Bearpark

Bearpark
The centre of Bearpark village
Bearpark is located in County Durham
Bearpark
Bearpark
Location within County Durham
Population2,283 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceNZ238431
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDURHAM
Postcode districtDH7
Dialling code0191
PoliceDurham
FireCounty Durham and Darlington
AmbulanceNorth East
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
County Durham
54°46′56″N 1°37′48″W / 54.782222°N 1.630000°W / 54.782222; -1.630000

Bearpark is a village and civil parish in County Durham in England. It is situated two and a half miles west of Durham, and a short distance to the north of Ushaw Moor. The name may be a corruption of the French term Beau Repaire – meaning "beautiful retreat". Half a mile to the north of the present village lies the ruins of Beaurepaire Priory, built in 1258 by the Prior of Durham, Bertram de Middleton, as a retirement residence. The building was extended in the subsequent three centuries, becoming a retreat for the Durham monks in a similar way to the nearby Finchale Priory. The manor was largely destroyed by the Scots in 1640 and 1644 during the British Civil War.[2][3] In 1872, Theodore Fry was involved in founding the Bearpark Coal and Coke Company, which established a coal mine in Bearpark until 1984, when the mine was closed.

Bearpark Community Centre is at the hub of the local village, a red brick building originally built in 1921 as a miners' welfare hall. An old pit wheel stands in front of the building, a memorial to the village's mining history.

Bearpark featured on the BBC radio and television series Uncanny, citing the case of a Victorian boy haunting a house in the village.

Bearpark is the subject of a song by Durham-based band Prefab Sprout.[4]

  1. ^ "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Chapel of Beaurepaire, Bearpark, Witton Gilbert (Bearpark)". Durham County Council and Northumberland County Council. 11 September 2012. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  3. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Williamson, Elizabeth (1985). The Buildings of England: County Durham. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 92–93. ISBN 978 0 300 09599 9.
  4. ^ Prefab Sprout - BearPark. Retrieved 31 March 2024 – via www.youtube.com.