A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



Commissioners proposed large additions to this 

 area. The south-east limit was now extended 

 to Shincliffc Bridge, from which the boundary 

 passed to Hallgarth Toll Bar. Thence it ran 

 rather to the south of the old line to Charley 

 Cross, and via Quarry Head Lane, round by 

 Margery Lane and Flass Lane to the gates of 

 the present Hospital, and up the Newcastle 

 Road to Springwell Hall. Here it turned 

 sharply to the east in a straight line to Kepier 

 Hospital, and thence round by Kepier Lane to 

 what is now Bell's Villa Lane, where it turned 

 west, rounded the end of Pelaw Wood, and fol- 

 lowed the right bank of the river to Shincliffe 

 Bridge. 



In 1849 Mr. G. T. Clark, a superintending 

 inspector under the Public Health Act of the 

 previous year, instituted a preliminary inquiry 

 on the sanitary conditions of the city. His 

 report to the General Board of Health will be 

 noticed in another connexion. In this he pro- 

 posed a further addition to the boundaries of 

 the city on its extreme north-east limit, so as 

 to take in an uneven parallelogram containing 

 what was then known as New Durham. The 

 proposal was not accepted at that time, nor was 

 it allowed in 1905, when the city boundaries 

 were again altered. Accordingly the limits 

 were not changed between 1832 and 1905. 



The Municipal Corporations Act of 1835,^ 

 which gave effect to the Commissioners' Report 

 of 1832, divided the city into three wards on 

 the recommendation of the revising barristers. 

 These wards were called respectively the North, 

 South, and St. Nicholas wards, and were un- 

 changed for the next seventy years. In 1905, 

 in pursuance of certain sections in the Local 

 Government Act of 1888,'' an extension order 

 was drawn up under which the existing boun- 

 daries and wards were settled. A new ward 

 was added on the west of the city to comprise 

 the suburb which had grown up in recent years 

 in the direction of Neville's Cross. By some 

 redistribution and enlargement the three wards 

 were increased to six, and are now known as 

 Neville's Cross ward on the west, Framvvellgate 

 ward on the north and Crossgate ward below 

 it, St. Nicholas ward in the centre of the city, 

 Gilesgate and Elvet to the north-east and south- 

 east respectively. The intake added consider- 

 ably to the area and population of the city — 

 viz., 181 acres and 2,220 persons. The addi- 

 tions over and above that of the Neville's Cross 

 ward consisted of an enlargement of the limits 

 of the old South ward so as to take in an area 

 bounded by Honeyhall wood, Mountjoy reser- 

 voir, Oswald House, South End, and Bow 

 cemetery ; and, further, an increase of the old 



3 Stat. 5 and 6 Will. IV, cap. 76. 

 * Ibid. 51 and 52 Vict. cap. 41. 



North ward by a circular boundary running 

 from Frankland Lane through Hopper's Wood 

 to Akeley Heads Farm, thence skirting and in- 

 cluding the Dryburn estate to Western Lodge 

 and Springwell Hall. The Parliamentary boun- 

 dary was not affected by the changes of 1905, 

 and is therefore not strictly conterminous with 

 the municipal boundary. 



Although the county was the birth-place of 

 passenger traffic by rail, it was some time before 

 the city participated in the new means of 

 communication; nor was there any desire for it, 

 though many of the inhabitants took part in the 

 festival opening of the Stockton and Darlington 

 Railway in 1825. Durham itself was first 

 brought within useful distance of the railway in 

 1838, when the Durham Junction Railway from 

 South Shields to Leamside was opened. Thus 

 a drive of 6 miles only lay between the city and 

 the railway. In 1844 direct communication 

 was opened with Leamside from a station in 

 Gilesgate. Later a new station at the north 

 end of the city was completed and Durham was 

 connected with the Weardale and Durham 

 Railway. In 1841 the Great North of England 

 Railway was opened as far as Darlington, and 

 was continued to Newcastle in 1844, passing 

 through Leamside and giving Durham easy 

 access to Newcastle and York. All these lines 

 which directly affected Durham were consoli- 

 dated into the North Eastern Railway in 1854. 

 In 1857 the Bishop Auckland line was finished 

 and was brought to the North Road station 

 over a viaduct which was called the Victoria 

 Viaduct. Since 1872 the usual express route 

 from Newcastle to York has lain through the city 

 by the completion of the Team Valley Railway, 



The railways put an end by degrees to the 

 large service of stage coaches which had run 

 through Durham. In 1827 there were sixteen 

 coaches daily leaving or reaching the various 

 coaching inns.^ Of these eight were in commu- 

 nication with London, four with Edinburgh, 

 and the rest with Sunderland, Newcastle, Leeds 

 or Lancaster. There were numerous carriers 

 to all local towns and villages. The main roads 

 were the Great North Road, connecting north 

 and south and running through the city ; a 

 road to Brandon and Brancepeth on the west ; 

 another to Sunderland on the north-east, 

 branching off to Sherburn and Hartlepool ; and 

 a fourth diverging at Springwell Hall from the 

 Great North Road and running to Lanchester. 



The River Wear was never navigable in the 

 neighbourhood of Durham owing to its frequent 



^ Parson and White (Hist. Dir., and Gazetteer of 

 Dur. and Northumb., 1S27) give full particulars. In 

 1827 there were about eighteen daily coaches and 

 about forty-one carriers. 



