County Durham

 

County Durham
Geography
Status	Ceremonial and (smaller) Non-metropolitan county
Origin	Historic
Region	North East England
Area - Total - Admin. council - Admin. area	Ranked 19th  km² ( sq mi) Ranked 23rd  km² ( sq mi)
Admin HQ	Durham
ISO 3166-2	GB-DUR
ONS code	20
NUTS 3	UKC14
Demographics
Population - Total (2006 est.) - Density - Admin. council - Admin. pop.	Ranked 23rd 493,470 (2001 census) /km² (/sq mi) Ranked 27th 500,700
Ethnicity	98.6% White
Politics
Durham County Council http://www.durham.gov.uk/
Executive	Labour
Members of Parliament	Hilary Armstrong (L) Roberta Blackman-Woods (L) Phil Wilson (L) Frank Cook (L) John Cummings (L) Helen Goodman (L) Kevan Jones (L) Alan Milburn (L) Dari Taylor (L) Iain Wright (L)
Districts
City of Durham Sedgefield Teesdale Wear Valley Derwentside Chester-le-Street Hartlepool (unitary) Darlington (unitary) Stockton-on-Tees (unitary)* * Only the part of the borough to the north of the River Tees is within the ceremonial County Durham.

County Durham is a county in north-east England. It can be used to refer to 4 different entities:

• the historic County of Durham
• the administrative county of Durham
• the ceremonial county of Durham
• the non-metropolitan county of Durham

Its county town is Durham.

It is a county of contrasts: the remote and sparsely populated dales and moors of the Pennines characterise the interior, while nearer the coast the county is highly urbanised, and was once dominated by the coal mining industry.

The form of the county name is unique in England. Many counties are named after their principal town, and the expected form here would be Durhamshire. The reason it is called County Durham is that it did not become a Shire/County until after the language of government was changed from Anglo-Saxon to Norman French in 1066. Previous to that it was a semi-independent Bishopric[1].

Durham County Council promotes the non-metropolitan county for tourism purposes as "The Land of the Prince Bishops" in reference to the former palatine jurisdiction of the bishops.^[1]

According to a marketing campaign by the charity Plantlife, County Durham's county flower is the Spring Gentian.

Definitions

1.Historic County

This boundary includes a main body covering the watershed of the Pennines in the west, the River Tees in the south, the North Sea in the east and the Rivers Tyne and Derwent in the north. The county several had a number of exclaves: Bedlingtonshire, Islandshire and Norhamshire within Northumberland, and Craikshire within the North Riding of Yorkshire. The historic boundaries were used for parliamentary purposes until 1832, and for judicial and local government purposes until the coming into force of the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844, which merged most remaining exclaves with their surrounding county.

2.Administrative county

In 1889, under the Local Government Act 1888 England and Wales was divided into administrative counties and county boroughs. Administrative counties, governed by an elected county council, were based on the historic boundaries, less larger towns which became self-governing as county boroughs.

In 1889 the administrative county of Durham consisted of the historic county less the county boroughs of Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland. The boundary with the North Riding of Yorkshire was adjusted: that part of the town of Barnard Castle historically in Yorkshire was added to County Durham, while the portion of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in Durham was ceded to the North Riding. For all non-administrative purposes, such as lieutenancy, the County of Durham comprised the administrative county and associated county boroughs.

Over its existence, the administrative county lost territory, both to the existing county boroughs, and also due to the creation of county boroughs at West Hartlepool in 1902 and Darlington in 1915. In 1967 the borough of Hartlepool was removed from the administrative county when it merged with West Hartlepool to form a new county borough of Hartlepool, and in 1968 Billingham was included within the boundaries of the county borough of Teesside, associated with the North Riding.

The administrative county was abolished in 1974.

3.Non-metropolitan county

In 1974, with the implementation of the Local Government Act 1972, the administrative county (and the Durham County Council that governed it) were abolished. The Act created three new non-metropolitan/metropolitan counties to act as government administration areas in its place: the non-metropolitan counties of Durham and Cleveland ( the latter containing the boroughs of Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees), and the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear (containing the boroughs of Gateshead, Sunderland and South Tyneside.)^[2] The new non-metropolitan county of Durham also covered the former area of Startforth Rural District, a part of the historic North Riding of Yorkshire, and south of the historical boundary of the River Tees.

As established in 1974 the non-metropolitan county had a two-tier structure. A new Durham County Council, and eight districts (each governed by a district council) were formed. In 1997 the district of Darlington was removed from jurisdiction of the county council, becoming a Unitary Authority. There are currently seven local government districts in the county. They are:

• The City of Durham, including Durham city and the surrounding areas.
• Easington, including Seaham and the new town of Peterlee.
• Sedgefield, including Spennymoor and Newton Aycliffe.
• Teesdale, including Barnard Castle and the villages of Teesdale, including the former area of Startforth Rural District.
• Wear Valley, including Bishop Auckland, Crook, and Willington, and the villages along Weardale.
• Derwentside, including Consett and Stanley.
• Chester-le-Street, including Sacriston.

See also: Districts of Durham and List of civil parishes in County Durham

The Department for Communities and Local Government has announced that the seven district councils and the County Council will be abolished and a new unitary authority for the whole of the existing County Council area will be created. The changes are planned to be implemented no later than 1 April 2009.^[3][4]. The successful Durham County Council bid referred to the new authority as County Durham Council.

4.Ceremonial county

In 1997 the non-metropolitan county (including unitary Darlington), together with that part of the former county of Cleveland north of the River Tees became a county for 'ceremonial purposes' (reflecting the southern historic and administrative county boundaries). The ceremonial county of Durham is the area to which lord-lieutenants and high sheriffs are appointed, and has no role in local government.

The term "County Durham" has no strict definition. It should be noted that no government Act has ever named any entity "County Durham": this has arisen out of common usage and despite this has been, and is, widely used even within government to refer to any one of the government administrion areas defined above.

History

Main article: History of County Durham

The County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge was a County Palatine by immemorial custom, with the Bishops of Durham being princes until 1836. Until 1971 there were a series of courts in the county, and the offices of Chancellor, Attorney-General, Solicitor-General, Steward and Clerk of Halmotes, Deputy Steward, and Registrar of Halmotes. The Court of Chancery of Durham existed from the 13th century to 1971. In 1836 the separate Court of Exchequer and the Court of Admiralty were abolished. The Durham Court of Pleas survived until 1873.

Settlements

For more details on this topic, see list of places in County Durham.

This is a list of the main towns in County Durham. The area covered is the entire ceremonial county, hence the inclusion of towns which are no longer administered by Durham County Council.

• Barnard Castle, Billingham, Bishop Auckland
• Chester-le-Street, Consett
• Darlington
• Durham
• Ferryhill
• Hartlepool
• Newton Aycliffe
• Peterlee
• Seaham
• Sedgefield
• Spennymoor
• Stanley
• Stockton-on-Tees
• Willington

Places of interest

• Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland
• Barnard Castle
• Beamish Museum, in Stanley
• Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle
• Causey Arch, near Stanley
• Durham Cathedral and Castle, a World Heritage Site
• Escomb Saxon Church, near Bishop Auckland
• Finchale Priory, near Durham city
• Hamsterley Forest
• Hardwick Hall Country Park near Sedgefield
• High Force and Low Force waterfalls, on the River Tees
• Killhope Wheel, part of the North of England Lead Mining Museum in Weardale
• Locomotion railway museum, in Shildon
• No Place, near Stanley
• Pity Me
• Raby Castle, near Staindrop
• Tanfield Railway, in Tanfield

External links

• Durham County Council
• Spennymoor Local History
• One North East guides & brochures
• Guided Walks Programme from Durham County Council

References

1. ^ Welcome to County Durham (Durham County Council)
2. ^ Local Government Act, 1972
3. ^ Durham County Council - Local Government Review in County Durham
4. ^ Communities and Local Government - Proposals for future unitary structures: Stakeholder consultation

Ceremonial counties of England

Counties of the Lieutenancies Act 1997 Bedfordshire • Berkshire • City of Bristol • Buckinghamshire • Cambridgeshire • Cheshire • Cornwall • Cumbria • Derbyshire • Devon • Dorset • Durham • East Riding of Yorkshire • East Sussex • Essex • Gloucestershire • Greater London • Greater Manchester • Hampshire • Herefordshire • Hertfordshire • Isle of Wight • Kent • Lancashire • Leicestershire • Lincolnshire • City of London • Merseyside • Norfolk • Northamptonshire • Northumberland • North Yorkshire • Nottinghamshire • Oxfordshire • Rutland • Shropshire • Somerset • South Yorkshire • Staffordshire • Suffolk • Surrey • Tyne and Wear • Warwickshire • West Midlands • West Sussex • West Yorkshire • Wiltshire • Worcestershire

Historic counties of England

Counties that originate prior to 1889 Bedfordshire • Berkshire • Buckinghamshire • Cambridgeshire • Cheshire • Cornwall • Cumberland • Derbyshire • Devon • Dorset • Durham • Essex • Gloucestershire • Hampshire • Herefordshire • Hertfordshire • Huntingdonshire • Kent • Lancashire • Leicestershire • Lincolnshire • Middlesex • Monmouthshire • Norfolk • Northamptonshire • Northumberland • Nottinghamshire • Oxfordshire • Rutland • Shropshire • Somerset • Staffordshire • Suffolk • Surrey • Sussex • Warwickshire • Westmorland • Wiltshire • Worcestershire • Yorkshire

	County Durham
	About County Durham
	Buildings | Culture | Economy | Geography | History | Famous Residents | Sport | Durham University | Transport | Timeline
	Districts of County Durham
	Chester-le-Street | Derwentside | City of Durham | Easington | Borough of Sedgefield | Teesdale | Wear Valley

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