645 



DURHAM. 



DURHAM. 



with this county. The county remained in the possession of 

 the Romans until they finally withdrew from the island, being 

 defended by the wall of Hadrian or Severus, which extended from 

 sea to sea across Northumberland and Cumberland. The notices of 

 the district by the ancient geographers are scanty. We gather from 

 the Itinerary of Richard of Cirencester that the Tees was known to 

 the Romans as the Tisa, and the Tyne aa the Tina ; and from Ptole- 

 mseus, that the Wear (Horsley will have the Tyne) was known as 

 the Vedra. The Romans had several stations within the county. 

 Vindomora and Vinovium, mentioned in the first Iter of Antoninus 

 are fixed by antiquarians at Ebchester on the Derwent, and Binchester 

 near Bishop Auckland. Ad Tisatn, mentioned by Richard, is fixed 

 at Pierce Bridge on the Tees. Gateshead was considered by Camden 

 to be the Gabrosentum of the Notitia, which others place at Drum 

 burgh near Carlisle. Of some other stations the precise site has not 

 been definitely ascertained. Roman antiquities have been found at 

 Chester-le-Street, at Coniscliff or Conscliffe, near Pierce Bridge ; at 

 Old Durham, near Durham city, at Lanchester, at Pierce Bridge, at 

 South Shields, at Stanhope, at Thornton, near Darlington, at 

 Monk Wearmouth, and at Whitborn Lizard. (Reynold's 'Iter 

 Britanniarum.') 



On the establishment of the Saxon Octarchy, Durham was probably 

 included in the kingdom of Deira, the southernmost of the two 

 which are frequently comprehended under the general name of 

 Northumbria. About the year 634, after Oswald had united the two 

 kingdoms under one sceptre, Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, was selected 

 M the residence of the first bishop. The Beat of the bishopric was 

 about 30 years later removed to York. In C78, when Northumbria 

 w*i divided into two dioceses, Lindisfarne again became an episcopal 

 seat. Fear of the ravages of the Danes caused the bishop and clergy 

 to leave Lindisfarne about 875, and to take up their residence at 

 Chester-le-Street. From this place another removal took place in 

 995, first to Ripon in Yorkshire, afterwards to Dunhelm or Duuholme, 

 now Durham, where the see has since been fixed. 



For about 20 years subsequent to the Conquest, Durham suffered 

 all the calamities of civil war in consequence of the oppressive conduct 

 of William and his Norman followers, the resistance of the ecclesiastics 

 and the people, and the attacks of an invading Scots army. Rapine, 

 famine, and pestilence spread misery on every hand, and almost 

 entirely depopulated the district. 



In the early part of the 14th century Durham was frequently 

 invaded by the Scots. The last occasion of this kind was in I:)K>, 

 when under the conduct of king David, they crossed the Tyne and 

 the Derwent, and encamped about 3 miles from the city of Durham. 

 Edward was in France ; but the northern nobles and prelates collected 

 a powerful army, and the battle of Nevill's Cross terminated in the 

 defeat of the Scots and the captivity of David. 



In the war of the Roses, the Yorkists, under the Marquis of Monti - 

 cute, marched across Durham to attack the Lancastrians before the 

 battle of Hexham. In the invasion of England by James IV. of 

 Scotland, who favoured the cause of Perkin Warbeck, Norham Castle, 

 which then belonged to Durham, was beseiged by the king ; but when 

 reduced to the last extremity, it was relieved by the approach of the 

 Earl of Surrey with an army. At the time of the Reformation the 

 see of Durham was held by Cuthbert Tunstall, a man honourably 

 distinguished in that persecuting age by his mildness and forbearance. 

 He was imprisoned and deprived of his bishopric under Edward VI., 

 was restored under Mary, but finally deprived after the accession of 

 Elizabeth. The religious establishments were not richly endowed, 

 with the exception of the priory at Durham. Kypen and Sherburu 

 hospitals, which were among the wealthiest, had each less than 2001. 

 a year gross revenue. In the rebellion of the earls of Northumber- 

 land and Westmoreland in support of the Roman Catholic faith, they 

 found little difficulty in raising a tumultuous force, with which they 

 entered Durham, tore and trampled underfoot the English Bibles and 

 prayer-books, and celebrated mass in the cathedral ; they were how- 

 ever shortly afterwards dispersed by the royal army under the Earl of 

 Sussex. In the latter part of Elizabeth's reign the northern counties 

 were much afflicted by a pestilence. 



When the Scots invaded England, in 1640, they crossed the Tyne 

 into this county, Lord Conway, who commanded the King's troops, 

 retreating first to Durham, and afterwards to Northallerton in York- 

 shire. When the civil war broke out in 1642, the Earl of Newcastle 

 formed the four northern counties into an association for the king's 

 service. During the Commonwealth the see was dissolved ; but upon 

 the restoration of Charles II. it was re-established, and bestowed on 

 Bishop Coeins, who distinguished himself by the munificent use he 

 made of hia large revenues. The local history of the county since 

 the Restoration is not marked by any interesting features. 



Durham i one of the principal counties in which coal is raised ; it 

 does not rank very high as an agricultural county. 



In 1851 there were 12 savings banks in the county : at Barnard 

 Castle, Bishop Auckland, Chester-le-Street, Darlington, Durham, 

 Hartlepool, Lanchester, Middleton-in-Teesdale, Monkwearmouth, 

 South Shields, Stanhope, and Stockton-upon-Tees. The total 

 amount owing to depositors on the 20th of November 1851, was 

 l '.it 1. 64</. 



DURHAM, the capital of the county of Durham, a city and borough, 



and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, is situated on the river Wear in 

 54 47' N. lat,, 1 34' W. long., distant 258 miles N. by W. from 

 London by road, and the same distance by the Great Northern and 

 York and Newcastle railways. The population of the municipal and 

 parliamentary borough of Durham in 1851 was 13,188. The city is 

 governed by 6 aldermen and 18 councillors, one of whom is mayor 

 and returns two members to the Imperial Parliament. For sanitary 

 purposes the borough is governed by a Local Board of Health. The 

 livings are in the archdeaconry and diocese of Durham. Durham 

 Poor-Law Union contains 25 parishes and townships, with an area of 

 42,163 acres, and a population in 1851 of 35,793. 



About the close of the 10th century, when the monks of Lindis- 

 farne, or Holy Island, removed "from Chester-le-Street with the remains 

 of St. Cuthbert, the legend informs us that on the arrival of the body 

 at Dunholme the ear in which it was earned became immovable. 

 The monks proceeded to build (on the site now occupied by the 

 church of St. Mary-le-Bow, erected in 1685) a sort of tabernacle of 

 bougns, wherein they deposited the relics ; but soon after a stone 

 church was built by Bishop Alduu, and dedicated to St. Cuthbert, 

 whose remains were removed and enshrined in it. The town of 

 Duuholme, or Durham, was besieged unsuccessfully by Duncan of 

 Scotland in 1040. By Leland it is called Duresme (the Norman 

 name, whence Durham). 



William the Conqueror and his friends and followers committed 

 dreadful ravages in Durham and its neighbourhood, in revenge of the 

 murder of the garrison by the inhabitants, whose feelings of hatred 

 had been roused into action by the excesses of the Norman soldiers. 

 In 1072 a strong castle was built here, and Walcher, a Norman, was 

 appointed to the bishopric. This prelate purchased the earldom of 

 Northumberland, and assumed the title of Count Palatine. In 1093 

 the old church built by Aldun was pulled down, and the present 

 magnificent edifice begun by King Malcolm, Carilepho the bishop, 

 and Turgot the prior. Durham was often the head-quarters of 

 Edward III. and of other monarchs and commanders on their excur- 

 sions against Scotland. After the battle of Newbum the city of 

 Durham became almost depopulated. 



By an Act passed in the 27th of Henry VIII. the temporal juris- 

 diction of the bishops of Durham was considerably abridged. In more 

 modern times, by the 6th and 7th William IV., cap. 19, the whole of 

 the palatine jurisdiction of the bishops of Durham was taken away, 

 and vested in the crown as a separate franchise and royalty. The city 

 had its first charter from Bishop Hugh Pudsey, confirmed by Pope 

 Alexander; the last charter was granted by Bishop Egertou in 1780. 

 The assizes for the county are held here twice a year by the judges 

 going the northern circuit. A county court is held in Durham. 



The city is nearly surrounded by the river Wear, and forms a 

 peninsula, the centre of which rises to a lofty eminence, partially 

 inclosed by the ancient walls, and skirted with hanging gardens 

 descending to the river, on each side of which are delightful public 

 walks called the Banks. The cathedral and castle crown the summit. 

 The prospect obtained from the summit of this eminence, compre- 

 hending a large extent of fertile and wooded country, is exceedingly 

 interesting ; as are also the views of Durham city, castle, and cathedral 

 from numerous points in the approaches on either side. The cathe- 

 dral occupies the north side and the castle the south side of Place or 

 Palace Green, a spacious square in the centre of the town. On the 

 west side of the square is the old exchequer, comprising the offices of 

 the Palatine court of chancery, offices for the diocesan records, &c. 

 Other buildings connected with the ecclesiastical establishment adjoin 

 those just named. 



Notwithstanding the marring effect of so-called restorations and 

 alterations, enough of the outline of the cathedral remains to show the 

 majestic character of the original Norman structure. The building is 

 in the form of a Latin cross ; the dimensions are as follows : Length, 

 502 feet ; length of nave, 205 feet ; height of nave, 69 feet ; widtli of 

 nave and aisles, 81 feet ; middle transept, 171 feet by 33 feet ; choir, 

 127 feet by 32 feet; eastern transept or chapel of the nine altars, 129 

 feet by 34 feet. The height of the great central tower is 210 feet. 

 The principal entrance was originally at the western end, a beautiful 

 Norman arch forming the doorway; but after the erection of the 

 Galilee Chapel by Bishop Pudsey the northern doorway became the 

 principal entrance. A transept at the east end called the Chapel of 

 the Nine Altars is a fine specimen of early English architecture, and 

 has additional interest as containing the remains of St. Cuthbert. 

 The remains were discovered under the site of the former shrine of 

 the saint on the 7th of May, 1847, and were re-interred the same 

 evening. Many interesting old monuments are in the cathedral. 



The castle has received many alterations and repairs from the hands 

 of successive bishops of Durham, who used it as a place of occasional 

 residence. The original building is Norman. The great outer gate- 

 way, which had been for some time used as the county jail, stood till 

 1818, when it was removed. The archway of the present entrance- 

 gate is Norman, but the tower of the gateway is a recent structure, 

 built or restored by Bishop Barrington. The courtyard of the castle 

 is an irregular square, the greater portion of the buildings beiug on 

 the north and west sides. Bishop Hatfield's Hall, on the western side, 

 was originally 132 feet long by 36 feet in width ; but was considerably 

 curtailed in its dimensions by succeeding bishops. In this hall 



