks in 1544, 1589 and 1598.{{cite web |url=http://stocktonmasonichall.co.uk/history-of-durham/ |title=Stockton Masonic Hall | History of Durham |access-date=31 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531164848/http://stocktonmasonichall.co.uk/history-of-durham/ |archive-date=31 May 2019 |url-status=dead }}

{{See also|Bishop of Durham|County Palatine of Durham}}

Owing to the divine providence evidenced in the city's legendary founding, the Bishop of Durham has always enjoyed the formal title "Bishop by Divine Providence",The Forms of Precedence of the Catholic Church as contained in the Catholic Encyclopaedia (1919) similar to the archbishops of Canterbury and York, as opposed to the style of "Bishop by Divine Permission" used by most bishops.{{cite book|url=https://www.lutterworth.com/wp-content/uploads/extracts/herbert-hensley-henson-preface.pdf|title=Herbert Hensley Henson: A Biography|publisher=Lutterworth Press|author= John S. Peart-Binns|year=2013|page=9|quote=The Bishop of Durham is marked off from his episcopal colleagues by some honorific distinctions. He takes rank next to the Bishop of London: he is one of the three bishops who sit in the House of Lords by title of their Sees, not in order of consecration; in his official documents he uses a style commonly distinctive of the archbishops of Canterbury and York, writing himself bishop ‘by Divine providence’, not, as is usual, ‘by Divine permission’; the mitre which surmounts the arms of the See is bound with a ducal coronet and he has the privilege of supporting the Sovereign on the right at a coronation.}} However, as the north-east of England lay so far from Westminster, the bishops of Durham enjoyed extraordinary powers such as the ability to hold their own parliament, raise their own armies, appoint their own sheriffs and Justices, administer their own laws, levy taxes and customs duties, create fairs and markets, issue charters, salvage shipwrecks, collect revenue from mines, administer the forests and mint their own coins. So far-reaching were the bishop's powers that the steward of Bishop Antony Bek commented in 1299 AD: "There are two kings in England, namely the Lord King of England, wearing a crown in sign of his regality and the Lord Bishop of Durham wearing a mitre in place of a crown, in sign of his regality in the diocese of Durham".As stated in Liddy, Christian D. (2008) The Bishopric of Durham in the Late Middle Ages: Lordship, Community and the Cult of St. Cuthbert. The attribution of the quote is questionable (see County Palatine); however, the editor of this article is almost certain it is attributable to Antony Bek's steward. All this activity was administered from the castle and buildings surrounding the Palace Green. Many of the original buildings associated with these functions of the county palatine survive on the peninsula that constitutes the ancient city.

File:Durham Castle, April 2017 (2) (33802921566).jpg, the bishops' palace until 1832 when it moved to Auckland Castle]]

From 1071 to 1836 the bishops of Durham ruled the county palatine of Durham.{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Durham (county) |volume = 8 |last= |first= |author-link= |pages=706-708 |short=1}} Although the term "prince bishop" has been used as a helpful tool in the understanding the functions of the bishops of Durham in this era, it is not a title they would have recognised. The last bishop to rule the palatinate, Bishop William Van Mildert, is credited with the foundation of Durham University in 1832. Henry VIII curtailed some of the bishop's powers and, in 1538, ordered the destruction of the shrine of Saint Cuthbert.

A UNESCO site describes the role of the bishops in the "buffer state between England and Scotland":{{cite web |url=https://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/history/prince-bishops |title=The Prince Bishops of Durham |date=11 July 2011 |publisher=Durham World Heritage Site |access-date=5 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028135837/https://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/history/prince-bishops |archive-date=28 October 2019 |url-status=dead }}

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 England's northern frontier.

The bishops had their own court system, including most notably the Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge.{{cite web|url= https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1836/jun/10/bishopric-of-durham|title= BISHOPRIC OF DURHAM – Hansard, 10 June 1836|access-date= 3 December 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090625175704/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1836/jun/10/bishopric-of-durham|archive-date= 25 June 2009|work= Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)|date= 10 June 1836|url-status= live}} The county also had its own attorney general, whose authority to bring an indictment for criminal matters was tested by central government in the case of R v Mary Ann Cotton (1873).Whiehead, Alan Mary Ann Cotton: Dead but not forgotten (Durham Records Office: 2004){{request quotation|date=July 2018}}

Compare:

{{cite book

| last1 = Whitehead

| first1 = Tony

| title = Mary Ann Cotton, Dead, But Not Forgotten

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2jS2OQAACAAJ

| publisher = T. Whitehead

| date = 2000

| isbn = 9780953961405

| access-date = 3 July 2018

}}

{{page needed|date=July 2018}}

Certain courts and judicial posts for the county were abolished by the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873. Section 2 of the Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 and section 41 of the Courts Act 1971 abolished others.

File:View of Durham Cathedral (4094887351).jpg

The city remained loyal to King Charles I in the English Civil War – from 1642 to the execution of the king in 1649. Charles I came to Durham three times during his reign of 1625–1649. Firstly, he came in 1633

{{cite book

| last1 = Dufferwiel

| first1 = Martin

| year = 1996

| chapter = 10: The King, the Covenanters and Oliver Cromwell

| title = Durham: Over 1,000 Years of History and Legend

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gqTyBp8W2GAC

| edition = reprint

| location = Edinburgh

| publisher = Random House

| publication-date = 2011

| isbn = 9781780573946

| access-date = 30 October 2019

| quote = [...] an account of the King's first visit to Durham. The occasion arose in 1633 during Charles's journey north to Edinburgh and his coronation on the throne of Scotland.

}}

to the cathedral for a majestic service in which he was entertained by the Chapter and Bishop at great expense. He returned during preparations for the First Bishops' War (1639).

{{cite book

| last1 = Dufferwiel

| first1 = Martin

| year = 1996

| chapter = 10: The King, the Covenanters and Oliver Cromwell

| title = Durham: Over 1,000 Years of History and Legend

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gqTyBp8W2GAC

| edition = reprint

| location = Edinburgh

| publisher = Random House

| publication-date = 2011

| isbn = 9781780573946

| access-date = 30 October 2019

| quote = [...] the occasion of Charles's second visit to Durham. On 29 April 1639, he was again received [...] at Raby Castle [...]. He then proceeded to Durham where he remained while forces of horse and foot were raised in readiness for the march to the border.

}}

His final visit to the city came towards the end of the civil war; he escaped from the city as Oliver Cromwell's forces got closer.

{{cite book

| last1 = Noble

| first1 = Mark

| author-link1 = Mark Noble (biographer)

| title = The Lives of the English Regicides: And Other Commissioners of the Pretended High Court of Justice, Appointed to Sit in Judgement Upon Their Sovereign, King Charles the First

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=v_1HAAAAMAAJ

| publisher = J. Stockdale

| date = 1798

| access-date = 30 October 2019

}}

{{request quotation|date=October 2019}}

Compare:

{{cite book

| last1 = Dufferwiel

| first1 = Martin

| year = 1996

| chapter = 10: The King, the Covenanters and Oliver Cromwell

| title = Durham: Over 1,000 Years of History and Legend

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gqTyBp8W2GAC

| edition = reprint

| location = Edinburgh

| publisher = Random House

| publication-date = 2011

| isbn = 9781780573946

| access-date = 30 October 2019

| quote = [...] in 1647, he would make his final visit to Durham as a prisoner on his way south to his eventual trial and execution.

}}

Local legend

The Society of Charles the King and Martyr: Newsletter (12) stated that he escaped down the Bailey and through Old Elvet. Another local legend has it that Cromwell stayed in a room in the present Royal County Hotel on Old Elvet during the civil war.{{cite book |date=1798 |author-link=Mark Noble (biographer) |last=Noble |first=Mark |title=The Lives of the English Regicides: And Other Commissioners of the Pretended High Court of Justice, Appointed to Sit in Judgment Upon Their Sovereign, King Charles the First}} The room is reputed to be haunted by his ghost.{{Cite book |last= Deary | first= Terry | title= Deadly Durham | author-link= Terry Deary | publisher= County Durham Books | year= 2001 | isbn= 978-1-897585-64-1}} Durham suffered greatly during the civil war (1642–1651) and Commonwealth (1649–1660). This was not due to direct assault by Cromwell or his allies, but to the abolition of the Church of England and the closure of religious institutions pertaining to it. The city has always relied upon the Dean and Chapter and cathedral as an economic force.

The castle suffered considerable damage and dilapidation during the Commonwealth due to the abolition of the office of bishop (whose residence it was). Cromwell confiscated the castle and sold it to the Lord Mayor of London shortly after taking it from the bishop. A similar fate befell the cathedral, it being closed in 1650 and used to incarcerate 3,000 Scottish prisoners, who were marched south after the Battle of Dunbar.{{Cite news |date=2023-08-30 |title=Historian to retrace march of thousands of Dunbar captives to Durham Cathedral |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-66657411 |access-date=2023-08-31}} Graffiti left by them can still be seen today etched into the interior stone.Durham Cathedral Guidebook (available from the cathedral)

At the Restoration in 1660, John Cosin (a former canon) was appointed bishop (in office: 1660–1672) and set about a major restoration project. This included the commissioning of the famous elaborate woodwork in the cathedral choir, the font cover and the Black Staircase in the castle.{{cite web |url=https://www.dur.ac.uk/things-to-do/venues/durham-castle/history-and-architecture/the-decline-of-the-bishops/ |title=Durham Castle: The 17th Restoration and Late Decline of the Prince Bishops |publisher=Durham University |access-date=4 January 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/learn/architecture/cathedral/intro/woodwork |title=Cathedral Woodwork |work=Durham Castle and Cathedral |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=4 January 2023}} Bishop Cosin's successor Bishop Lord Nathaniel Crewe (in office: 1674–1721) carried out other renovations both to the city and to the cathedral.

In the 18th century a plan to turn Durham into a seaport through the digging of a canal north to join the River Team, a tributary of the River Tyne near Gateshead, was proposed by John Smeaton.{{cite book |last1=Hadfield |first1=Charles |title=The civil engineering of canals and railways before 1850 |chapter=Rivers and canals |date=1997 |pages=49–79 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315240633-3 |isbn=9781315240633 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315240633-3/rivers-canals-charles-hadfield |access-date=11 October 2021}} Nothing came of the plan, but the statue of Neptune in the Market Place was a constant reminder of Durham's maritime possibilities.{{cite web | url= http://www.northeastengland.talktalk.net/DurhamCityMarketPlace.htm | title= Market Place, Silver Street and Saddler Street (Durham City) | last= Simpson | first= David | access-date= 23 July 2009 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090209033447/http://www.northeastengland.talktalk.net/DurhamCityMarketPlace.htm | archive-date= 9 February 2009 | url-status= dead | quote = Neptune, God of the sea, symbolised an ambitious plan to turn Durham into an inland sea port by altering the course of the River Wear. In 1720 the plan was to construct a canal north to join the Team, a Tyne tributary near Gateshead. }}

The thought of ships docking at the Sands or Millburngate remained fresh in the minds of Durham merchants. In 1758, a new proposal hoped to make the Wear navigable from Durham to Sunderland by altering the river's course, but the increasing size of ships made this impractical. Moreover, Sunderland had grown as the north east's main port and centre for shipping.Blake, D. (1998) The North East.{{page needed|date=October 2021}}

In 1787, the Durham infirmary was founded.

The 18th century also saw the rise of the trade-union movement in the city.

File:Durham regatta Univ College Durham v's Newcastle Uni.jpg and Durham Castle as seen from the river bank whilst a boat race takes place between University College, Durham and Newcastle University|left]]

The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 gave governing power of the town to an elected body.{{cite book |title=Northern Europe: International Dictionary of Historic Places |date = 28 October 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yfPYAQAAQBAJ&q=William+Van+Mildert++Last+of+the+Prince+Bishops+Palatinate+act+1836&pg=PA240 |publisher=Routledge|page=240 |isbn=978-1884964015 |access-date=5 November 2019}} All other aspects of the Bishop's temporal powers were abolished by the Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 and returned to the Crown.{{cite web |url=https://durhamdiocese.org/our-bishops/the-bishop-of-durham/ |title=The Bishops of Durham |date=11 July 2013 |publisher=Dicese of Durham |access-date=5 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028143759/https://durhamdiocese.org/our-bishops/the-bishop-of-durham/ |archive-date=28 October 2019 |url-status=dead }}{{cite book |date=1836 |title=The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |url=https://archive.org/details/statutesunitedk34britgoog |quote=bishop of durham temporal Powers by Palatine Act 1836. |publisher=His Majesty's Statute and Law Printers|page=[https://archive.org/details/statutesunitedk34britgoog/page/n164 130]}}

The Representation of the People Act 2000 and is regarded as the second most senior bishop and fourth most senior clergyman in the Church of England.The Canons of the Church of England The Court of Claims of 1953 granted the traditional right of the bishop to accompany the sovereign at the coronation,The Proceedings of the Court of Claims at the Coronation of Her Majesty Elizabeth II reflecting his seniority.

The first census, conducted in 1801,The Census states that Durham City had a population of 7,100. The Industrial Revolution mostly passed the city by. However, the city was well known for carpet making and weaving. Although most of the mediaeval weavers who thrived in the city had left by the 19th century, the city was the home of Hugh MacKay Carpets’ factory, which produced the famous brands of axminster and tufted carpets until the factory went into administration in April 2005.The Proceedings of the High Court of Justice 1995 Other important industries were the manufacture of mustard and coal extraction.{{Cite book | last=Simpson | first=David | title=Durham City | publisher=Business Education Publishers Ltd | year=2006 | isbn=978-1-901888-50-8 }}

The Industrial Revolution also placed the city at the heart of the coalfields,Nixon, P: A Portrait of Durham the county's main industry until the 1970s. Practically every village around the city had a coal mine and, although these have since disappeared as part of the regional decline in heavy industry, the traditions, heritage and community spirit are still evident.

The 19th century also saw the founding of Durham UniversityThe Durham University Act, 1882 and the Royal Charter for the Founding of the University of Durham thanks to the benevolence of Bishop William Van Mildert and the Chapter in 1832. Durham Castle became the first college (University College, Durham) and the bishop moved to Auckland Castle as his only residence in the county. Bishop Hatfield's Hall (later Hatfield College, Durham) was added in 1846 specifically for the sons of poorer families, the Principal inaugurating a system new to English university life of advance fees to cover accommodation and communal dining.

The first Durham Miners' Gala was attended by 5,000 miners in 1871 in Wharton Park,{{Cite book|title=Durham: A Thousand Years of History and Legend|last=Dufferwiel|first=Martin|publisher=Mainstream Publishing|year=1996|isbn=1-85158-885-X|location=Edinburgh and London|pages=167–169}} and remains the largest socialist trade union event in the world.

Early in the 20th century, coal became depleted, with a particularly important seam worked out in 1927, and in the following Great Depression Durham was among those towns that suffered exceptionally severe hardship.Life Magazine 14 December 1936, pp. 40–41 However, the university expanded greatly. St John's College and St Cuthbert's Society were founded on the Bailey, completing the series of colleges in that area of the city. From the early 1950s to early 1970s, the university expanded to the south of the city centre. Trevelyan, Van Mildert, Collingwood, and Grey colleges were established, and new buildings for St Aidan's and St Mary's colleges for women, formerly housed on the Bailey, were created. The final 20th century collegiate addition came from the merger of the independent nineteenth-century colleges of the Venerable Bede and St Hild, which joined the university in 1979 as the College of St Hild and St Bede.{{Cite book|title=The Buildings of England: Durham|last1=Pevsner|first1=Nikolaus|last2=Williamson|first2=Elizabeth|publisher=Yale University Press|year=1985|isbn=978-0-300-09599-9|pages=231–249}} The 1960s and 1970s also saw building on New Elvet. Dunelm House for the use of the students' union was built first, followed by Elvet Riverside, containing lecture theatres and staff offices. To the southeast of the city centre sports facilities were built at Maiden Castle, adjacent to the Iron Age fort of the same name, and the Mountjoy site was developed, starting in 1924, eventually containing the university library, administrative buildings, and facilities for the Faculty of Science.

File:View from the 4th floor of the Calman centre.jpg

Durham was not bombed during World War II, though one raid on the night of 30 May 1942 did give rise to the local legend of 'St Cuthbert's Mist'. This states that the Luftwaffe attempted to target Durham, but was thwarted when Cuthbert created a mist that covered both the castle and cathedral, sparing them from bombing. The exact events of the night are disputed by contemporary eyewitnesses. The event continues to be referenced within the city, including inspiring the artwork 'Fogscape #03238' at Durham Lumiere 2015.{{cite web|url=http://www.lumiere-festival.com/archive/fogscape-03238/|title=Fogscape #03238|access-date=3 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170111005124/http://www.lumiere-festival.com/archive/fogscape-03238/|archive-date=11 January 2017|url-status=dead}}

'Durham Castle and Cathedral' was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. Among the reasons given for the decision were 'Durham Cathedral [being] the largest and most perfect monument of "Norman" style architecture in England', and the cathedral's vaulting being an early and experimental model of the gothic style.{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/370/documents/|title=Durham Castle and Cathedral|last=Centre|first=UNESCO World Heritage|website=whc.unesco.org|language=en|access-date=3 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622211926/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/370/documents/|archive-date=22 June 2016|url-status=live}} Other important UNESCO sites near Durham include Auckland Castle, North of England Lead Mining Museum and Beamish Museum.

{{cite web|url=https://blog.radissonblu.com/top-5-heritage-attractions-around-durham/amp/|title=Top 5 Heritage Attractions in and around Durham|access-date=31 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031151331/https://blog.radissonblu.com/top-5-heritage-attractions-around-durham/amp/|archive-date=31 October 2019|url-status=live}}

File:River Wear Durham - geograph.org.uk - 3606971.jpg

The River Wear flows north through the city, making an incised meander which encloses the centre on three sides to form Durham's peninsula.

At the base of the peninsula is the Market Place, which still hosts regular markets; a permanent indoor market, Durham Indoor Market, is also situated just off the Market Place. The Market Place and surrounding streets are one of the main commercial and shopping areas of the city. From the Market Place, the Bailey leads south past Palace Green; The Bailey is almost entirely owned and occupied by the university and the cathedral.

Durham is a hilly city, claiming to be built upon the symbolic seven hills. Upon the most central and prominent position high above the Wear, the cathedral dominates the skyline. The steep riverbanks are densely wooded, adding to the picturesque beauty of the city. West of the city centre, another river, the River Browney, drains south to join the Wear to the south of the city.

File:Saddler Street (geograph 7152859).jpg

There are three old roads out of the Market Place: Saddler Street heads south-east, towards Elvet Bridge, the Bailey and Prebends Bridge. Elvet Bridge leads to the Elvet area of the city, Durham Prison and the south; Prebends Bridge is smaller and provides access from the Bailey to south Durham. Heading west, Silver Street leads out of the Market Place towards Framwellgate Bridge and North Road, the other main shopping area of the city. From here, the city spreads out into the Framwelgate, Crossgate, Neville's Cross and viaduct districts, which are largely residential areas. Beyond the viaduct lie the outlying districts of Framwellgate Moor and Neville's Cross. Heading north from the Market Place leads to Claypath. The road curves back round to the east and beyond it lie Gilesgate, Gilesgate Moor and Dragonville.

{{further|North East Green Belt}}

As part of the wider Tyne and Wear Green Belt area, Durham's portion extends beyond its urban area extents of Framwellgate Moor/Pity Me, Elvet and Belmont, it being completely surrounded by green belt. This primarily helps to maintain separation from Chester-le-Street,{{cite web|title=County Durham Core Evidence Base Technical Paper No. 6 Settlements and Green Belt -COUNTY DURHAM GREEN BELT Rationale|url=http://www.durham.gov.uk/media/3373/Technical-paper-No6---Settlements-and-greenbelt/pdf/TechPaper6SettlementsAndGreenbelt.pdf|website=www.durham.gov.uk|access-date=27 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127202854/http://www.durham.gov.uk/media/3373/Technical-paper-No6---Settlements-and-greenbelt/pdf/TechPaper6SettlementsAndGreenbelt.pdf|archive-date=27 January 2018|url-status=dead}} and restrain expansion of the city and coalescence with nearby villages such as Bearpark, Great Lumley and Sherburn. Landscape features and facilities within the green belt area include Raintonpark Wood, Belmont Viaduct, Ramside Hall, Durham City Golf Course, the River Wear, Browney and Deerness basins, and Durham University Botanic Gardens. It was first drawn up in the 1990s.{{cite web|title=PLANNING AND HIGHWAYS COMMITTEE 21 NOVEMBER 2012 THE COUNTY DURHAM PLAN, LOCAL PLAN PREFERED [sic] OPTIONS|url=http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/Committees/CMIS5/Document.ashx?czJKcaeAi5tUFL1DTL2UE4zNRBcoShgo=UXlG9YIuWOXT3oSzsd4qyyYI37i5pfQnFOhsx65vFgzVYpJd0YmhOg%3D%3D&rUzwRPf%2BZ3zd4E7Ikn8Lyw%3D%3D=pwRE6AGJFLDNlh225F5QMaQWCtPHwdhUfCZ%2FLUQzgA2uL5jNRG4jdQ%3D%3D&mCTIbCubSFfXsDGW9IXnlg%3D%3D=hFflUdN3100%3D&kCx1AnS9%2FpWZQ40DXFvdEw%3D%3D=hFflUdN3100%3D&uJovDxwdjMPoYv%2BAJvYtyA%3D%3D=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&FgPlIEJYlotS%2BYGoBi5olA%3D%3D=NHdURQburHA%3D&d9Qjj0ag1Pd993jsyOJqFvmyB7X0CSQK=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&WGewmoAfeNR9xqBux0r1Q8Za60lavYmz=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&WGewmoAfeNQ16B2MHuCpMRKZMwaG1PaO=ctNJFf55vVA%3D|website=www.sunderland.gov.uk|access-date=27 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122154007/http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/Committees/CMIS5/Document.ashx?czJKcaeAi5tUFL1DTL2UE4zNRBcoShgo=UXlG9YIuWOXT3oSzsd4qyyYI37i5pfQnFOhsx65vFgzVYpJd0YmhOg%3D%3D&rUzwRPf%2BZ3zd4E7Ikn8Lyw%3D%3D=pwRE6AGJFLDNlh225F5QMaQWCtPHwdhUfCZ%2FLUQzgA2uL5jNRG4jdQ%3D%3D&mCTIbCubSFfXsDGW9IXnlg%3D%3D=hFflUdN3100%3D&kCx1AnS9%2FpWZQ40DXFvdEw%3D%3D=hFflUdN3100%3D&uJovDxwdjMPoYv%2BAJvYtyA%3D%3D=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&FgPlIEJYlotS%2BYGoBi5olA%3D%3D=NHdURQburHA%3D&d9Qjj0ag1Pd993jsyOJqFvmyB7X0CSQK=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&WGewmoAfeNR9xqBux0r1Q8Za60lavYmz=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&WGewmoAfeNQ16B2MHuCpMRKZMwaG1PaO=ctNJFf55vVA%3D|archive-date=22 November 2018|url-status=dead}}

File:Scott inscription (Prebends Bridge).jpg's words on Durham are inscribed into Prebends Bridge]]

The historic city centre of Durham has changed little over 200 years. It is made up of the peninsula containing the cathedral, palace green, former administrative buildings for the palatine and Durham Castle. This was a strategic defensive decision by the city's founders and gives the cathedral a striking position. So much so that Symeon of Durham stated:

To see Durham is to see the English Sion and by doing so one may save oneself a trip to Jerusalem.

Sir Walter Scott was so inspired by the view of the cathedral from South Street{{Cite journal| last=Buchan | first=John | title=Sir Walter Scott | publisher=Cassell | year=1932 }} that he wrote "Harold the Dauntless", a poem about Saxons and Vikings set in County Durham and published on 30 January 1817. The following lines from the poem are carved into a stone tablet on Prebends Bridge:

{{poemquote|

Grey towers of Durham

Yet well I love thy mixed and massive piles

Half church of God, half castle 'gainst the Scot

And long to roam those venerable aisles

With records stored of deeds long since forgot.{{Cite journal

|last= Scott

|first= Walter

|author-link= Walter Scott

|title= Harold the Dauntless

|year= 1817

|publisher=James Eastburn & co

}}}}

The old commercial section of the city encompasses the peninsula on three sides, following the River Wear. The peninsula was historically surrounded by the castle wall extending from the castle keep and broken by two gatehouses to the north and west of the enclosure. After extensive remodelling and "much beautification" by the Victorians the walls were removed with the exception of the gatehouse which is still standing on the Bailey.

The medieval city was made up of the cathedral, castle and administrative buildings on the peninsula. The outlying areas were known as the townships and owned by the bishop, the most famous of these being Gilesgate (which still contains the mediaeval St Giles Church), Claypath and Elvet.

The outlying commercial section of the city, especially around the North Road area, saw much change in the 1960s during a redevelopment spearheaded by Durham City Council; however, much of the original mediaeval street plan remains intact in the area close to the cathedral and market place. Most of the mediaeval buildings in the commercial area of the city have disappeared apart from the House of Correction and the Chapel of Saint Andrew, both under Elvet Bridge. Georgian buildings can still be found on the Bailey and Old Elvet most of which make up the colleges of Durham University.

The table below gives the average temperature, rainfall and sunshine figures taken between 1981 and 2010, and extreme temperatures back to 1850 for the weather station at Durham University Observatory:

{{Durham weatherbox}}

Like the rest of the United Kingdom, Durham has a temperate climate. At {{convert|675.65|mm|in|0}},{{cite web|url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/gcwzefp2c|title= Durham 1991–2020 averages|website= Met Office|access-date=25 July 2024}} the average annual rainfall is lower than the national average of {{convert|1162.70|mm|in|0}}. Equally there are only an average of 124.14 days where more than {{convert|1|mm|in|2}} of rain falls compared with a national average of 159.08 days. The city sees an average of 1479.95 hours of sunshine per year, compared with a national average of 1402.61 hours. There is frost on 46.81 days compared with a national average of 53.36 days. Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures are {{convert|13.20|and|5.71|°C|°F|1}} compared with a national averages of {{convert|12.79|and|5.53|°C|°F|1}} respectively.

Durham has the second longest weather record in England, with continuous daily records since August 1843. The coldest temperature recorded was in February 1895, falling to {{convert|-18.0|°C|°F|1}}, and the hottest was in July 2022, reaching {{convert|36.9|°C|°F|1}}, beating the previous record from July 2019 by {{convert|4.0|°C|°F|1}}. The wettest day since homogeneous rainfall records began in 1876 was in September 1976, with {{convert|87.8|mm|in}} falling in 24 hours.{{cite web|url=https://durhamweather.webspace.durham.ac.uk/a-brief-summary-of-durhams-climate/|title=A brief summary of Durham's climate|website=Durham Weather|publisher=Durham University|access-date=25 July 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://durhamweather.webspace.durham.ac.uk/annual-summary-2022|title= The weather at Durham in 2022|website=Durham Weather|publisher=Durham University|access-date=25 July 2024}}

The county town of County Durham, until 2009, Durham was located in the City of Durham local government district. This extended beyond the city, and had a total population of 87,656 in 2001, covering 186.68 square kilometres in 2007.{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/about-statistics/geography/products/geog-products-other/sam/standard-area-measurements.zip |title=Standard Area Measurements for Statistical Outputs for Geographies in the United Kingdom as at 31 December 2007 |date=August 2009 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=23 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110110163233/http://www.ons.gov.uk/about-statistics/geography/products/geog-products-other/sam/standard-area-measurements.zip |archive-date=10 January 2011 |url-status=live }} In 2001, the unparished area of Durham had a population of 29,091, whilst the built-up area of Durham had a population of 42,939.{{cite web |url=http://durobs.durham.gov.uk/ia/ia1008/ |title=Census 2011: Durham |work=2011 Census |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=28 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319163555/http://durobs.durham.gov.uk/ia/ia1008/ |archive-date=19 March 2015 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.durham.gov.uk/PDFApproved/ParishSummarySheetsCounts.pdf |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100108145237/http://www.durham.gov.uk/PDFApproved/ParishSummarySheetsCounts.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 January 2010 |title=2001 Census Summary Sheet Indicators for County Durham Parish Boundaries |publisher=Durham County Council |access-date=23 December 2009}}{{cite book |title=Census 2001: Key Statistics for Urban Areas in the North |year=2000 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |location=London |isbn=0-11-621744-8 |page=54 |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/census2001/ks_urban_north_part_1.pdf |access-date=23 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20040724074938/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/census2001/ks_urban_north_part_1.pdf |archive-date=24 July 2004 }} Many of the inner city areas are now inhabited by students living in shared housing.

{{Infobox legislature

| name = City of Durham Parish Council

| coa_pic =

| coa_caption =

| coa_res =

| coa_alt =

| logo_res =

| logo_alt =

| foundation = 1 April 2018

| house_type = Parish Council

| leader1_type = Chairperson

| leader1 = Cllr Elizabeth Scott

| leader2_type = Clerk

| leader2 = Adam Shanley

| members = 15 Councillors

| structure1 =

| structure1_res =

| structure1_alt =

| seats1_title = Liberal Democrats

| seats1 = {{Composition bar|10|15|hex={{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}}}

| seats2_title = Labour Party

| seats2 = {{Composition bar|4|15|hex={{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}}}

| seats3_title = Independent

| seats3 = {{Composition bar|1|15|hex={{party color|Independent}}}}

| seats4_title = Green Party

| seats4 = {{Composition bar|0|15|hex={{party color|Green Party of England and Wales}}}}

| voting_system1 = Plurality-at-large

| last_election1 = 1 May 2025

| next_election1 = 3 May 2029

| website = {{URL|https://cityofdurham-pc.gov.uk/}}

| meeting_place = Millennium Pl, Durham

| footnotes =

}}

File:Durham Indoor Market - geograph.org.uk - 883874.jpg (Guildhall)]]

{{Further|Durham County Council}}

The ancient borough covering Durham was Durham and Framwelgate, which was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. In 1974 it was merged with Durham Rural District and Brandon and Byshottles Urban District to form the City of Durham district of County Durham. The district was abolished in 2009 with its responsibilities assumed by Durham County Council, a unitary authority.

Since April 2009, city status has been held by charter trustees, who are the Durham county councillors for the area of the former district. The trustees appoint the Mayor of Durham.[http://www.durham.gov.uk/article/2767/Charter-Trust-and-Mayor Durham County Council] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028020759/http://www.durham.gov.uk/article/2767/Charter-Trust-and-Mayor |date=28 October 2014 }} Charter Trust The creation of the new City of Durham Parish Council has not affected the charter trustees.{{cite web|url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/northdurham/durham/15130116.What_you_need_to_know_about_a_new_parish_council_for_Durham_city_centre/|title=What you need to know about a new parish council for Durham city centre|website=The Northern Echo|language=en|access-date=23 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180523095521/http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/northdurham/durham/15130116.What_you_need_to_know_about_a_new_parish_council_for_Durham_city_centre/|archive-date=23 May 2018|url-status=dead}}

Durham's Member of Parliament (MP) is Mary Foy (Labour).

Durham Town Hall is located on the west side of the Market Place. The earliest part of the complex of buildings is the guildhall which dates from 1665. The town hall, at the rear, was opened in 1851 (at the same time as the indoor market, which extends beneath and either side of the hall).{{NHLE|desc=Town Hall and Guildhall|num=1160184|access-date=4 July 2020}}

A local referendum was held on creating a parish council for unparished areas of Durham City in February and March 2017, in which 66% of voters supported the proposal. The County Council approved the plans in September 2017. The City of Durham Parish Council was created on 1 April 2018, with the first elections for the 15 council seats taking place on 3 May 2018.{{cite web|url=https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/17293/New-council-for-Durham-City|title=New council for Durham City – Durham County Council|website=www.durham.gov.uk|language=en|access-date=9 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110054901/https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/17293/New-council-for-Durham-City|archive-date=10 January 2018|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/northdurham/durham/15362154.Councillors_vote_for_new_authority_after_hearing_about_strength_of_feeling_on_the_doorsteps_of_Durham/|title=Councillors vote for new authority after hearing about strength of feeling on the doorsteps of Durham|website=The Northern Echo|language=en|access-date=9 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902223615/http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/northdurham/durham/15362154.Councillors_vote_for_new_authority_after_hearing_about_strength_of_feeling_on_the_doorsteps_of_Durham/|archive-date=2 September 2017|url-status=dead}} The parish council is divided into three electoral wards, electing a total of 15 councillors. One in Aykley Heads, 6 in Elvet and Gilesgate and 8 in Nevilles Cross.{{Cite web |date=9 April 2025 |title=Notice of Poll: City of Durham Aykley Heads |url=https://cityofdurham-pc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/City-of-Durham-Aykley-Heads.pdf |access-date=1 May 2025}}{{Cite web |date=9 April 2025 |title=Notice of Poll: City of Durham Elvet and Gilesgate |url=https://cityofdurham-pc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/City-of-Durham-Elvet-Gilesgate.pdf |access-date=1 May 2025}}{{Cite web |date=9 April 2025 |title=Notice of Poll: City of Durham Nevilles Cross |url=https://cityofdurham-pc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/City-of-Durham-Nevilles-Cross.pdf |access-date=1 May 2025}} These councillors are responsible for burial grounds, allotments, play areas and some street lighting. Elections to the town council are held every four years and the most recent elections were held in May 2025.{{Cite web |title=Parish Council election results - 1 May 2025 |url=https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/32690/Parish-Council-election-results-1-May-2025 |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Durham County Council |language=en}}

This is a table of trend of regional gross value added of County Durham at current basic prices [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_economy/RegionalGVA.pdf published] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060525140007/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_economy/RegionalGVA.pdf |date=25 May 2006 }} (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

The whole of the centre of Durham is designated a conservation area. The conservation area was first designated on 9 August 1968, and was extended on 25 November 1980.{{cite web |url=http://www.durhamcity.gov.uk/Pid/511 |title=Conservation areas |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224150457/http://www.durhamcity.gov.uk/Pid/511 |archive-date=24 December 2008 }} In addition to the Cathedral and Castle, Durham contains over 630 listed buildings,{{cite web|url=http://www.cartoplus.co.uk/durham/text/01_introduction.htm|title=City of Durham – Local Plan|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410091902/http://www.cartoplus.co.uk/durham/text/01_introduction.htm|archive-date=10 April 2014}} 569 of which are located within the city centre conservation area. Particularly notable properties include:

{{see also|Category:Grade I listed buildings in County Durham}}

{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|

• Chorister School{{Cite web|title=Chorister School|url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1159555&resourceID=5|publisher=Heritage Gateway |access-date=26 September 2009 }}
• Crook Hall{{Cite web|title=Crook Hall |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1159909&resourceID=5|publisher=Heritage Gateway |access-date=26 September 2009 }}
• Durham Castle
• Durham Cathedral
• Elvet Bridge{{Cite web|title=Elvet Bridge |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1121355&resourceID=5|publisher=Heritage Gateway |access-date=26 September 2009 }}
• Framwellgate Bridge{{Cite web|title=Framwellgate Bridge |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1322872&resourceID=5|publisher=Heritage Gateway |access-date=26 September 2009 }}
• Kepier Hospital
• Kingsgate Bridge{{Cite web|title=Kingsgate Bridge |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1119766&resourceID=5|publisher=Heritage Gateway |access-date=26 September 2009 }}
• Prebends Bridge{{Cite web|title=Prebends Bridge |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1121354&resourceID=5|publisher=Heritage Gateway |access-date=26 September 2009 }}

}}

{{see also|Category:Grade II* listed buildings in County Durham}}

{{multiple images

| total_width = 300px

| perrow = 2

| image3 = Old Shire Hall, Durham.jpg

| image2 = Durham Viaduct (geograph 7137524).jpg

| image1 = Palace Green and Cosin's Hall, Durham (geograph 3632442).jpg

| footer = Cosin's Hall, the railway viaduct and the Shire Hall

}}

{{columns-list|colwidth=23em|

• St. Anne's Court, Castle Chare
• Aykley Heads House (now Durham City Register Office and Finbarr's Restaurant)
• Bishop Cosin's Hall, Palace Green
• Cosin's Library (now part of University Library, Palace Green)
• Crown Court, Old Elvet
• St Cuthbert's Society, 12 South Bailey
• St John's College, 3 South Bailey
• Railway viaduct, North Road
• Town Hall and Guildhall, Market Place
• Old Shire Hall, Old Elvet

}}

{{see also|Category:Grade II listed buildings in County Durham}}

Durham has multiple grade II listed buildings, including:

• University Observatory{{cite web|url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1322869&resourceID=5|title=Durham Observatory|publisher=Heritage Gateway|access-date=3 October 2009}}
• The Chapel of the College of St Hild and St Bede
• The Victoria, a public house at 86 Hallgarth Street{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1381263|desc= The Victoria, Durham|access-date= 19 August 2014}}
• Redhills, the headquarters building of the Durham Miners' Association.[https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1161184 Historic England]
• Durham police mast, currently dismantled, at the Durham Constabulary headquarters.{{cite web |title=County Police Communication Tower, City of Durham - 1350340 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1350340?section=official-list-entry |website=Historic England |access-date=21 November 2022 |language=en}}{{cite web|url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/durham/durham|title=Listed Buildings in Durham, Durham, England – British Listed Buildings|author=Good Stuff IT Services|work=British Listed Buildings|access-date=13 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213201728/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/durham/durham|archive-date=13 December 2014|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Durham Castle}}File:Durham Castle Bergfried.jpg

The castle was originally built in the 11th century as a projection of the Norman power in Northern England, as the population of England in the north remained rebellious following the disruption of the Norman Conquest in 1066. It is an excellent example of the early motte and bailey castles favoured by the Normans.{{cite web

| last = Durham Castle

| title = Britain Express

| access-date = 23 January 2009

| url = http://www.britainexpress.com/counties/durham/az/durham/castle.htm

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081211102356/http://www.britainexpress.com/counties/durham/az/durham/castle.htm

| archive-date = 11 December 2008

| url-status = live

}} The holder of the office of Bishop of Durham was appointed by the King to exercise royal authority on his behalf and the castle was the centre of his command.

It remained the Bishop's Palace for the Bishops of Durham{{cite web

| last = Durham Castle

| title = Sacred-destinations

| access-date = 23 January 2009

| url = http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/durham-castle.htm

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090220080500/http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/durham-castle.htm

| archive-date = 20 February 2009

| url-status = dead

}} until the Bishop William Van Mildert made Bishop Auckland their primary residence. A founder of Durham University, Van Mildert gave the castle as accommodation for the institution's first college, University College.{{cite web

| last = Durham Castle

| title = History of Durham Castle

| access-date = 23 January 2009

| url = http://www.dur.ac.uk/university.college/history/

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060719032409/http://www.dur.ac.uk/university.college/history/

| archive-date = 19 July 2006

| url-status = live

}} The castle was famed for its vast Great Hall, created by Bishop Antony Bek in the early 14th century. It was the largest great hall in Britain until Bishop Richard Foxe shortened it at the end of the 15th century. However, it is still 46 feet high and over 33 yards long. The castle is still the home of University College, Durham (which is, as a result, known informally as "Castle"). It has been in continuous use for over 900 years.

{{see also|Category:Churches in Durham, England}}

{{multiple images

|perrow=3|total_width=350px

|image3=Durham Cathedral and former fulling mill (geograph 7458951).jpg

|image2=St Nicholas Church Durham TSP 2.jpg

|image1=Church of St Oswald, Durham - geograph.org.uk - 3737888.jpg

|footer=St Oswald's, St. Nicholas and Durham Cathedral}}

The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly referred to as Durham Cathedral was founded in its present form in AD 1093 and remains a centre for Christian worship today. It is generally regarded as one of the finest Romanesque cathedrals in Europe and the rib vaulting in the nave marks the beginning of Gothic ecclesiastical architecture. The cathedral has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/370|title=Durham Castle and Cathedral – UNESCO World Heritage Centre|access-date=23 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219003730/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/370|archive-date=19 February 2009|url-status=live}} along with nearby Durham Castle, which faces it across Palace Green, high above the River Wear.

The cathedral houses the shrine and related treasures of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, and these are on public view. It is also home to the head of St Oswald of Northumbria and the remains of the Venerable Bede.

The city also has other listed churches, some have been repurposed:

• Grade I listed
• St Giles, Gilesgate{{Cite journal|title=Church of St Giles |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1159991&resourceID=5|publisher=Heritage Gateway |access-date=26 September 2009 }}
• St Margaret of Antioch, Crossgate{{Cite journal|title=Church of St Margaret of Antioch |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1159741&resourceID=5|publisher=Heritage Gateway |access-date=26 September 2009 }}
• St Mary-le-Bow (now Durham Heritage Centre) {{Cite journal|title=St Mary Le Bow Heritage Centre |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1121424&resourceID=5|publisher=Heritage Gateway |access-date=26 September 2009 }}
• St Oswald's, grade II* listed
• Grade II listed
• St. Cuthbert's (Catholic)
• St. Nicholas

{{further|List of schools in Durham}}

Results relate to the 2008 examination series.

Primary schools include:

{{columns-list|colwidth=23em|

• Shincliffe Primary School
• Finchale Primary School
• Framwellgate Moor Primary School
• Durham Blue Coat Junior School{{cite web|url=http://nd.durham.gov.uk/durhamcc/directory.nsf/6dd7b5dc2feef3588025758300591732/594606df070bfcb88025763d001ea01c?OpenDocument|title=Durham Blue Coat CofE (Aided) Junior|publisher=Durham County Council|access-date=26 September 2009}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Durham Gilesgate Primary{{cite web|url=http://nd.durham.gov.uk/durhamcc/directory.nsf/6dd7b5dc2feef3588025758300591732/78bed95e3d608e658025763d001ea05c?OpenDocument|title=Durham Gilesgate Primary|publisher=Durham County Council|access-date=26 September 2009}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• St Joseph's RCVA Primary{{cite web|url=http://nd.durham.gov.uk/durhamcc/directory.nsf/6dd7b5dc2feef3588025758300591732/76cb9c40e273a02e8025763d001eb732?OpenDocument|title=St Joseph's RCVA Primary|publisher=Durham County Council|access-date=26 September 2009}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• St Godric's RC Primary School
• St Margaret's CofE Primary School{{cite web|url=http://nd.durham.gov.uk/durhamcc/directory.nsf/6dd7b5dc2feef3588025758300591732/93408054c5c413b18025763d001ea0d5?OpenDocument|title=Durham St Margaret's CofE Primary|publisher=Durham County Council|access-date=26 September 2009}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• St Oswald's CofE Infant School{{cite web|url=http://nd.durham.gov.uk/durhamcc/directory.nsf/6dd7b5dc2feef3588025758300591732/88033bfa55876c6d8025763d001eb909?OpenDocument|title=St Oswald's C.E. Aided Infant and Nursery|publisher=Durham County Council|access-date=26 September 2009}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Nevilles Cross Primary School
• St Hild's College CE Aided Primary School

}}

Durham is served by four state secondary schools:

File:Gardens at Houghall College - geograph.org.uk - 3242401.jpg, Houghall campus]]

New College Durham is the city's largest college of further education. It was founded in 1977 as a result of a merger between Neville's Cross College of Education and Durham Technical College. The college operated on two main sites near the city of Durham: Neville's Cross and Framwellgate Moor. The site at Framwellgate Moor opened in 1957 and has subsequently been rebuilt. The Neville's Cross centre is now home to Ustinov College, the postgraduate college of Durham University.{{cite news|url=https://www.palatinate.org.uk/ustinov-college-building-recognised-for-historic-importance-with-blue-plaque/|title=Ustinov College building recognised for historic importance with blue plaque|date=24 March 2023|author= Becks Fleet|work=Palatinate}}

Durham Sixth Form Centre specialises in sixth form courses, while East Durham College has a campus specialising in land-based education at Houghall on the eastern outskirts of the city.{{cite web|url=https://edc.ac.uk/discover/locations/houghall-campus|title=Houghall campus|website=East Durham College|access-date=26 December 2024}}

File:Durham School.jpg

There are three independent schools:

File:Ustinov College, Durham (geograph 7137447).jpg Hall used by Ustinov College]]

Durham is home to Durham University. It was founded as the University of Durham (which remains its official and legal name){{cite web|url=http://www.dur.ac.uk/about/trading_name/|title=The University : Trading Name – Durham University|access-date=3 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115232550/http://www.dur.ac.uk/about/trading_name/|archive-date=15 November 2011|url-status=live}} by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837. It was one of the first universities to open in England for more than 600 years, and is claimed to be England's third oldest after the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Durham University has an international reputation for excellence, as reflected by its ranking in the top 200 of the world's universities.{{cite web|title=The World University Rankings|date=11 January 2024 |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/durham-university}}

The city's local radio stations are Durham On Air, Purple Radio which broadcasts from Durham University and Durham Hospitals Radio which has been broadcasting from the University Hospital of North Durham (previously Dryburn Hospital) since 1963.

File:Durham Railway Station (geograph 7530686).jpg

Durham railway station is a stop on the East Coast Main Line between {{stnlnk|Edinburgh Waverley}} and {{stnlnk|London King's Cross}}. From the south, trains enter Durham over a Victorian viaduct, high above the city.

The station is served by four train operating companies:

• London North Eastern Railway operates services between London Kings Cross, {{rws|York}}, {{rws|Darlington}}, {{rws|Newcastle}} and Edinburgh Waverley{{Cite web |title=Our timetables |work=LNER |date=May 2023 |access-date=3 November 2023 |url= https://www.lner.co.uk/travel-information/travelling-later/timetables/ |quote=}}
• TransPennine Express provides services between {{rws|Liverpool Lime Street}}, {{rws|Manchester Piccadilly}}, Leeds, York and Newcastle{{Cite web |work=TransPennine Express |title=Timetables |date=21 May 2023 |access-date=3 November 2023 |url= https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/travel-updates/timetables |quote=}}
• CrossCountry operates long-distance services between {{rws|Plymouth}}, {{rws|Bristol Temple Meads}}, {{rws|Birmingham New Street}}, {{rws|Derby}}, {{rws|Sheffield}}, York and Edinburgh Waverley{{Cite web |title=Train Timetables |work=CrossCountry |date=May 2023 |access-date=3 November 2023 |url= https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/travel-updates-information/train-timetables |quote=}}
• Northern Trains runs a limited service in early mornings and evenings; destinations include Newcastle, {{rws|Carlisle}} and Darlington.{{Cite web |title=Timetables and engineering information for travel with Northern |work=Northern Railway |date=May 2023 |access-date=3 November 2023 |url= https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/travel/timetables |quote=}}

A second station, {{rws|Durham Elvet}}, also served the city. It opened in 1893, closing to passenger services in 1931 and to goods trains in 1954.{{cite web|url=http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/d/durham_elvet/|title=Disused Stations: Durham Elvet Station|access-date=3 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304035454/http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/d/durham_elvet/|archive-date=4 March 2017|url-status=dead}}

By road, the A1(M), the modern incarnation of the ancient Great North Road, passes just to the east of the city. The road's previous incarnation, now numbered A167, passes just to the west.

Durham market place and its peninsula form the UK's first (albeit small) congestion charging area, which was introduced in 2002.{{cite news|last=Wilson|first=Bill|date=11 February 2003|title=Spotlight on Durham's charge|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2721545.stm|url-status=live|access-date=9 December 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051120224823/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2721545.stm|archive-date=20 November 2005}}

The city is served by Arriva North East and Go North East's local bus services, with routes running in and around the North East England region including to Bishop Auckland, Darlington and Sunderland.{{Cite web |title=Durham Bus Services |work=Bus Times |date=2023 |access-date=3 November 2023 |url= https://bustimes.org/localities/durham-durham |quote=}}

{{Main|Durham bus station}}

File:Entrance to the new bus station (geograph 7752710).jpg

Durham bus station was located off North Road, a short walk from the cathedral, university and railway station; it was managed and owned by the county council. In February 2021, the bus station was demolished to make way for a £10m redevelopment and originally was planned to reopen in Summer 2023 before being twice delayed to November 2023 and January 2024, when it finally reopened.{{cite web |last1=Webb |first1=Samantha |title=Durham bus station planned to open in November |url=https://www.palatinate.org.uk/durham-bus-station-planned-to-open-in-november/ |website=Palatinate.org.uk |access-date=4 June 2024}}{{cite web |last1=Patel |first1=Lily |title=New Durham bus station opening delayed until early 2024 |url=https://www.palatinate.org.uk/new-durham-bus-station-opening-delayed-until-early-2024/ |website=Palatinate.org.uk |access-date=4 June 2024}} During the time of the closure, scheduled buses ran from temporary stands on North Road and Milburngate.{{cite news |title=Durham Bus Station redevelopment work begins |date=15 February 2021 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-56067581 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=16 April 2021}}

The current bus station has increased space for passengers and new facilities including toilets, a changing places unit, improved information displays and additional seating in the passenger waiting area.{{cite web |last1=Broadbent |first1=Corey |title=Durham's new bus station has finally opened to the public |url=https://thetab.com/uk/durham/2024/01/17/durhams-new-bus-station-has-finally-opened-to-the-public-54074 |website=thetab.com |access-date=4 June 2024}}

File:Durham City Park and Ride Map.jpg

Durham City Park and Ride consists of three sites (Belmont, Howlands and Sniperley), which are located around the outskirts of the city centre. The Belmont site is closest to the A1(M). Frequent, direct bus services operate up to every 10 minutes between 7am and 7pm (Monday–Saturday). Car parking is free, with a return bus journey costing £2 per person (as of June 2020).{{cite web|title=Durham City Park and Ride|url=http://www.durham.gov.uk/parkandride|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614010752/http://www.durham.gov.uk/parkandride|archive-date=14 June 2020|access-date=14 June 2020|website=Durham County Council}}

Durham's nearest airports are at Teesside, within the county to the south-east, and Newcastle to the north; both are located {{convert|25–30|mi|km|0|abbr=}} from the city by road.

Durham hosts several archery clubs who shoot at various locations in the city,{{cite web|url=http://www.durhamcityarchers.org/|title=Durham City Archers|work=durhamcityarchers.org|access-date=1 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625062755/http://www.durhamcityarchers.org/|archive-date=25 June 2014|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.saintgilesarchers.co.uk/|title=Home – St. Giles Archers|work=saintgilesarchers.co.uk|access-date=1 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140516203131/http://saintgilesarchers.co.uk/|archive-date=16 May 2014|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://durhamarchery.weebly.com/|title=Durham UniversityArchery Club – Home|work=Durham University
Archery Club|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706103046/http://durhamarchery.weebly.com/|archive-date=6 July 2014}} members of these clubs shoot for the region and individually at national events, as well as many who shoot for recreation. In 2014, the regional Durham And Northumberland Archery Team won the National Intercounty Team Event at Lilleshall NSC, this event saw 260 archers from 19 counties competing over two days for the title.{{cite web|url=http://www.archerygb.org/news/5391.php#.U7KXX5RdUeE|title=Counties go head-to-head|work=archerygb.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815030059/http://www.archerygb.org/news/5391.php#.U7KXX5RdUeE|archive-date=15 August 2014}}

Durham City Cricket Club plays at Green Lane Cricket Ground near the River Wear. Formed in 1829, Durham City was one of the founder members of the Durham Senior Cricket League upon its creation in 1903 and the First XI have been champions on thirteen occasions.{{cite web|url=http://durhamcity.play-cricket.com/home/home.asp|title=Durham City Cricket Club|publisher=Durham City Cricket Club|access-date=26 September 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828012607/http://durhamcity.play-cricket.com/home/home.asp|archive-date=28 August 2008}}

The town's football club Durham City A.F.C. was a member the Football League between 1921 and 1928, but has long been a non-league club, currently playing in the Northern League. Their home ground was New Ferens Park. However, after a dispute with the landlord, Durham left New Ferens Park and made a deal to groundshare at Willington F.C.

Durham is also home to FA Women's Championship team Durham Women's F.C., a team founded in 2014, they are a collaboration between South Durham and Cestria Girls and Durham University, the team are nicknamed The Wildcats, who are coached by Lee Sanders and play their Home games at Maiden Castle, part of Durham University.

Durham has two field hockey clubs that compete in the Men's England Hockey League, the Women's England Hockey League, the North Hockey League, the Yorkshire Hockey Association League and the BUCS leagues. These are Durham City Hockey Club and Durham University Hockey Club.{{cite web |url=https://www.durhamcityhockey.com/ |title=Durham City Hockey Club |access-date=4 October 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://www.englandhockey.co.uk/clubs/durham-city-hc/teams|title=England Hockey - Durham City Hockey Club |access-date=4 October 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://apps.dur.ac.uk/collegesport/public/variation/7 |title=Durham University Hockey Club - Mens|access-date=4 October 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://apps.dur.ac.uk/collegesport/public/variation/20|title=Durham University Hockey Club - Womens|access-date=4 October 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://www.englandhockey.co.uk/clubs/durham-university-hc/teams |title=England Hockey - Durham University Hockey Club |access-date=4 October 2024}}

Durham Ice Rink was a central feature of the city for some 60 years until it closed in 1996. It was home to the Durham Wasps, one of the most successful British ice hockey clubs that competed in the National Ice Hockey League during the 1980s and early 1990s. Durham City Wasps was another club that disbanded following the closure of Durham Ice Rink.

Durham Ice Rink's demolition began in May 2013.{{cite web|url=http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/news/10396246.End_of_an_era_as_Durham_Wasps__rink_demolition_begins/?ref=rss|title=End of an era as Durham Wasps' rink demolition begins|access-date=31 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030302/http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/news/10396246.End_of_an_era_as_Durham_Wasps__rink_demolition_begins/?ref=rss|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}} On the location of the former ice rink now stands Freemans Reach which houses the Durham Passport Office{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/find-regional-passport-office|title=Find a Passport Customer Service Centre – GOV.UK|website=www.gov.uk|access-date=9 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013082324/https://www.gov.uk/find-regional-passport-office|archive-date=13 October 2016|url-status=live}}

Durham Dragons play some fixutures at Billingham Forum.{{cite web |url=https://www.durham-dragons.com/ |title=Durham Dragons Ice Hockey Club |access-date=4 October 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/durhamdragons/?locale=en_GB|title=Facebook - Durham Dragons Ice Hockey Club |website=Facebook |access-date=4 October 2024}}

{{see also|Rowing clubs on the River Wear}}

File:Prebends and weir.JPG

The River Wear provides over {{convert|2|km|miles}} of river that can be rowed on, stretching from Durham University Boat Club's boathouse at Maiden Castle in the east to the weir next to Durham School Boat Club's boathouse in the west. This includes the {{convert|700|m|yd}} 'short course' straight used for most Durham Regatta races, the {{convert|1800|m|yd}} 'long course'{{cite news|title=Thousands enjoy city's big day|work=Northern Echo|date=15 June 2007|access-date=27 September 2009|url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/search/1475361.Thousands_enjoy_city_s_big_day/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330125836/http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/search/1475361.Thousands_enjoy_city_s_big_day/|archive-date=30 March 2012|url-status=dead}} that includes navigation through the arches of Elvet Bridge, reputed to be the narrowest row through bridge in Europe,{{cite web|url=http://www.dur.ac.uk/college.rowing/?p=resources/wear/|title=River Wear|publisher=Durham College Rowing|access-date=27 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126192210/http://www.dur.ac.uk/college.rowing/?p=resources%2Fwear%2F|archive-date=26 November 2011|url-status=dead}} and {{convert|1000|m|yds}} and {{convert|2000|m|yds}} measured distances.{{cite web|url=https://www.durham-arc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Rules-of-the-River.pdf|title=Rules of the River|website=Durham Amateur Rowing Club|access-date=14 February 2025}} There is a path running alongside the river's south bank (i.e. the Cathedral side) for the entire length of the stretch available for rowing, the concrete section between Hatfield College boathouse and Elvet Bridge being completed in 1882.{{cite book |title=A History of Durham Rowing|editor1-first=Captain A.A.|editor1-last=Macfarlane-Grieve|editor1-link=Angus MacFarlane-Grieve|year=1922|publisher=Andrew Reid and Company, Limited|location=Newcastle-upon-Tyne|page=53|quote=This year 1882 also was constructed a new concrete path between the Hatfield Hall boathouse and Elvet Bridge. Rowing men are indebted to the Rev. W.A. Fearon, at that time headmaster of Durham School, for this improvement. Before this date it had been necessary for those running with the boats to cross the river at Elvet Bridge, and then proceed by way of New Elvet to the river bank at St. Oswald's Church, which made coaching from the bank a much more difficult undertaking than it is at present.}}{{cite book |title=A History of Durham Rowing|editor1-first=Captain A.A.|editor1-last=Macfarlane-Grieve|year=1922|publisher=Andrew Reid and Company, Limited|location=Newcastle-upon-Tyne|page=189|quote=At a meeting held in March, 1884, the Honorary Secretary of Durham Amateur Rowing Club was instructed to forward a vote of thanks from the officers and members of the club to the Rev. W.A. Fearon, M.A., headmaster of Durham School, for his great generosity in building the wall and constructing a footpath below Hatfield Hall and connecting Elvet Waterside with that part of the banks known as Bow Corner. Present rowing men can hardly realise what the conditions were, both for coaching and following the long course races, before this useful walk was completed. Residents, other than those interested in rowing, have certainly reaped the benefit of this convenient and pleasant walk along the river.}}

For sport rowing there are a number of boating clubs operating on this stretch, Durham Amateur Rowing Club, Durham University Boat Club, the 16 college clubs of the university,{{cite web|url=https://durhamcollegerowing.webspace.durham.ac.uk/|title=Durham College Rowing|access-date=19 January 2025|website=Durham University}} Durham Constabulary and the school clubs – Durham School Boat Club and St Leonard's who row regularly in their own colours out of their own boathouses and Durham High School for Girls who may row out of Durham Amateur Rowing Club.

{{Further|Durham Amateur Rowing Club}}

Durham Amateur Rowing Club, DARC, operates out of a purpose-built community clubhouse on the River Wear which opened in 2007:{{cite news|title=Rowing: We're rowing and growing; New £1 m clubhouse for Durham|work=Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England)|date=12 September 2007|access-date=26 September 2009|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-168592156}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{blockquote|Durham Amateur Rowing Club is one of the country's oldest clubs (founded in 1860) and lies at the end of Green Lane in Durham, occupying a tranquil setting on the River Wear.{{cite web|url=http://www.durham-arc.org.uk/|title=Durham Amateur Rowing Club|publisher=Durham Amateur Rowing Club|access-date=26 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100501162021/http://www.durham-arc.org.uk/|archive-date=1 May 2010|url-status=live}} }}

The club takes part in the government scheme playing for success where it uses sport to combine rowing, science, computers and video to help boost literacy and numeracy.{{cite news |first=Mark |last=Tallentire |title=Classroom opened at rowing club |work=Northern Echo |date=15 September 2007 |access-date=27 September 2009 |url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/newsediting/1691514.Classroom_opened_at_rowing_club/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919145149/http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/newsediting/1691514.Classroom_opened_at_rowing_club/ |archive-date=19 September 2011 }}

{{Further|Durham College Rowing}}

Durham University rowing is divided into two sections: Durham University Boat Club and Durham College Rowing, the latter comprises 16 college boat clubs.

The River Wear is host to a number of regattas and head races throughout the year. These include:

the Novice Cup, Wear Long Distance Sculls and Senate Cup in November and December; Durham Small Boats Head in February; Durham City Regatta in May; Durham Regatta and Admiral's Regatta in June; and Durham Primary Regatta in September.

{{main|Durham Regatta}}

Durham Regatta has been held on the River Wear in Durham since 1834. It is the second oldest regatta in Britain{{cite news|title=City ready for weekend of boats, cars and brilliance|work=Northern Echo|date=15 June 2007|access-date=27 September 2009|url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/search/2340487.City_ready_for_weekend_of_boats__cars_and_brilliance/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919143050/http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/search/2340487.City_ready_for_weekend_of_boats__cars_and_brilliance/|archive-date=19 September 2011|url-status=dead}} and is often referred to as 'the Henley of the North'.{{cite news|title=Durham Bids to be UK City of Culture 2013: The North East's Best Kept Cultural Secret|work=artdaily.org|access-date=26 September 2009|url=http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=33369|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718181624/http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=33369|archive-date=18 July 2011|url-status=live}}

Durham Regatta in its current form dates back to 1834, when only a handful of trophies were competed for over a period of three days. Today, the regatta takes place over a period of two days, at which dozens of trophies are competed for. Durham University, Durham School and Durham Amateur Rowing Club have competed regularly since the early days.{{cite web|url=http://www.durham-regatta.org.uk/|title=Durham Regatta|publisher=Durham Regatta|access-date=26 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501131204/http://www.durham-regatta.org.uk/|archive-date=1 May 2009|url-status=live}}

File:Rowing in Durham.jpg.]]

In addition to the competitive rowing and sculling of the boat clubs mentioned above, there is also hire of public pleasure boats from April to October.{{cite web|url=http://www.princebishoprc.co.uk/rowingboats/|title=Browns Rowing Boats|publisher=Durham Prince Bishop River Cruiser|access-date=27 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504023534/http://www.princebishoprc.co.uk/rowingboats/|archive-date=4 May 2009|url-status=dead}}

Durham City Rugby Club has its headquarters on Green Lane:

Durham City RFC, the second oldest club in the county, was founded in 1872 with navy and gold playing colours and Durham Cathedral's sanctuary knocker as the club's crest.

City's Hollow Drift home has been developed into a facility which includes two floodlit pitches and a training area.

At present, City run four senior sides, a Veteran's XV, a Ladies' XV and mini and junior teams from aged 6 to 17.{{cite web |url=http://www.durhamcityrfc.co.uk/shopcontent.asp@type=aboutus |title=About Durham City Rugby Club |publisher=Durham City Rugby Club |access-date=26 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090310002116/http://www.durhamcityrfc.co.uk/shopcontent.asp%40type%3Daboutus |archive-date=10 March 2009 }}

{{main|Team Durham|l1=Durham University sport}}

{{See also|List of Bishops of Durham|List of Durham University people}}

• Pat Barker, (born in Thornaby in 1943), novelist ('Regeneration' trilogy), now resident in Durham.{{cite web |title=Pat Barker |publisher=British Council |work=British Council Literature |url=https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/pat-barker |access-date=26 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204174515/https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/pat-barker |archive-date=4 February 2016 |url-status=dead }}
• Barnabe Barnes, (baptised 1571, died 1609), Elizabethan poet. Died in Durham.{{cite ODNB |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1467 |title=Barnes, Barnabe (bap. 1571, d. 1609) |author=John D. Cox |year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/1467 |access-date=17 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904074430/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1467 |archive-date=4 September 2015 |url-status=live }}
• Henry Blackett ({{circa|1820}}–1907), New Zealand storekeeper and politician, born in Durham.{{DNZB|Greenaway| Richard L. N.|2b25|December 2011}}
• Tony Blair, (born 1953) former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Attended the Chorister School 1961–1966.{{cite web|url=http://www.thechoristerschool.com/life-after-choristers/|title=Life After Choristers|publisher=The Chorister School|access-date=23 December 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091129040355/http://www.thechoristerschool.com/life-after-choristers/|archive-date=29 November 2009}} [http://www.thechoristerschool.com/alumni/rollcall.php The Chorister School] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021173809/http://www.thechoristerschool.com/alumni/rollcall.php |date=21 October 2007 }}
• Count Joseph Boruwlaski (1739–1837), dwarf, spent last years of his life in Durham.{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wear/content/image_galleries/durham_town_hall_gallery.shtml?3 |title=Durham Town Hall |work=BBC Wear |publisher=BBC |access-date=23 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904074430/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wear/content/image_galleries/durham_town_hall_gallery.shtml?3 |archive-date=4 September 2015 |url-status=live }}
• Rev. Edward Bradley (1827–1889). Studied at Durham University and took his pen name "Cuthbert Bede" from the names of the city's two saints.{{cite news |title=Obituary |newspaper=The Times |date=13 December 1889 |page=5 }}
• Richard Caddel (1949–2003), poet. Lived in Durham from the 1970s and was co-director of the Basil Bunting poetry centre at Durham University library from 1988.{{cite news |title=Obituary: Richard Caddel |author=Paul Taylor |newspaper=The Guardian |date=18 April 2003 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/apr/18/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries |location=London |access-date=14 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306172332/http://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/apr/18/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries |archive-date=6 March 2016 |url-status=live }}
• George Camsell (1902–1966), international footballer, born in Framwellgate Moor.{{cite web |url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/MIDDcamsellG.htm |title=George Camsell |author=John Simkin |work=Spartacus Educational |access-date=23 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315210022/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/MIDDcamsellG.htm |archive-date=15 March 2010 }}
• Thomas Carr (engineer) (1824-1874), inventor of the Carr's disintegrator.{{cite book |author1=Institution of Mechanical Engineers |title=Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers: 1875 |date=1875 |publisher=Institution of Mechanical Engineers |pages=19-20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ypirwvoNklsC&pg=PA19 |access-date=10 November 2024 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}}
• Paul Collingwood (born 1976), international cricketer. Born in Shotley Bridge, now resident in Durham.{{cite web |url=http://www.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/10772.html |title=Paul Collingwood |author=Andrew Miller |date=October 2009 |work=Cricinfo |publisher=ESPN |access-date=23 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091208051759/http://www.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/10772.html |archive-date=8 December 2009 |url-status=live }}
• Sir Kingsley Dunham (1910–2001), Professor of Geology and later Professor Emeritus at the University of Durham, director of the British Geological Survey from 1967 to 1975.{{cite news |title=Obituary: Sir Kingsley Dunham |author=Tony Johnson |newspaper=The Independent |date=16 April 2001 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sir-kingsley-dunham-729022.html |location=London |access-date=20 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908142302/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sir-kingsley-dunham-729022.html |archive-date=8 September 2011 |url-status=live }}
• John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876), hymnologist, clergyman in Durham from 1849 to his death.{{acad|id=DKS843JB2|name=Dykes or Dikes, John Bacchus}}
• John Meade Falkner (1858–1932), arms manufacturer and novelist. Lived in Durham from 1902, and became Honorary Reader in Paleography at the University of Durham, and Honorary Librarian to the Dean and Chapter Library of Durham Cathedral.{{cite web|url=http://www.ferrersandivanhoelodge.org.uk/newjmf/BIBLIOGRAPHY.htm |title=Biography |publisher=The John Meade Falkner Society |access-date=23 December 2009 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705035302/http://www.ferrersandivanhoelodge.org.uk/newjmf/BIBLIOGRAPHY.htm |archive-date=5 July 2008 }}
• James Fenton (born 1949), journalist and poet. Attended the Chorister School 1957–1962.
• Max Ferguson (born 1924), Canadian broadcaster, born in Durham.{{cite web |url=http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/index3.php?url=http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/personalities.php?id=49 |title=Ferguson, Max (1924– ) |author=Jerry Fairbridge |date = August 2002|publisher=Canadian Communications Foundation |access-date=23 December 2009}} {{Dead link|date=November 2010|bot=H3llBot}}
• John Garth (1721–1810), composer. Lived in Durham for much of his life.{{cite web |url=http://www.divine-art.com/CD/rev25059.htm |title=John Garth's Cello Concertos |publisher=Divine Art Recordings Group |access-date=23 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100304155626/http://www.divine-art.com/CD/rev25059.htm |archive-date=4 March 2010 }}
• Archie Gray (born 2006), midfielder and right-back for Leeds United, England U20 team.{{Cite web |date=2023-11-13 |title=Archie Gray: Who is the Leeds United star Liverpool are 'preparing' £40m move for |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/archie-gray-leeds-united-star-163717756.html |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-GB}}
• Godric of Finchale (c. 1065–1170), popular medieval saint, briefly served as doorkeeper at St Giles Hospital in Durham before becoming a hermit.{{cite book |title=Butler's Lives of the Saints |last1=Butler |first1=Alban |last2=Farmer |first2=David Hugh |volume=5 |year=1996 |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |isbn=0-86012-254-9 |page=112 }}
• Andy Gomarsall (born 1974), International rugby union player. Born in Durham.{{cite web |url=http://www.wasps.co.uk/PlayerDisplaySS.ink?skip=0&season=&squadno=7081&seasonl=1995/1996&Playertype=P§ion=Home |title=Andy Gomarsall |publisher=London Wasps |access-date=23 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605102217/http://www.wasps.co.uk/PlayerDisplaySS.ink?skip=0&season=&squadno=7081&seasonl=1995%2F1996&Playertype=P§ion=Home |archive-date=5 June 2011 }}
• John Gully (1783–1863), prize fighter, racehorse owner and politician. Resident in Durham at time of his death.{{cite web |url=http://www.dur.ac.uk/parish.stmary/the_residents/gully.htm |title=The Parish of St Mary the Less – Residents: John Gully 1783–1863 |date=August 2007 |publisher=University of Durham |access-date=23 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126193306/http://www.dur.ac.uk/parish.stmary/the_residents/gully.htm |archive-date=26 November 2011 }}
• Trevor Horn (born 1949), record producer and member of the Buggles and Art Of Noise.{{cite web |url=http://www.trevorhorn.com/producer/ |title=Trevor Horn |date=November 2004 |work=trevorhorn.com |access-date=25 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329084115/http://www.trevorhorn.com/producer/ |archive-date=29 March 2010 |url-status=dead }}
• Sir John Grant McKenzie Laws, Lord Justice Laws, judge (attended the Chorister School)
• Jane Porter, novelist{{cite web |url=https://people.elmbridgehundred.org.uk/biographies/jane-porter/ |title=Jane Porter |website=The Elmbridge Hundred}}
• John Tindale, former cricketer{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/34/34880/Minor_Counties_Championship_Matches.html|title=Minor Counties Championship Matches played by John Tindale|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=8 August 2011}}
• Sir Peter Vardy, businessman (attended the Chorister School)
• Sir Hugh Walpole, novelist{{cite web |url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/407ea8b9-15c9-36d7-b3d2-0a9448512d38 |title=Archived copy |access-date=28 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301135845/https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/407ea8b9-15c9-36d7-b3d2-0a9448512d38 |archive-date=1 March 2019 |url-status=dead }}

Durham has a number of twin towns:{{cite magazine |url=https://durhammagazine.co.uk/durham-news/refrigerators-battlefields-lots-universities-know-durhams-twin-towns/0499/ |title=Refrigerators, Battlefields and Lots of Universities – What Do You Know about Durham's Twin Towns? |first=David |last=Sunderland |date=30 June 2016 |magazine=Durham Magazine}}

{{columns-list|colwidth=23em|

• Durham, North Carolina {{flagicon|USA}} - United States
• Durham, Connecticut {{flagicon|USA}} - United States
• Durham, New Hampshire {{flagicon|USA}} - United States
• Tübingen {{flagicon|DEU}} - Germany
• Kreis Wesel {{flagicon|DEU}} - Germany
• Department of the Somme {{flagicon|FRA}} - France
• Banská Bystrica {{flagicon|SVK}} - Slovakia
• Nakskov {{flagicon|DNK}} - Denmark
• Alcalá de Guadaíra {{flagicon|ESP}} - Spain
• Jászberény {{flagicon|HUN}} - Hungary

}}

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Durham County council revoked the twinning arrangements with the Russian city of Kostroma, which had been in place since 1968.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-60586850 |title=Ukraine: County Durham ends twinning links with Russian city Kostroma |work=BBC News |date=6 September 2021 |access-date=16 March 2022}}

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City of Durham.

{{Incomplete list|date=January 2020}}

• Sir Bobby Robson.{{cite news |title=Sir Bobby becomes Freeman of city |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wear/7770684.stm |access-date=8 January 2020 |work=BBC News |date=9 December 2008}}
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu{{cite web|last=Spence|first=Sharon|date=28 June 2012|title=CHARTER TRUST FOR THE CITY OF DURHAM|url=https://democracy.durham.gov.uk/documents/s23808/Charter%20Trust%20Report%2028%20June%202012%20-%20Freedom%20of%20the%20City.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927045043/http://democracy.durham.gov.uk/documents/s23808/Charter%20Trust%20Report%2028%20June%202012%20-%20Freedom%20of%20the%20City.pdf |archive-date=27 September 2012 }}

• 607 Squadron, RAF: 6 December 2017.{{cite web|url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/15705490.remarkable-story-durhams-reformed-raf-squadron-honoured-city-freedom/|title='Remarkable story' of Durham's reformed RAF squadron to be honoured with city freedom|website=The Northern Echo|date=6 December 2017 }}

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• Bowey, K. and Newsome, M., ed. (2012). The Birds of Durham. Durham Bird Club. {{ISBN|978-1-874701-03-3}}

{{Commons}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Wikivoyage|Durham (England)|Durham}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110626050052/http://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/ Durham World Heritage Site]

{{UK cities}}

{{Durham}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities in North East England

Category:Towns in County Durham

Category:County towns in England

Category:Rowing in the United Kingdom