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Durham City

‘A perfect little city’ with ‘the best cathedral on Planet Earth’ – the words of travel writer Bill Bryson in his book Notes from a Small Island.

Arriving in Durham by train, the visitor is presented with what must be one of the most breathtaking urban views in Europe. Towering over the tumbling roofs of the city are the magnificent Durham Cathedral and Castle.

The Cathedral is third only to Canterbury and York in ecclesiastical significance, but excels them in architectural splendour, and is the finest and grandest example of Norman architecture in Europe. This was the power base of the wealthy Prince Bishops of Durham who once exercised king-like powers in an area known as the Palatinate of Durham. The powers vested in them by William I permitted them to administer civil and criminal law, issue pardons, hold their own parliament, mint their own money, create baronetcies, and give market charters. They could even raise their own army. Though these powers were never exercised in later years, they continued in theory right up until 1836, when the last of the Prince Bishops, Bishop William Van Mildert, died. The Palatinate Courts, however, were only abolished in 1971. It is little wonder that the County Council now proudly presents the county to visitors as ‘the Land of the Prince Bishops’.

The Cathedral owes its origin to the monks of Lindisfarne, who, in AD 875, ffled from Viking attacks, taking with them the coffin of St Cuthbert, shepherd saint of Northumbria. In AD 883 they settled at Chester-le-Street. However, further Viking raids in AD 980 caused them to move once more, and they eventually arrived at a more easily defended site about ten miles to the south, where the River Wear makes a wide loop round a rocky outcrop. Here, in Durham, they built the ‘White Church’, where St Cuthbert’s remains were finally laid to rest.

The present building was begun by William de St Carileph or St Calais, Bishop of Durham from 1081 to 1096. William arrived at the White Church, bringing with him holy relics and a group of monks and scholars from Monkwearmouth and Jarrow. Forced to flee to Normandy in 1088, having been accused of plotting against William Rufus, William returned in 1091 after a pardon, determined to replace the little church with a building of the size and style of the splendid new churches he saw being built in France at that time. In August 1093 the foundation stones were laid, witnessed by King Malcolm III of Scotland, famed as the soldier who slew Macbeth in battle.

The main part of the great building was erected in a mere 40 years, but over ensuing centuries each generation has added magnificent work and detail of its own, such as the 14th century Episcopal Throne, said to be the highest in Christendom, and the Neville Screen made from creamy marble. On the North Door is a replica of the 12th century Sanctuary knocker used by fugitives seeking a haven. They were allowed to remain within the church for 37 days, after which time, if they had failed to settle their affairs, they were given a safe passage to the coast carrying a cross and wearing a distinctive costume.

Nothing is more moving, however, than the simple fragments of carved wood which survive from St Cuthbert’s coffin, made for the saint’s body in AD 698 and carried around the North of England by his devoted followers before being laid to rest in the mighty Cathedral. The fragments are now kept in the Treasures of St Cuthbert Exhibition, within the Cathedral, with examples of the Prince Bishops’ own silver coins. Also here is an exhibition describing the crafts and skills used in the building of the church.In recognition of the renewed interest in the life of St Cuthbert, the Cathedral is now officially called the Cathedral Church of Christ, the Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham. Sacred Journey, at the Gala Theatre in Millennium Place, is a spectacular Giant Screen tourist attraction telling the story of the city and the life and death of St Cuthbert. Durham Cathedral contains the tomb of the Venerable bede (673-735), saint, scholar-monk and Britain’s first pre-eminent historian. Bede spent most of his life teaching at Jarrow (qv) and was originally  buried there. His body was moved from Jarrow in 1020 and to the southern side of the Galilee Chapel in 1370.

The Cathedral and its neighbour Durham Castle are now a World Heritage Site. Durham Castle, sharing the same rocky peninsula and standing close to the cathedral, was founded in 1072 and belonged to the Prince Bishops. Such was the impregnability of the site that Durham was one of the few towns in Northumbria that was never captured by the Scots. Among the motte-and-bailey castle’s most impressive features are the Chapel, dating from 1080, and the Great Hall, which was built in the middle of the 13th century. The 18th century gatehouse has a Norman core, as does the massive keep, which was rebuilt in Victorian times.

Only open to the public at limited times, the Castle is now used as a hall of residence for the students of Durham University, and The Great Hall serves as the Dining Hall of University College. But students and visitors should beware - the castle is reputedly haunted by no less than three ghosts. One is said to be of Jane, wife of Bishop Van Mildert, and takes the form of the top half of a woman in 19th-century dress. She glides along the Norman Gallery, leaving the scent of apple blossom in her wake. A second spirit is of university tutor Frederick Copeman, who, in 1880, threw himself off the tower of the Cathedral. His ghost is said to haunt his former room off the Norman Gallery. A further apparition, who has been seen at various locations within the castle, is a cowled monk.

The university, England’s third oldest after Oxford and Cambridge - was founded in 1832 by Bishop Van Mildert. In 1837 it moved into Durham Castle, though today its many buildings are scattered throughout the south of the city.  The importance of the whole area surrounding the Cathedral and Castle was recognised in 1987, when it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A favourite walk past the site starts at Framwellgate Bridge or Elvet Bridge and follows the footpaths that run through the woodlands on each bank of the River Wear, around the great loop. The path along the inside of the loop goes past The Old Fulling Mill, situated below the Cathedral, which now houses the University of Durham Museum of Archaeology containing material from excavations in and around the city, the northeast and far beyond. Prebends Bridge offers spectacular views of the Cathedral. At the southern end of this bridge is an inscription of words by Sir Walter Scott about the town:

‘Grey towers of Durham,
Yet well I love thy mixed and massive piles,
Half Church of God, half Castle
‘gainst the Scot,
And long to roam those venerable aisles,
With records stored of deeds
long since forgot.’

 If walking isn’t to your taste you can take a cruise along the river from Elvet Bridge.

The rest of Durham reflects the long history of the Castle and Cathedral it served. There are winding streets, such as Saddler Street and Silver Street (whose names attest to their medieval origin), the ancient Market Place, elegant Georgian houses - particularly around South Bailey, and quiet courtyards and alleyways. Much of Durham’s shopping area is closed to traffic, making for a more relaxed atmosphere (in October 2001 Durham introduced the UK’s first congestion charge). There are several churches worth visiting, including St Nicholas’s Church in the Market Place, St Mary le Bow Church in North Bailey, which houses the Durham Heritage Centre and Museum (with a brass rubbing centre), and St Oswald’s Church in Church Street. Their presence highlights the fact that in medieval times this was a great place of pilgrimage.

The Durham Light Infantry Museum and Durham Art Gallery at Aykley Heads tells the story of the county’s own regiment, which was founded in 1758 and lasted right up until 1968. The horrors of the First World War are shown, as is a reconstruction of a Durham street during the Second World War. Individual acts of bravery are also remembered, such as the story of Adam Wakenshaw, the youngest of a family of 13, who refused to leave his comrades after his arm was blown off. He died in action, and was awarded a Victoria Cross. The art gallery has a changing exhibition of paintings and sculpture.

The Durham University Oriental Museum houses a collection of Oriental art of great importance, with exhibits from ancient Egypt, Tibet, India, China, Persia and Japan and many family activities. Located in parkland off Elvet Hill Road to the south of the city, the museum entrance is guarded by two stately Chinese lion-dogs.

The university also runs the 18-acre Botanical Garden, on Hollingside Lane (off the A167) on the south side of the city. Presenting a whistle-stop world plant tour, the gardens house rare and exotic plants from North America, Japan, South Africa, Australia and the Himalayas. A large collection of North American trees includes junior-sized giant redwoods, and in the fossil fern bed ferns and horsetails grow around the 310-year-old fossilized stem of their local ancestor Cordaites. Two display greenhouses with trees and plants from all over the world feature cacti and a tropical ‘jungle’. The Botanic Garden is filled with some sensations of the gardening world; the Japanese Katsura tree smells of burnt sugar or candyfloss for a week every autumn, after the leaves turn yellow. The gardens, visitor centre, plant sales and glasshouses are open all year.

Crook Hall and its Gardens in Frankland Lane, close to the River Wear, offer many delights, including the Secret Walled Gardens, the Shakespeare Gardens, the Cathedral Garden and the Silver & White Garden, an orchard and a maze. The gardens have been described by Alan Titchmarsh as ‘a tapestry of colourful blooms’.The medieval manor house, one of the oldest inhabited houses in Durham City, has a Jacobean Room haunted by the White Lady. Call 0191 384 8028 for opening times.

On the western outskirts of Durham, straddling the A167, is the site of the Battle of Neville’s croos, fought in 1346 between Scotland and England. The Scottish army was heavily defeated and the Scottish king, David II, was taken prisoner.