County Durham
Durham | |
|---|---|
 Ceremonial Durham  Comparison of differing boundaries (historic in grey, ceremonial in blue) | |
| Coordinates: 54°40′N 1°50′W / 54.667°N 1.833°W | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Constituent country | England |
| Region | North East England |
| Established | Ancient |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| UK Parliament | List |
| Police | Durham Constabulary Cleveland Police |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Lord Lieutenant | Susan Snowdon |
| High Sheriff | Anne Elizabeth Elliott (2023)[1] |
| Area | 2,676 km2 (1,033 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 19th of 48 |
| Population (2022)[2] | 872,075 |
| • Rank | 28th of 48 |
| Density | 326/km2 (840/sq mi) |
| Unitary authorities | |
| Councils | |
| Districts | |
 Districts of County Durham Unitary | |
| Districts | |
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County Durham, officially simply Durham (/ˈdʌrəm/),[note 1] is a ceremonial county in North East England.[3] 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 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 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; 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 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 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.[4] Most collieries closed during the last quarter of the twentieth century, but the county's coal mining heritage is remembered in the annual Durham Miners' Gala.
- ^ "No. 63990". The London Gazette. 10 March 2023. p. 4634.
- ^ "Mid-2022 population estimates by Lieutenancy areas (as at 1997) for England and Wales". Office for National Statistics. 24 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ UK General Acts 1997 c. 23. Lieutenancies Act 1997, Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022.
- ^ Durham County Council. History and Heritage of County Durham (Archived 20 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine). Retrieved 30 November 2007.
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