County Durham

County Durham is a county in north-east England. Its county town is Durham. It is a county of contrasts: the remote and sparsely populated dales and moors of the Pennines characterise the interior; while nearer the coast the county is highly urbanised, and was once dominated by the coal mining industry.

Geographical extent

County Durham is roughly bounded by the watershed 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 name County Durham, however, is used to refer to three distinct entities: the traditional, ceremonial, and administrative counties.

Related Topics:
Watershed - Pennines - River Tees - North Sea - Tyne - Derwent - Traditional - Ceremonial - Administrative

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Traditional county

The county traditionally extends to the south bank of the River Tyne and includes Sunderland, South Shields, and Gateshead. It borders the counties of Cumberland, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. The east of the county between the Ryhope district of Sunderland and Seaton Carew in Hartlepool is the coastline of the North Sea. Several exclaves have existed in the county's history, including Bedlingtonshire, Norhamshire, Islandshire (incorporated into Northumberland in 1844), and Crayke, now in North Yorkshire. Startforth Rural District is traditionally part of the North Riding of Yorkshire. The modern unitary authorities of Hartlepool, Darlington, and Stockton-on-Tees are part of the traditional County Durham.

Related Topics:
River Tyne - Sunderland - South Shields - Gateshead - Cumberland - Northumberland - Westmorland - Yorkshire - Ryhope - Seaton Carew - Hartlepool - North Sea - Exclave - Bedlingtonshire - Norhamshire - Islandshire - Crayke - North Yorkshire - Startforth Rural District - North Riding of Yorkshire - Unitary authorities

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Ceremonial county

Durham County Council was established along with all the other English county councils in 1888. Major local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974 created the metropolitan boroughs of Sunderland, South Tyneside and Gateshead out of County Durham into the newly established county of Tyne and Wear. At the same time, the new county of Cleveland took out Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool. County Durham did however gain the rural district of Startforth south of the River Tees near to Barnard Castle. Since then, Cleveland has been abolished, but Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool have not been returned to Durham, except for the purposes of Lord-Lieutanancy. County Durham borders on the ceremonial counties of North Yorkshire, Cumbria, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear.

Related Topics:
County council - 1 April - 1974 - Sunderland - South Tyneside - Gateshead - Tyne and Wear - Cleveland - Stockton-on-Tees - Startforth - Barnard Castle - Lord-Lieutanancy - Ceremonial counties - Cumbria

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Administrative county

The present Durham County Council administers the area of the ceremonial county, with the exception of Hartlepool, Darlington, and Stockton-on-Tees, which are unitary authorities.

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The county is divided into seven local government districts, they are:

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• The City of Durham
• Easington, including the new town of Peterlee.
• Sedgefield, including Spennymoor.
• Teesdale, including Barnard Castle and the villages of Teesdale, including the former Startforth Rural District.
• Wear Valley, including Crook, Bishop Auckland and Willington, and the villages along Weardale.
• Derwentside, including Consett and Stanley.
• Chester-le-Street, including Sacriston.

On 1 April 1997, the town of Darlington with its population of 100,000 became a unitary authority and thus separate from County Durham. It continues to share a police and fire service with the county.

Related Topics:
1 April - 1997 - Darlington

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Options for change

In May 2004 options for regional government were published which, if adopted, would have resulted in the removal of four of the districts from Durham County Council's jurisdiction to form two unitary authorities, and the abolition of the three remaining borough councils to make County Durham a unitary authority in its own right. This did not eventually occur.

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On 4 November 2004 a referendum was held on proposals to introduce an elected regional assembly for the North East of England. At the same time as this, the electorate was asked to choose between two options for the organisation of local government below the regional tier. The assembly proposal was rejected overwhelmingly, making the question of unitary authorities in County Durham moot. For further information on the assembly referendum, see Northern England referendums, 2004.

Related Topics:
4 November - 2004 - Referendum - Regional assembly - North East - Unitary authorities - Northern England referendums, 2004

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For County Durham the options were:

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• a single authority for the existing County Council area
• three authorities for the existing County Council area