DURHAM. 291 



The only place of note along the rather tame coast between Hartlepool and 

 Sunderland is Seaham, near which are important collieries. 



The river Wear, with all its tributaries, lies wholly within the county of Durham. 

 Rising- near the Kilhope Law, it first flows through the weird and picturesque 

 "Weardale, and then, forcing itself a passage through a succession of gorges, finds 

 its way to the German Ocean. Castles and parks are numerous along its banks, 

 and alternate with collieries and iron works, but notwithstanding manufactories 

 and the unsightly heaps of slags, its valley still remains the Arcadia of England. 

 Stanhope, in the upper part of the valley, depends upon the lead mines and 

 quarries in its neighbourhood. On reaching Wolsinghant, we first enter the coal 

 and iron region. All around it, as well as about Touiaic, to the north-east of it, 

 coal, iron, and limestone are found in abundance. Bkliop Auckland, prettily 

 seated on a hill, has an old castle, one of the manorial residences of the ancient 

 Bishops of Durham, standing in the midst of an extensive park. The bridge 

 which spans the river at this town was built upon Roman foundations by Bishop 

 Skirlaw in 1388. Collieries and iron works abound in the vicinity of Auckland, 

 one of their principal centres being Spenny Moor, to the north-east. The Wear 

 here abruptly turns to the northward and penetrates a narrow gorge, formerly 

 defended by the Roman station of Vinoviuni, upon the site of which stands the 

 village of Binchester. 



On leaving the gorge the river once more winds between gentle hills until it 

 approaches the bold promontory upon the summit of which rise proudly the Xorman 

 cathedral and the keep of the castle built by William the Conqueror, and which 

 subsequently became the residence of the bishops. Since 1833 the castle has been 

 occupied by a university, which Cromwell intended to establish, and which owes its 

 origin to the enormous increase in the revenues of Durham Cathedral, mainly 

 derived from collieries. The University of Durham enjoys the same privileges as 

 Oxford and Cambridge. It possesses a library rich in precious manuscripts, a 

 museum, and an observatory, and students are able to pursue their studies at a far less 

 expense than either at Oxford or Cambridge. Notwithstanding this the university 

 is very little frequented, and this appears to be owing to the servility with 

 which the mechanical routine followed at the older universities has been copied. 

 The organization of the University of Durham is altogether under the direction 

 of the clergy, and the chapter of the cathedral virtually governs it.* 



Durham has carpet and woollen manufactories and iron works. Collieries 

 are numerous in its vicinity. A few miles to the west of it stand the remains of 

 Neville's Cross, where the " Battle of the Red Hills" was fought in 1346. Some 

 of the weapons used on that occasion are preserved at the ancient castle of the 

 Nevilles at Brancepeth, to the south. Ascending the valley of the Browney, 

 which joins the Wear above Durham, we pass Ushaw College, a Roman Catholic 

 seminary founded in 1808 on a bleak and barren hill, and finally reach the small 

 colliery town of Lanchester, near which are extensive remains of the Roman 

 station of Epkleum. 



* Demogeot et Monlucci, " De I'Enseignemei t supérieur en Angleteire ct en Ecosse." 



