81-559: Bishop Middleham is a village in County Durham , in England . The population of the parish as taken at the 2011 census was 1,275 It is close to Sedgefield . Bishop Middleham lies in a dry valley about 9 miles (14 km) south-east of Durham . Although much of County Durham had probably first been settled in the Mesolithic period , the first evidence for occupation in the parish dates to
162-579: A Northumbrian assault force. The Northumbrians wiped out the entire Norman army, including Comines, all except for one survivor, who was allowed to take the news of this defeat back. Following the Norman slaughter at the hands of the Northumbrians, resistance to Norman rule spread throughout Northern England, including a similar uprising in York. William The Conqueror subsequently (and successfully) attempted to halt
243-508: A fortification was thenceforth built. Ida was able to forge, hold and consolidate the kingdom; although the native British tried to take back their land, the Angles triumphed and the kingdom endured. In AD 604, Ida's grandson Æthelfrith forcibly merged Bernicia (ruled from Bamburgh ) and Deira (ruled from York , which was known as Eforwic at the time) to create the Kingdom of Northumbria . In time,
324-541: A lieutenant with the wider county from which they had been created. London had instead a commission of lieutenancy , headed by the Lord Mayor . The long-standing practice of appointing lieutenants jointly to the wider county and any counties corporate it contained was formalised by the Militia Act 1882. Apart from the inclusion of the counties corporate, the counties for the purposes of lieutenancy generally corresponded to
405-412: A new non-metropolitan county is created the 1997 Act is amended to redefine the existing areas of the lieutenancies in terms of the new areas. No such amendment was made in 1997 when Rutland was made a unitary authority or in 1998 when Herefordshire and Worcestershire were re-established; those three therefore have been given their own lieutenants again since the passing of the 1997 Act. The actual areas of
486-545: A non-Northumbrian as Bishop of Durham in 1042, the people of the region became increasingly rebellious. In response, in January 1069, William despatched a large Norman army, under the command of Robert de Comines , to Durham City . The army, believed to consist of 700 cavalry (about one-third of the number of Norman knights who had participated in the Battle of Hastings), entered the city, whereupon they were attacked, and defeated, by
567-632: A shrine in the White Church, which was originally a wooden structure but was eventually fortified into a stone building. Once the City of Durham had been founded, the Bishops of Durham gradually acquired the lands that would become County Durham. Bishop Aldhun began this process by procuring land in the Tees and Wear valleys, including Norton, Stockton, Escomb and Aucklandshire in 1018. In 1031, King Canute gave Staindrop to
648-417: A silver appearance. It is possible they may have had a religious use, as such pans are often shown carved on the site of Roman altars. The discovery of these objects and the small statue may suggest that an as yet undiscovered Roman temple is still to be found. There is little hard evidence for Anglo-Saxon settlement in the parish, though as Middleham is an Old English name for 'middle settlement or farm' there
729-591: A substantial territory to St Cuthbert on his election to the see of Lindisfarne in 684. In about 883 a cathedral housing the saint's remains was established at Chester-le-Street and Guthfrith, King of York granted the community of St Cuthbert the area between the Tyne and the Wear , before the community reached its final destination in 995, in Durham. Following the Norman invasion ,
810-425: A three-weekly court corresponding to the hundred court. The diocese was divided into the archdeaconries of Durham and Northumberland. The former is mentioned in 1072, and in 1291 included the deaneries of Chester-le-Street, Auckland, Lanchester and Darlington. The term palatinus is applied to the bishop in 1293, and from the 13th century onwards the bishops frequently claimed the same rights in their lands as
891-519: Is a ceremonial county in North East England . The county borders Northumberland and Tyne and Wear to the north, the North Sea to the east, North Yorkshire to the south, and Cumbria to the west. The largest settlement is Darlington . The county has an area of 2,676 square kilometres (1,033 sq mi) and a population of 872,075. The latter is concentrated in the east; the south-east
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#1732873569732972-605: Is buried in Bishop Middleham church. By the 19th century the village contained four public houses, a brewery, and a few tradesmen's shops. The village mainly supported itself by farming, though there was some coalmining; the remains of a wagonway have been recorded. The main railway line also ran close to the village. In 2012 a community website was launched with a view to keeping the local people up to date with news and events, "Bishop Middleham" . Bishop Middleham Website . "The Church, dedicated to St. Michael, stands upon
1053-510: Is clear that Bishop Middleham was on an important Roman period routeway; the road known as Cades Road runs through the centre of the parish. Despite the presence of this important communication route, no Roman buildings have been found in the parish. Nonetheless several other Roman objects have been uncovered in the area, including a small bronze statue of a Roman god. More unusually a group of four Roman pans stacked one inside each other have also been discovered. They were decorated so as to give them
1134-421: Is not generally recognised as the highest point in Durham. The two main dales of County Durham (Teesdale and Weardale) and the surrounding fells, many of which exceed 2,000 feet (610 m) in height, are excellent hillwalking country, although not nearly as popular as the nearby Yorkshire Dales and Lake District national parks. The scenery is rugged and remote, and the high fells have a landscape typical of
1215-462: Is part of the Teesside built-up area, which extends into North Yorkshire. After Darlington (92,363), the largest settlements are Hartlepool (88,855), Stockton-on-Tees (82,729), and Durham (48,069). For local government purposes the county comprises three unitary authority areas— County Durham , Darlington , and Hartlepool —and part of a fourth, Stockton-on-Tees . The county historically included
1296-480: Is partially parished . The city of Durham is the most populous settlement in the county to have a parish. Multiple parishes are styled as having town councils : Billingham (in Stockton Borough), Barnard Castle , Bishop Auckland , Chilton , Ferryhill , Great Aycliffe , Newton Aycliffe , Greater Willington , Peterlee , Seaham , Sedgefield , Shildon , Spennymoor , Stanley and Tow Law . The county
1377-649: Is the monarch 's representative in an area. Shrieval counties have the same boundaries and serve a similar purpose, being the areas to which high sheriffs are appointed. High sheriffs are the monarch's judicial representative in an area. The ceremonial counties are defined in the Lieutenancies Act 1997 , and the shrieval counties in the Sheriffs Act 1887 . Both are defined as groups of local government counties. The historic counties of England were originally used as areas for administering justice and organising
1458-424: Is the trig point (not the summit) of Burnhope Seat , height 746 metres (2,448 ft), between Weardale and Teesdale on the border with historic Cumberland in the far west of the county. The local government reorganisation of 1974 placed the higher Mickle Fell south of Teesdale (the county top of Yorkshire ) within the administrative borders of Durham (where it remains within the ceremonial county). However, it
1539-513: The Anglo-Saxon period the region was part of the Kingdom of Northumbria . In 995 the city of Durham was founded by monks seeking a place safe from Viking raids to house the relics of St Cuthbert . Durham Cathedral was rebuilt after the Norman Conquest , and together with Durham Castle is now a World Heritage Site . By the late Middle Ages the county was governed semi-independently by
1620-501: The Battle of Marston Moor (2 July 1644) fell entirely into the hands of Parliament. In 1614, a Bill was introduced in Parliament for securing representation to the county and city of Durham and the borough of Barnard Castle . The bishop strongly opposed the proposal as an infringement of his palatinate rights, and the county was first summoned to return members to Parliament in 1654. After
1701-574: The Bishops of Durham , who for centuries governed Durham as a county palatine (the County Palatine of Durham ) outside the usual structure of county administration in England. The situation regarding the formal name in modern local government is less clear: Around AD 547, an Angle named Ida founded the kingdom of Bernicia after spotting the defensive potential of a large rock at Bamburgh, upon which many
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#17328735697321782-579: The Courts Act 1971 which abolished the quarter sessions and assizes . Sheriffs continued to be appointed for each county despite the loss of the judicial functions. Certain towns and cities were counties corporate appointing their own sheriffs. The counties corporate were all included in a wider county for lieutenancy purposes, except the City of London which had its own lieutenants. The geographical counties were relatively stable between 1889 and 1965. There were occasional boundary changes, notably following
1863-631: The Craikshire exclave within the North Riding of Yorkshire. In 1831 the county covered an area of 679,530 acres (2,750.0 km ) and had a population of 253,910. These exclaves were included as part of the county for parliamentary electoral purposes until 1832, and for judicial and local-government purposes until the coming into force of the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 , which merged most remaining exclaves with their surrounding county. The boundaries of
1944-510: The Lieutenancies Act 1997 . When Herefordshire, Rutland and Worcestershire were re-established as local government counties in 1997 and 1998 no amendment was made to the 1997 Act regarding them, allowing them to also serve as their own lieutenancy areas. The lieutenancy counties have not changed in area since 1998, although the definitions of which local government counties are included in each lieutenancy have been amended to reflect new unitary authorities being created since 1997. In legislation
2025-675: The Local Government Act 1894 which said that parishes and districts were no longer allowed to straddle county boundaries. After that most boundary changes were primarily to accommodate urban areas which were growing across county boundaries, such as when Caversham was transferred from Oxfordshire to Berkshire as a result of being absorbed into the County Borough of Reading in 1911. The lieutenancies and judicial / shrieval counties were defined as groups of administrative counties and county boroughs, and so were automatically adjusted if
2106-869: The NHS . Northumbria Ambulance Service and County Durham Ambulance Service (following historic county borders) merged on 1 April 1999 to become the North East service. In 2005 the area was adapted to the modern North East England regional extent. Air ambulance services are provided by the Great North Air Ambulance . The charity operates three bases, including one in Eaglescliffe . Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team, are based at Sniperly Farm in Durham City and respond to search and rescue incidents in
2187-671: The Neolithic or Bronze Age . At least two simple flint tools, including an arrowhead, have been found in the area. The arrowhead was probably used by an early hunter, though by the Bronze Age farming would have been widespread. By the Iron Age we have our first evidence for burials in the parish- at least six graves were found in a small cave. A small glass bead decorated with white spiral patterns may also have come from an early or middle Iron Age grave, though it may have been lost in another way. It
2268-534: The Pennines with extensive areas of tussock grass and blanket peat bog in the west, with heather moorland on the lower slopes descending to the east. The following climate figures were gathered at the Durham weather station between 1981 and 2010: County Durham, as considered a county for lieutenancy purposes by the Lieutenancies Act 1997, is administered as a part of the constituent country of England in
2349-631: The River Tees ) becoming a part of the ceremonial county. The non-metropolitan county was reconstituted on 1 April 2009: the strategic services-providing Durham County Council was re-organised into a single district of the same name, merging with the seven local facility-providing districts in the non-metropolitan county and became structured as a unitary authority . It has 126 councillors. The three pre-existing unitary authorities were unaffected. The county boundaries used for parliamentary constituencies are those used between 1974 and 1996, consisting of
2430-448: The bishops of Durham and was also a buffer zone between England and Scotland. County Durham became heavily industrialised in the nineteenth century, when many collieries opened on the Durham coalfield . The Stockton and Darlington Railway , the world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, opened in 1825. Most collieries closed during the last quarter of the twentieth century, but
2511-445: The militia , overseen by a sheriff . From Tudor times onwards a lord-lieutenant was appointed to oversee the militia, taking some of the sheriff's functions. Certain towns and cities were counties corporate , which gave them the right to appoint their own sheriffs and hold their own courts. Whilst in theory the counties corporate could have had separate lieutenants appointed for them, in practice all of them except London shared
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2592-465: The 1974 until 1996, the ceremonial county was split into eight districts : A non-metropolitan county replaced the administrative county. The boundaries only deviated from the ceremonial boundaries after 1995 when the Darlington Borough became a unitary authority . On the 1 April 1996, the county of Cleveland was abolished with its boroughs of Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees (north of
2673-826: The Bishops also had the authority to appoint judges and barons and to offer pardons. There were ten palatinate barons in the 12th century, most importantly the Hyltons of Hylton Castle , the Bulmers of Brancepeth , the Conyers of Sockburne, the Hansards of Evenwood, and the Lumleys of Lumley Castle . The Nevilles owned large estates in the county. John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby rebuilt Raby Castle , their principal seat, in 1377. Edward I 's quo warranto proceedings of 1293 showed twelve lords enjoying more or less extensive franchises under
2754-482: The Bishops. This territory continued to expand, and was eventually given the status of a liberty . Under the control of the Bishops of Durham, the land had various names: the "Liberty of Durham", "Liberty of St Cuthbert's Land" "the lands of St Cuthbert between Tyne and Tees" or "the Liberty of Haliwerfolc" (holy Wear folk). The bishops' special jurisdiction rested on claims that King Ecgfrith of Northumbria had granted
2835-653: The City of London, which has two sheriffs ). The Lieutenancies Act 1997 defines counties for the purposes of lieutenancies in terms of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties (created by the Local Government Act 1972 , as amended) as well as Greater London and the Isles of Scilly (which lie outside the 1972 Act's system). Although the term is not used in the act, these counties are sometimes known as "ceremonial counties". The counties are defined in Schedule 1, paragraphs 2–5 as amended (in 2009, 2019 and 2023). Generally, each time
2916-629: The County Durham district and the Darlington Borough. This area elects seven Members of Parliament. As of the 2019 General Election, four of these MPs are Conservatives and three MPs are Labour . The rest of the ceremonial county is included in the Cleveland parliamentary constituency area . The police and fire services operate according to the 1974-96 ceremonial county boundaries: The North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust cover North East England and are responsible for providing ambulance services for
2997-610: The Deiran part of the kingdom in AD 867 (which became Jórvík ). The land that would become County Durham now sat on the border with the Great Heathen Army , a border which today still forms the boundaries between the historic counties of Yorkshire and County Durham. Viking settlement petered out at the Tees and the lands north thereof lay outside of the Danelaw. The House of Bamburgh, successors of
3078-483: The Early English style, and consists of nave, chancel, and aisles, with a western bell turret." The Bishop Middleham Community Wildlife Garden (0.87 hectares) has been declared a designated Local Nature Reserve by Sedgefield council. 54°40.7′N 1°29.3′W / 54.6783°N 1.4883°W / 54.6783; -1.4883 County Durham County Durham , officially simply Durham ( /ˈdʌrəm/ ),
3159-609: The English realm, thus Bamburgh and the Haliwerfolc went on to become contested buffer states between England and Scotland. In AD 995, St Cuthbert's community, who had been transporting Cuthbert's remains around, partly in an attempt to avoid them falling into the hands of Viking raiders, settled at Dunholm (Durham) on a site that was defensively favourable due to the horseshoe-like path of the River Wear. St Cuthbert's remains were placed in
3240-657: The Kings of Bernicia and Northumbria, retained control north of the Tyne; between the Tyne and the Tees emerged the Community of St. Cuthbert or Haliwerfolc , successors of the See of Lindisfarne. The House of Wessex absorbed the Kingdom of York into the unified English Kingdom in 954 and claimed overlordship over Northumbria. However, the lands north of the Tees remained outside the governmental frontiers of
3321-626: The Restoration of 1660 the county and city returned two members each. In the wake of the Reform Act of 1832 the county returned two members for two divisions, and the boroughs of Gateshead , South Shields and Sunderland acquired representation. The bishops lost their secular powers in 1836. The boroughs of Darlington, Stockton and Hartlepool returned one member each from 1868 until the Redistribution Act of 1885 . The historic county excludes
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3402-454: The Tees forms the boundary with North Yorkshire in its lower reaches, and the Wear exits the county near Chester-le-Street in the north-east. The county's coast is a site of special scientific interest characterised by tall limestone and dolomite cliffs. What is now County Durham was on the border of Roman Britain , and contains survivals of this era at sites such as Binchester Roman Fort . In
3483-543: The United Kingdom. The area is appointed a lord lieutenant and a high sheriff . The ceremonial county is divided into four administrative counties (see table below), one of which - Stockon-on-Tees - also extends into North Yorkshire. Technically, for administrative purposes, the County of Durham only consists of the area governed by Durham County Council . The three other areas are counties in their own right. The county
3564-473: The administrative counties years of administrating; each remained in the ceremonial county while outside of the administrative county. The ceremonial county remained under the same borders as the historic county until 1968 when the County Borough of Teesside formed. Ceremonial duties of the borough (which were made up of areas from two counties) were in the North Riding of Yorkshire ceremonial county. From
3645-552: The administrative machinery of government extended only slowly into northern England. Northumberland's first recorded Sheriff was Gilebert from 1076 until 1080 and a 12th-century record records Durham regarded as within the shire. However the bishops disputed the authority of the sheriff of Northumberland and his officials, despite the second sheriff for example being the reputed slayer of Malcolm Canmore , King of Scots. The crown regarded Durham as falling within Northumberland until
3726-596: The bishop. In 1596 restrictions were imposed on the powers of the chancery, and in 1646 the palatinate was formally abolished. It was revived, however, after the Restoration , and continued with much the same power until 5 July 1836, when the Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 provided that the palatine jurisdiction should in future be vested in the Crown. During the 15th-century Wars of the Roses , Henry VI passed through Durham. On
3807-463: The bishop. The repeated efforts of the Crown to check the powers of the palatinate bishops culminated in 1536 in the Act of Resumption, which deprived the bishop of the power to pardon offences against the law or to appoint judicial officers. Moreover, indictments and legal processes were in future to run in the name of the king, and offences to be described as against the peace of the king, rather than that of
3888-451: The boundaries of those administrative areas changed. There were two exceptions to this rule (one only briefly). The county borough of Great Yarmouth straddled Norfolk and Suffolk for judicial and lieutenancy purposes until 1891 when it was placed entirely in Norfolk for those purposes. The county borough of Stockport straddled Cheshire and Lancashire for judicial and lieutenancy purposes - it
3969-433: The ceremonial counties have not changed since 1998. These are the 48 counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies in England, as currently defined: After the creation of county councils in 1889, there were counties for judicial and shrieval purposes, counties for lieutenancy purposes, and administrative counties and county boroughs for the purposes of local government. The 1888 Act used the term 'entire county' to refer to
4050-415: The ceremonial county at 857,800. Ceremonial county Ceremonial counties , formally known as counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies , are areas of England to which lord-lieutenants are appointed. They are one of the two main legal definitions of the counties of England in modern usage, the other being the counties for the purposes of local government legislation. A lord-lieutenant
4131-618: The ceremonial county, the city of Sunderland , the boroughs of Gateshead and South Tyneside , while the non-metropolitan county includes part of Yorkshire . County Durham contains a small area of the North East Green Belt in the county's north; surrounding the city of Durham, Chester-le-Street and other communities along the shared county border with Tyne and Wear, avoiding Wearside 's spread west. A smaller green belt separates Urpeth , Ouston , Pelton , and Perkinsville from Birtley in Tyne and Wear. A further small segment by
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#17328735697324212-676: The coast separates Seaham from the Sunderland settlements of Beckwith Green and Ryhope . It was first drawn up in the 1990s. County Durham is underlain by Carboniferous rocks in the west. Permian and Triassic strata overlie these older rocks in the east. These sedimentary sequences have been cut by igneous dykes and sills . The county contains a sizeable area of the North Pennines , designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty , primarily west of Tow Law and Barnard Castle . The highest point ( county top ) of historic County Durham
4293-478: The county councils. In counties where the quarter sessions had been held separately for different parts of the county, such as the Parts of Lincolnshire , each part was given its own county council. The area administered by a county council was called an administrative county . As such, some of the judicial or lieutenancy counties comprised several administrative counties and county boroughs. The Ordnance Survey adopted
4374-510: The county proper remained in use for administrative and ceremonial purposes until the 1972 Local Government Act . Following the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror appointed Copsig as Earl of Northumbria, thereby bringing what would become County Durham under Copsig's control. Copsig was, just a few weeks later, killed in Newburn. Having already being previously offended by the appointment of
4455-457: The county's coal mining heritage is remembered in the annual Durham Miners' Gala . The ceremonial county is officially named Durham , but the county has long been commonly known as County Durham and is the only English county name prefixed with "County" in common usage (a practice common in Ireland ). Its unusual naming (for an English shire) is explained to some extent by the relationship with
4536-590: The county. The Office for National Statistics estimated in 2016 that the Durham County Council area had a population of 522,100, the Borough of Darlington a population of 105,600, the Borough of Hartlepool a population of 92,800, and the part of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham (the other part being in North Yorkshire) a population of 137,300. This gives the total estimated population of
4617-439: The eastern portion of the cathedral, the churches of Darlington, Hartlepool, and St Andrew, Auckland, Sedgefield, and portions of a few other churches. Until the 15th century, the most important administrative officer in the Palatinate was the steward . Other officers included the sheriff, the coroners, the Chamberlain and the chancellor . The palatine exchequer originated in the 12th century. The palatine assembly represented
4698-432: The group of administrative counties and county boroughs created within each judicial county. The Ordnance Survey used the term 'geographical county' to refer to this wider definition of the county. Yorkshire had three lieutenancies, one for each riding, but was a single judicial county with one sheriff, and was counted as one geographical county by Ordnance Survey. The counties lost their judicial functions in 1972 under
4779-415: The hill south of the village, and is said to have been erected by Bishop Beck, but it is more probably the work of Bishop Poor, and of the date about 1230. It was in 1146 presented to the prior and convent of Durham by Osbert, nephew of Bishop Flambard, but it was soon afterwards annexed to the Priory of Finchale, by Bishop Robert de Insula, and so continued till the dissolution. It is a venerable structure, in
4860-435: The judicial counties. The exception was Yorkshire, which was one judicial county, having a single Sheriff of Yorkshire , but from 1660 onwards each of Yorkshire's three ridings had its own lieutenant. In 1889 elected county councils were established under the Local Government Act 1888 , taking over the administrative functions of the quarter sessions . Certain towns and cities were made county boroughs , independent from
4941-416: The king enjoyed in his kingdom. The historic boundaries of County Durham included a main body covering the catchment of the Pennines in the west, the River Tees in the south, the North Sea in the east and the Rivers Tyne and Derwent in the north. The county palatinate also had a number of liberties : the Bedlingtonshire , Islandshire and Norhamshire exclaves within Northumberland, and
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#17328735697325022-422: The late thirteenth century. Matters regarding the bishopric of Durham came to a head in 1293 when the bishop and his steward failed to attend proceedings of quo warranto held by the justices of Northumberland. The bishop's case went before parliament, where he stated that Durham lay outside the bounds of any English shire and that "from time immemorial it had been widely known that the sheriff of Northumberland
5103-414: The lieutenancy areas are described as 'counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies'; the informal term 'ceremonial county' has come into usage for such areas, appearing in parliamentary debates as early as 1996. The shrieval counties are defined by the Sheriffs Act 1887 as amended, in a similar way to the lieutenancies defined by the Lieutenancies Act 1997. Each has a high sheriff appointed (except
5184-403: The lieutenants were appointed to the new versions of the counties. The counties of Avon , Cleveland and Humberside , each of which had only been created in 1974, were all abolished in 1996. They were divided into unitary authorities ; legally these are also non-metropolitan counties. As part of these reforms, it was decided to define counties for the purposes of lieutenancy differently from
5265-533: The local government counties in some cases, effectively reverting to the pre-1974 arrangements for lieutenancies. Whereas the lieutenancies had been defined slightly differently from the shrieval counties prior to 1974, it was decided in 1996 that the high sheriffs and lieutenants should be appointed to the same areas. Regulations amending the Sheriffs Act 1887 and specifying the areas for the appointment of lieutenants were accordingly brought in with effect from 1 April 1996. The regulations were then consolidated into
5346-428: The main functions of the counties were the administrative functions of local government. Despite the loss of their functions, sheriffs continued to be appointed to the former judicial counties up until 1974. In 1974, administrative counties and county boroughs were abolished, and a new system of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties was introduced instead. Sheriffs were renamed 'high sheriffs' and both they and
5427-400: The northern rebellions by unleashing the notorious Harrying of the North (1069–1070). Because William's main focus during the harrying was on Yorkshire, County Durham was largely spared the Harrying. The best remains of the Norman period include Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle , and several parish churches, such as St Laurence Church in Pittington . The Early English period has left
5508-413: The outbreak of the Great Rebellion in 1642 Durham inclined to support the cause of Parliament , and in 1640 the high sheriff of the palatinate guaranteed to supply the Scottish army with provisions during their stay in the county. In 1642 the Earl of Newcastle formed the western counties into an association for the King's service, but in 1644 the palatinate was again overrun by a Scottish army, and after
5589-407: The part of Tyne and Wear south of the River Tyne , and excluded the area south of the River Tees . The west of the county contains part of the North Pennines uplands, a national landscape . The hills are the source of the rivers Tees and Wear , which flow east and form the valleys of Teesdale and Weardale respectively. The east of the county is flatter, and the two rivers meander through it;
5670-411: The realm was expanded, primarily through warfare and conquest; at its height, the kingdom stretched from the River Humber (from which the kingdom drew its name) to the Forth. Eventually, factional fighting and the rejuvenated strength of neighbouring kingdoms, most notably Mercia, led to Northumbria's decline. The arrival of the Vikings hastened this decline, and the Scandinavian raiders eventually claimed
5751-456: The role of the bishops in Durham, the "buffer state between England and Scotland": From 1075, the Bishop of Durham became a Prince-Bishop, with the right to raise an army, mint his own coins, and levy taxes. As long as he remained loyal to the king of England, he could govern as a virtually autonomous ruler, reaping the revenue from his territory, but also remaining mindful of his role of protecting England’s northern frontier. A report states that
5832-576: The term 'geographical county' to describe the widest definition of the county. In most cases this was the lieutenancy county; the exceptions were Yorkshire, where the judicial county was larger on account of it being split into its three ridings for lieutenancy purposes, and the County of London where the administrative county was larger on account of the City of London and the rest of the county being separate for both judicial and lieutenancy purposes. The counties lost their judicial functions in 1972, after which
5913-403: The village of Startforth , the ceremonial county excludes the city of Sunderland and the non-metropolitan county excludes the town of Stockton-on-Tees . The ceremonial county includes the non-metropolitan county with the addition of the boroughs of Darlington , Hartlepool , and Stockton-on-Tees . The historic county's boundaries stretched from the rivers Tyne to Tees and it is covered by
5994-456: The whole county, and dealt chiefly with fiscal questions. The bishop's council, consisting of the clergy, the sheriff and the barons , regulated judicial affairs, and later produced the Chancery and the courts of Admiralty and Marshalsea . The prior of Durham ranked first among the bishop's barons. He had his own court, and almost exclusive jurisdiction over his men. A UNESCO site describes
6075-490: Was a liberty, sometimes referred to as a county, within Northumberland. In 1189 it was purchased for the see but continued with a separate sheriff , coroner and court of pleas. In the 14th century Sadberge was included in Stockton ward and was itself divided into two wards. The division into the four wards of Chester-le-Street, Darlington , Easington and Stockton existed in the 13th century, each ward having its own coroner and
6156-556: Was a man named John Hall who enjoyed a lease of 31 years. The castle and deer park passed through a number of hands over the following centuries including the Eure family of Witton Castle , the Freville's and by the 18th century the Surtees family which included the notable historian Robert Surtees , who lived nearby at Mainsforth and wrote on the village and Castle in his History of Durham in 1823. He
6237-428: Was aligned to other historic counties of England from 1836 until 1889; multiple acts were passed removing exclaves, splitting the county from the bishopric and reforming its structure. The ceremonial county and administrative county were created under the Local Government Act 1888 in 1889. Darlington, Gateshead, West Hartlepool (later known as Hartlepool), South Shields and Sunderland became county boroughs during
6318-653: Was certainly some kind of occupation in the area by the 9th or 10th centuries. In 1146 Osbert, the nephew of Bishop Flambard , gave the Church of Middleham to the Prior and Convent at Durham, this is the first recorded mention of the village. In 1183 the Boldon Book , a survey of all the land owned by the Bishop of Durham , records that there were some 32 households in the village, which was surveyed along with neighbouring Cornforth. The survey
6399-423: Was not sheriff of Durham nor entered within that liberty as sheriff. . . nor made there proclamations or attachments" . The arguments appear to have prevailed, as by the fourteenth century Durham was accepted as a liberty which received royal mandates direct. In effect it was a private shire, with the bishop appointing his own sheriff. The area eventually became known as the " County Palatine of Durham". Sadberge
6480-615: Was particularly detailed and names a number of individuals such as Arkil, Ralph and William the Headborough. Bishop Middleham was one of the favourite residences of the Bishops of Durham, two of whom died here. The residence of the Bishops now only survives as earthwork remains. By the late 14th century the Bishop of Durham appears to have no longer used the Castle as a residence and the buildings and land were let out at first to his bailiff. By 1509 this
6561-516: Was placed entirely in Lancashire for judicial purposes in 1956 but continued to straddle the two counties for lieutenancy purposes until 1974. More significant changes to the geographical counties were made in 1965 with the creation of Greater London and of Huntingdon and Peterborough , which resulted in the abolition of the offices of Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex , Lord Lieutenant of the County of London , and Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire and
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