CITY OF DURHAM 



the keen champion of the palatinate power 

 against all outside aggression,'*^ but he built it 

 up by exaction and invasion of the Cuthbcrtine 

 liberties, though before his death he bitterly 

 repented his conduct.''^ To him is due the con- 

 tinuation of the majestic nave of the cathedral. 

 St. Calais had built the church and the monks the 

 monastic buildings, but after the bishop's death 

 in 1096 the monks went on with the church and 

 abandoned the completion of the monastery. 

 Flambard reverted to the former arrangement, 

 and in addition enlarged the narrow chapter- 

 house. He built the city wall, rendering 

 the place stronger and more imposing. In 

 addition to this he ran a wall from the 

 cathedral apse to the castle keep, and cleared 

 Palace Green or Place Green (as it was later 

 called) of the many dwellings which then stood 

 upon it. His design in this clearance was to get 

 rid of any danger to the church either from pol- 

 lution or from fire. This mention of habitacula 

 multa proves that the century elapsed since 

 the foundation of Durham had witnessed the 

 spread of buildings within the peninsula, and 

 we shall soon get proof that suburbs had sprung 

 up outside. Room must have been found for the 

 dispossessed tenants of the Palace Green, and it 

 is no improbable conjecture that they were 

 placed by the bishop on that part of the bishop's 

 lands which now goes by the name Framwellgate. 

 We have no direct documentary testimony as to 

 the origin of this suburb, but the fact just named 

 and the building of Framwellgate Bridge, which 

 was undoubtedly Flambard's work, might be 

 considered to make probable the hypothesis 

 that Flambard planted the evicted persons on 

 his own land, and consoled them by making their 

 new habitations immediately adjacent to the 

 road by which pilgrims came and went when 

 they visited Durham. The new bridge gave 

 ready access to the city, and connected Fram- 

 wellgate and Crossgate with the district of St. 

 Nicholas, which was already, no doubt, occupied 

 by houses, and had its own parish church, either 

 at this time or in the episcopate of Pudscy. The 

 fact that Framwellgate had no church of its own, 

 taken in connexion with its constant documen- 

 tary connexion with the Borough (which after- 

 wards came to be the name of St. Nicholas' 

 parish), will suggest the priority of the latter in 

 point of time. The dedication to St. Nicholas is 

 worth noting, as there is some reason to believe 

 that this patron saint of sailors was also adopted 

 by traders who plied their craft under his pro- 

 tection. 



The chronology of Flambard's episcopate is 

 obscure, but it is not at all improbable that his 

 works were in part carried out in connexion with 



*^ Simeon of Dur. 

 " Ibid. 141. 



op. cjt. 1, 139. 



the most picturesque scene of the time, the 

 translation of the body of St. Cuthbert to the 

 shrine in the completed church. The date is 

 4 September 1104. Now, if not before, began 

 the history of a great north country event when 

 the Fair of St. Cuthbert was instituted, and, 

 as we see from many 12th-century references, 

 became at once a celebration of impressive 

 character and proportions. The nave of the 

 cathedral was not quite finished when Flambard 

 died, but was completed by the monks in the 

 interval of five years before his successor arrived. 

 Just before his death the bishop, in token of 

 repentance for much harsh treatment of his 

 Durham neighbours, made over to them a 

 considerable sum of money which the king 

 afterwards demanded again."" The foundation 

 by Flambard of the Hospital of St. Giles, com- 

 monly known as Kepier Hospital, can be accu- 

 rately dated to the year 11 12. At the same time 

 Flambard also built the church of St. Giles, 

 which stood on the summit of a hill north-east 

 of the city, gathering round it, as time went on, 

 a settlement which went by the name of Giles- 

 gate or, in local phrase, GiUygate. Such was the 

 beginning of a new and important suburb, des- 

 tined to be closely connected with the hospital. 

 Finchale, which was, perhaps, an old Celtic 

 monastic site, was made over by Flambard to the 

 monks of St. Cuthbert in iiiS.''^ 



A period of vicissitude soon followed the death 

 of Flambard, entailing great suffering on Dur- 

 ham and its environs. Miseries which are quoted 

 by a modern historian as characteristic of the 

 anarchy of Stephen's reign had perhaps their 

 chief exemplification in the misfortunes of the 

 city."*^ As at the Norman Conquest Durham 

 had been distracted between two parties, so now 

 it was menaced by a double allegiance. The 

 majority took the side of Stephen, but the 

 activity of David of Scotland, espousing the 

 cause of the Empress Maud his niece, brought 

 the whole district into imminent danger. 

 Stephen's entry into Durham in February 1 1 36 

 obliged David to withdraw the troops with 

 which he meditated the reduction of the city and 

 the annexation of the patrimony of St. Cuthbert. 

 Terms were arranged at the castle during Ste- 

 phen's stay. The ebb and flow of the invasions 

 that ensued did not affect Durham again until 

 1 1 38, and then only in passing, as the Scots 



^^ This may refer in p.irt to his dispossession of the 

 traders (as they probably were) on the Palace Green 

 (cf. Simeon of Dur. op. cit. i, 141). 



*5 It is .in old theory that the Synod of Pincahala 

 in 787 was held at Finchale (Haddan and Stubbs, 

 Councils, iii, 444). At all events in the 12th century 

 foundations of ancient buildings were to be discerned 

 under the turf (Reginald, De Vita St. Godric [Suttees 

 Soc], 69). 



^■^ Green, Short History, 98-9. 



I I 



