CITY OF DURHAM 



elude part of the civil parish of Framwellgate 

 Moor. As constituted in 1898 the civil parish 

 of Framwellgate contained 148 acres, Framwell- 

 gate Moor 3,801 acres, Neville's Cross 429 acres, 

 Crossgate 74 acres, Elvet 256 acres, Shinclifle 

 1,377 acres, Sunderland Bridge 1,438 acres, 

 Broom 1,076 acres and St. Oswald itself 2,227 

 acres. 



The Priory of Durham in the 14th century had 

 a house at Elvet-hall or Hallgarth, from which 

 Hallgarth Street takes its name,* where distin- 

 guished guests were sometimes entertained.' 

 In the hall in 1371 there were hangings one show- 

 ing armed men and another of green with a blue 

 leopard, while in the chamber were costly beds 

 with covers adorned with lilies, roses, butter- 

 flies, leopards and eagles.' There is some 

 reason for thinking that the Hallgarth was kept 

 in the actual possession of the Priory until the 

 Dissolution, but from this time onwards it 

 became merely two farm houses usually occupied 

 by foremen or ' hinds.' ^ 



Just south of Maiden Castle Wood is the 

 Shincliffe road, its junction with Hallgarth Street 

 being marked by Philipson's Cross, of unknown 

 origin. The conical hill called Mountjoy has at 

 least a legendary history, for it was from this 

 point that the weary monks first beheld the 

 resting place they sought for the body of St. 

 Cuthbert. The Great High Wood on the hill 

 to the south and east of Mountjoy is perhaps 

 the ' East Wood or St. Cuthbert's Place ' >" men- 

 tioned in 1442, the Little High Wood being per- 

 haps the West Wood mentioned at the same 

 date. Charlay's Cross,^^ at the junction of the 

 Bishop Auckland road, Church Street and Quar- 

 ryheads Lane, is connected with the close called 

 Charlay in 1442,'- when mention is also made 

 of Fourudhclose or Welleshead, Dedrygh, 

 Dedryghbanks, Swallowhopp, AUers, le Peth and 

 the ditch called Langmardyke. Palmer's close," 

 between Charlay's Cross and the river, was called 

 ' Palman closse ' in 1541, when mention is also 

 made of Kirkecroft and of the Smithyhaughs" 

 which have been used as a racecourse since 



1733-'' 

 In spite of modern building developments, 



• Dur. Acct. R. (Surt. Soc), i, passim. 

 ' Ibid, i, 117; ii, 523. 



8 Ibid, i, 129. 



* Exch. Bills and Ans. Dur., Eliz. no. 22. 

 1* Lans. IMS. 902, fol. 223 d. 



11 It is shown on Christopher Schwytzer's map 

 Dunelm. (1595). Only the base of this remains. For 

 drawings of it and of Philipson's Cross, see B.M., 

 Kaye Coll. ii, no. 227, 228. 



12 Ibid. 



1* There was a Palmer Close in St. Giles' parish 

 also; see Mem. of St. Giles (Surt. Soc), iii, 153. 

 I'' Rentals and Surv. (Gen. Ser.), R. 987. 

 15 Sunees, Dur. iv (2), 88. 



St. Oswald's church still stands on the outskirts 

 of Elvet. St. Oswald's Well" lies between the 

 river ' Bank ' and the east end of the church, and 

 a pathway leads through the churchyard to 

 Elvet Bank and its picturesque slope to the 

 river below. Much of the land between the Wear 

 and the road has been cut up for allotment gar- 

 dens. 



The Prebend's Bridge" gives access to this 

 district from the Promontory of Durham, and it 

 was thus possible to build the Grammar School 

 here when it was moved from its old site near 

 Palace Green in 1842.*® The modern school lies 

 on a part of the ground called Bellasis, the house 

 of that name being arranged for the use of the 

 headmaster. "^^ The name of Bellasis is still 

 appHed to certain closes,-" on one of which the 

 Observatory of the University of Durham was 

 built in 1841. 



Another part of the school buildings seems to lie 

 on the site of ' the little tenement or grange ' 

 of the Almoner's Barns'-^ or ' Ambling Barns ' 

 as they were styled in 1754.^" Perhaps some- 

 where here was ' Bowes close ' sold in 1628 by 

 Robert Hutton to Richard Wilkinson,-' the 

 owner, in January 1635-6.-^ The property de- 

 scended in the family of Wilkinson and was held 

 by Mr. Thomas Wilkinson shortly before 1857.-'' 

 Close to Ambling Barns was the Grove, where 

 Stephen George Kemble, the actor, and brother 

 of Mrs. Siddons, died in 1822.26 



North of the Grove, houses become frequent 

 and South Street, parallel to the river, leads to 

 Framwellgate Bridge.'-' 



Leland, writing of Durham in the first half of 

 the 1 6th century, describes how ' the suburbe 

 over Framagatebridg hath 3. partes, the Southe 

 streate on the left hand, the crosse streate on the 

 midle toward Akeland, and the 3. on the right 

 hand, bering the name of Framagate, and leding 



18 It is marked on Forster's Map of Dur. (1754). 



1' See above. 



18 V.C.H. Dur. i, 384. 



i!" It is said that the vendor's son, Sir William 

 Fothergill Cooke (1806-79), inventor of the electric 

 telegraph, made some of his early experiments here 

 {Diet. Nat. Biog. ; V.C.H. Dur. i, 384 n.). 



20 There was an orchard in Bellasis in 1430 {Feod. 

 Prior. Dun. (Surt. Soc.), 78). 



21 It was part of the endowment of the 9th Prebend 

 (Rec. of D. and C. of Dur. C. iv, 33, fol. 148). See 

 also Aug. Office Misc. Bks., vol. 213, fol. 53. It had 

 a garden of I r. and a close lying ne.xt to Bellasis. 



-'- Forster, Map of Dur. (1754). 



23 Dur. Rec. cl. 3, no. 7, fol. 118 ; no. 108, m. 6. 



2-« Surtees, Dur. iv (2), 135. 



25 Fordyce, Dur. i, 384. 



26 Diet. Nat. Biog. ,■ Allan, Hist, and Desc. Vino of 

 Dur. (1824), 130. 



2' In South Street, by a tenement belonging to the 

 chantry of St. Mary in St. Margaret's Chapel (Pat. 11 

 Chas. I, pt. l). 



H5 



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