THE BEGINNING
Durham
was founded by a group of monks. A man named St Cuthbert was bishop of Lindisfarne. St Cuthbert died in 687 and soon people
began to claim that miracles happened near his grave (in those days people
believed that dead bodies could work miracles). In 698 his body was exhumed
and it was found that it had not decayed. As a result a cult began around the
body of St Cuthbert and many people came to visit it.
In the 10th century the Vikings raided the coast of England. In
985 the monks who looked after Cuthbert's body decided to move from Lindisfarne to somewhere safer. For 10 years they
wandered from place to place until eventually they settled at Durham. The name Durham means hill on an
island. It comes from the old English words dun meaning hill and holmr meaning
island. A church was built for the monks. The body of Cuthbert continued to
act as a magnet for visitors. Soon a town grew up on the site. It was an
ideal site for a town as it was easy to defend and it had a major 'tourist
attraction'. The Scots attacked Durham,
twice, in 1006 and 1038 but both times they were driven off.
THE MIDDLE AGES
In 1069 William the conqueror sent 700 men to Durham. The next day
the native Saxons marched into the town and took the Normans by suprise. They were massacred. Rebellion
spread across the North of England. William retaliated by the 'harrying of
the North'. Peasants were killed, crops and houses were burned and livestock
slaughtered. The monks who looked after Cuthbert's body fled from Durham in 1069 but they
returned in 1070.
In 1072 the Normans built
a castle in Durham
to keep the inhabitants in order In 1083 they founded a Benedictine priory (a
small abbey) to replace the community who looked after Cuthberts body. In
1093 the Norman bishop of Durham, William of Calais began a
cathedral. Cuthberts body was finally laid to rest there in 1104. The
cathedral was completed in 1133.
In 1076 the new Norman bishop was made the Earl of
Bamburgh and was given the castle for his residence. In 1091 William Rufus
gave the bishop royal powers. He had the right to mint coins, raise an army
and create barons. He could also levy taxes. He was called the Prince-Bishop.
He kept this title until 1836. In the Middle Ages the Bishop controlled the
town. During the 17th and 18th centuries his powers were eroded and they were
abolished in the early 19th century.
In the Middle Ages the centre of Durham was the peninsula formed by the bend
in the river. In it was the cathedral, the castle and the priory. West of the
peninsula was an area called the Old Borough. In the 12th century new areas
were built. Northeast of the peninsula St Giles borough grew up around St
Giles hospital which was founded in 1112. Also early in the 12th century an
area called Bishops Borough was built north of the peninsula by bishop
Flambard. He also built Framwell bridge in 1120. Later in the century The
Borough of Elvet was founded east of the town. Elvet bridge was built in
1160.
In the town there were mills grinding grain into flour.
Mills were also used for fulling. After wool was woven it was cleaned and
thickened. This was done by pounding it in a mixture of water and special
clay called fullers earth. The pounding was done by wooden hammers worked by
a water mill. Apart from the manufacture of wool the main industry in Durham was leather and
there were many tanners.
Before the Norman conquest there was probably an earth
rampart around Durham
with a wooden palisade on top. In the early 12th century it was replaced with
a stone wall. In 1312 Robert the Bruce attacked Durham and burned the suburbs. After that a
new wall was built north of St Nicholas church.
As well as the hospital
of St Giles there was
also a hospital dedicated to St Mary Magdalene in Gilesgate. There was also a
leper hostel, dedicated to St
Leonard, north of the town. The first town hall in Durham was built in
1356.
By the mid 14th century a school called the Almoners
school existed by the priory. By the early 15th century the monks of the
priory had also founded a choir school. Two more schools were founded for
teaching music and grammar on Palace Green.
THE 16th AND 17th CENTURIES
In 1538 Henry VIII's men smashed the shrine of St
Cuthbert. This was a severe blow to Durham.
The shrine had drawn many pilgrims to the town who would of course spend
money there. In 1539 Henry closed the priory. Fortunately the grammar school
founded in 1414 continued to function. In 1661 it was rebuilt and became a
well known public school.
In 1536 Henry VII deprived the Bishop of some of his powers.
The king feared that the Prince Bishop was a rival to his power. Nevertheless
the Bishop retained the title Prince Bishop and he still controlled Durham. In 1565 the
bishop formed a corporation of a mayor and aldermen but they were definitely
subservient to him.
Like all Tudor towns Durham suffered outbreaks of plague. There
were outbreaks in 1544, 1589 and 1598. In 1640 the Scots rebelled when
Charles I tried to impose bishops on them (the Church of Scotland does not
have bishops). The Scots occupied Durham
but the townspeople were, usually, sympathetic. Civil war followed in 1642
and in 1644 the Scots joined in on the side of Parliament. In 1644 they again
occupied Durham.
Again that year there was an outbreak of plague. Later the English Parliament
and the Scots fell out and they fought the battle of Dunbar.
Afterwards 4,000 Scottish prisoners were held in Durham castle.
At the end of the century a writer called Celia Fiennes
described Durham:
(I have edited her words to make them easier to read). 'Durham city stands on a great hill. The
cathedral and the castle (which is the bishops palace) with the college are
built of stone and are encompassed with a wall full of battlements. There is
a steep descent into the rest of the town where is the market place which is
a spacious place. There is a very fair town hall on stone pillars and a very
large conduit (to bring water from the river to the townspeople). She also
said that Durham
had 'clean and pleasant buildings'.
THE 18th CENTURY
A blue coat charity school was opened in Durham in 1718. (It gots its name because
of the colour of the school uniforms). In the early 18th century a mustard
making industry began in Durham.
Durham's
first theatre opened in 1722 in Saddler
Street. In 1729 a statue of Neptune
was erected in the Market Place. By the middle of the 18th century Durham probably had a
population of about 4,00-5,000. Growth spread outwards to reach the hamlets
around the town. In 1771 Durham
suffered a severe flood which damaged Elvet bridge. In 1787 Durham infirmary was founded. In 1790 an
act of parliament was passed setting up a body of men to pave and light the
streets (with oil lamps).
THE 19th CENTURY
At the time of the first census in 1801 Durham had a population of about 7,500. The
industrial revolution largely passed Durham
by, although, in the 19th century Durham
was famous for organ making and carpet making. Other industries were brewing
and paper mills. Although there was little, if any, industrialization in Durham the population
rose significantly in the early 19th century. By 1821 it was 9,800. By the
mid 19th century it had reached 14,000. Growth then slowed dramatically.
Durham
prison was built in 1820. In 1824 Durham
was given gas street lighting. We take street lights for granted but in the
early 19th century a writer said that among 'the comforts of this age' one of
the most important was gas street lighting. Later in the 19th century sewers
were dug and a piped water supply began. In 1836 Durham gained its first police force.
Durham university was
founded as Britains
3rd university in 1832. The bishop gave the castle to the university to use
as a college in 1837. The castle keep was rebuilt to house students in 1840.
An observatory was built in 1841. Women were first admitted in 1896
The railway reached Durham
in 1844. A railway viaduct was built in 1857. The town hall was rebuilt in
1851. It was paid for with money raised by public subscription. Also in 1851
a covered market opened.
In the mid 19th century Durham was described as: 'an
ancient city situated on 7 hills, in a beautiful winding of the river Wear
along the banks of which are pleasant walks, covered with woods and edged
with lofty crags. Here are woollen factories and iron works. The cathedral is
a fine building and the castle is a curious relic of antiquity'
County hospital was first built in 1860. In 1861 a statue
of the Marquess of Londonderry was erected in the Market Place. In 1871 the
first miners gala was held in Durham for
miners from the Durham
coalfield. In 1893 an isolation hospital for people with infectious diseases
was built in Houghall.
THE 20th CENTURY
In 1901 the population of Durham was about 16,000.
In the 1920s science laboratories were built in South Road. In
the 1930s slum clearance went ahead in Millburngate and Framwellgate. To
rehouse the slum dwellers a new estate was built at Sherburn Road. Slum clearance also took
place in Old Elvet. In the 1920s and 1930s private houses were built North
End, Gilesgate Moor and Whinney Hill.In 1952 the chapel of the castle was
opened for religious use after a gap of 400 years.
The university was expanded. St Marys college was built
in 1952. In 1960 the school of oriental studies opened. Grey college followed
in 1961. Then came St Aidans college in 1965. Then Van Mildert college in
1966, Trevelyan college in 1967 and Collingwood college in 1973.
The national savings office opened in Durham in 1961. The new county hall was
built in 1963. The magistrates court was built in 1964. In 1969 a museum of
the Durham Light Infantry opened. The university botanic gardens opened in
1970. By then the population of Durham
had risen to around 24,000. Kingsgate bridge was built in 1963. Leazes Road was
built in 1967. In 1975 a new Elvet bridge was built. Cathedral car park was
built in 1975. The Millburngate shopping centre was built 1976 in and
enlarged in 1987. The castle and cathedral were declared a world heritage
site in 1987. In 1999 the Prince Bishops shopping centre was opened.
THE 21st CENTURY
At the present time a millennium project is being
built. It includes a millennium hall and a millennium square. In 2002 Radio 4's
Today programme asked people to vote for their favourite building. Durham
cathedral was the winner. Today the population of Durham is 81,000.
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Originally published at http://www.picturesofengland.com/history/#
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