COUNTY PALATINE OF, one of the shires of England. Before the arrival of the Romans it was included in the British principality of the Brigantes; and after their arrival it made part of the province of Marianna Cæsariensis. During the lieparchy it formed part of the kingdom of Northumberland, the fifth established, which began in 547, and ended in 827, having been governed by thirty-one kings. It was not mentioned by Alfred in his division of counties, being at that time considered as a part of Yorkshire. At present it is included in the northern circuit, in the province of York, and is a diocese and principality under the government of its own bishop, being a county palatine, the second in rank, and the richest in England. It is bounded on the N. by Northumberland, on the S. by Yorkshire, on the E. by the North Sea, and on the W. by Cumberland. It extends over 973 square miles, and contains one city of the same name, fourteen market-towns, and above 330 villages and hamlets. It is divided into four wards. Until the passing of the Reform act, it returned two members to the House of Commons for the county and two for the city. The county has been formed by that law into two divisions, for the purpose of parliamentary elections; each of which returns two members. The northern division comprehends the wards of Chester and Easington; and the polling places are Durham, Sunderland, Lancheton, Wickham, Chester-le-Street, and South Shields. The southern division comprehends the wards of Darlington and Stockton; and the polling places are these two towns, and Bishop Auckland, Stanhope, Middleton-in-Teesdale, Barnard Castle, and Sedgefield. Durham city and Sunderland return two members each. The following places within the county have by the same law obtained the privilege of electing one member each, viz. Gateshead and South Shields; the whole number returned amounting to ten. The population in 1851 was 590,997—an increase of 160 per cent. in 50 years. The number of inhabitants to a square mile was 399; to a house 6. The total number of houses was Durham. 68,341; 64,977 being inhabited, 2794 uninhabited, and 570 in the course of erection.

This is one of the county palatines remaining in England, and it is called *palatine* (*a palatio*) because the owners thereof had, in this county, the authority to use the royal prerogative, as fully as the king had in his palace. These privileges were granted to this county probably on account of its bordering upon the inimical kingdom of Scotland, in order that the inhabitants, having justice administered at home, might not be obliged to go out of their county, and leave it open to an enemy's incursions; and that the owners might be the more watchful in its defence. There is a court of chancery in this county, and the bishop is at the head of the administration of justice.

The western angle of the county of Durham is hilly and mountainous, with black, naked, and barren regions, crossed by a ridge of high hills, from which issue numerous streams flowing to the sea. There are some beautiful and fertile valleys in the eastern and central parts, pleasantly varied with hill and dale, and alternately appropriated to corn and pasture. About 1200 to 2000 acres, principally in the western part of the county, are waste, but rich in minerals.

In the southern districts many acres have been inclosed and cultivated within the last few years. The common fields are now but few; for the land belonging to the townships has been inclosed for above a century. There is a great portion of wet ground still remaining, although draining is carried on to a great extent.

Near the river Tees, and in some spots bordering on the other rivers, the soil is loam or a rich clay. At a farther distance from these rivers the soil is of an inferior quality, and marshy, with patches of gravel interspersed. The hills between the sea and an imaginary line from Barnard Castle on the Tees to Alansford on the Derwent, are covered with a dry loam, the fertility of which varies with its depth. From this line westward the summits as well as the sides of the hills are moorish wastes.

The woodlands of Durham are not of very considerable extent, trees being chiefly confined to the parks and seats of the nobility and gentry; but many plantations have been made of late years. The banks of the rivers and brooks, however, particularly in the vicinity of Durham, are fringed with wood of long growth and much value.

The port of Stockton-upon-Tees is well situated for commerce. Hartlepool, situated on a promontory, nearly encompassed by the German Ocean, which on the south side of the town forms a capacious bay, is advantageously placed for the reception of vessels, and communication with the Continent; and South Shields sends out many ships.

The mineralogical substances found in Durham are numerous and valuable. The coal mines are some of the most extensive and productive in the kingdom, and the quantity of this important article is so great as to exceed all calculation. At Sunderland the coal trade furnishes employment for 520 vessels, independently of the keels which convey the coal from the staiths to the ships, which are 492 in number. This coal is chiefly conveyed to the metropolis, though great quantities are sent to the different ports of the Baltic, and also of late years to France and Holland. The whole quantity annually exported from Sunderland alone amounts to about 315,000 Newcastle chaldrons, each chaldron being equal to 53 cwt. The number of persons dependent on this trade is very great. The seams or strata now worked are five in number, extending horizontally for many miles, and are from twenty to one hundred fathoms beneath the surface; while each stratum is from three to eight feet thick. Below these are several other seams of coal; and many parts of the county, besides those where the pits are now open, abound with this substance.

The principal lead mines of Durham are in the districts of Teesdale and Wcardale. Those of the former place have not been very productive, but the produce of the latter is of considerable value. The general method of working them is similar to that pursued in other mining counties. The ore of Weardale is melted by the blast-hearth; but in Teesdale air-furnaces have been introduced with much success.

Ironstone is found in the neighbourhood of Swalwell and Winlaton, where there are extensive iron works.

Some excellent quarries of slate for buildings have been opened in different parts of the county. A beautiful black spotted limestone is dug up near Walsingham, and made into hearths, chimney-pieces, and other ornaments. This neighbourhood abounds also with fine millstones. The Newcastle grindstones are procured at Gateshead Fell; and firestone of high estimation, for building ovens, furnaces, and the like, is obtained in various parts of Durham, and exported in considerable quantity.

Several extensive works for manufacturing salt from sea-water have long been established in the neighbourhood of South Shields; but owing to the discovery of a very singular salt spring at Birtley in this county, that process is not now so much attended to. This water rises at the depth of seventy fathoms, in an engine pit constructed for drawing water out of coal mines. It has for many years produced 20,000 gallons per day, four times more strongly impregnated with salt than any sea-water. In consequence of the discovery of this spring, a large and extensive manufactory of salt has been established near the spot, the quality of which is excellent. At Butterby, near Durham, is another salt spring, which issues from a rock in the river Wear, but is only visible when the water is low. It contains more of the sulphate of magnesia or Epsom salt, than the spring at Birtley. Within a few yards of the Watergate, on the south side of the town of Hartlepool, is a chalybeate spring, covered every tide by the sea. It is impregnated slightly with sulphur, which evaporates very quickly, leaving a sediment with salt of tartar. A gallon will yield 120 grains of sediment, two parts of which are nitrous, and the rest limestone.

No county in England presents a closer net-work of railways than Durham. The York, Newcastle, and Berwick trunk line enters a few miles south of Darlington, and continues due north until at Gateshead it crosses the Tyne and enters Northumberland. From this main line a great many lines diverge to the ports and mineral fields. There are not less than 160 miles of rail for mineral produce between the mines and ports.

Improvements in agriculture have been pursued with considerable spirit and success in the environs of Darlington, chiefly through the patronage of a society of county gentlemen, who hold their meetings in the town, and bestow premiums upon merit. On some spots of gravelly soil, turnips and barley are grown in almost perpetual succession, a crop of clover being sometimes interposed. The produce of wheat on good land is from twenty to thirty bushels per acre; the produce of barley is from thirty to forty; of oats, from twenty to forty. The manures are chiefly lime and the produce of the fold-yard; and though abundance of sea-weed might be collected on the coast, the farmers make but little use of it. The farms are of a middling size, few of them exceeding 200 acres. The largest portion of each farm is appropriated to tillage, but towards the western extremity of the county the whole is applied to pasture. The leases seldom exceed six years, and are too frequently rendered of little value by injudicious restrictions. The leases held of the see of Durham are generally for life, or for twenty-one years, renewable every seven years on payment of a fine. The farm-houses are well situated and commodious; and improvements in farming and farming machinery become more and more common. The cattle of Durham are at present in great repute; as, in point of form, weight, produce of milk, and quickness of fattening, there are none better. The individual known as "the Durham Ox," when slaughtered, weighed, including tallow and hide, 197 stone, 2 lbs. The cows yield from 25 to 30 quarts of milk daily. The sheep also, particularly the Tees-Water breed, stand high in estimation. It is the largest breed in the island; the legs being longer, finer boned, and supporting a thicker and more firm and heavy carcass than the Lincolnshire. They are also much wider on the backs and sides, and afford a fatter and finer-grained mutton. The weight per quarter, in two-years-old wethers, is from twenty-five to thirty-five pounds, and in particular instances fifty-five pounds or more. The wool is shorter and lighter than some other English breeds. The Wensleydale sheep are small, but the meat is finely flavoured. When fat, the quarters seldom weigh more than fourteen or eighteen pounds each. The stock of sheep is about 230,000, yielding 7000 packs of wool.

Durham, taking its dimensions into consideration, is inferior to no county in Great Britain for its numerous manufactures. It has cast-metal foundries, iron manufactories, potteries, glass-houses, copperas works, coal-tar and salt-works, quarries of marble, &c.; besides linen and woollen manufactories.

At the distance of about three miles from Darlington, at Oxenhall, are cavities in the earth, denominated Hell Kettles, to the origin of which are attached many fabulous conjectures. The diameter of the largest is not less than 114 feet, and that of the least 75. About five miles from Hartlepools is one of the most singular and romantic clusters of rocks in the north of England, called Black Halls, formed by the force and constant action of the waves, which have separated enormous masses from the coast, washing some entirely away, but leaving others standing, like the vast towers of a cathedral. In some places the rock is perforated so as to resemble a fine pointed archway.

Near the north wall of the churchyard at Ryton is a large barrow, about 20 feet in perpendicular height, now planted with trees. A similar one, near Bradley Hall, in the same parish, inspected some years ago, was found to contain a square cavity, formed by stones placed edgewise, in which a human body had been interred. Between one and two miles north of Brancepeth is Brandon Hill, a lofty eminence, on the summit of which is a remarkable tumulus, of an oblong form, 120 paces in circumference at the base, and about 24 feet in perpendicular height. One mile north of Eggleston is an ancient structure called the Standing Stones. This originally consisted of a cairn in the centre, surrounded by a trench, and that again encompassed by a circular arrangement of rough stones, many of which have been removed and broken, to repair the roads. Near a brook, at a small distance, is a large barrow, crossed from east to west by a row of stones.

On Fullwell Hill, a gigantic skeleton and two Roman coins were discovered some years ago, together with a small urn of unhacked clay. Several copper coins have been found at the village of Whitburn. Some coins of the Emperor Hadrian were found while widening the road near Gateshead, which is supposed to have been a Roman station.

South Shields was the ad fines of Richard of Circenses's itinerary, as appears from the Roman altars, coins, and other relics found there. Chester-le-Street, a small irregular village, is supposed to be the Vindomara of Antoninus; many Roman inscriptions, and an urn of uncommon form, nearly a yard high and seven inches wide, with a small cup in the centre, having been found there. Chester-le-Street has been supposed to be the Caudercum of the Romans, situated on the military way leading to Newcastle. Glani-banta, near the village of Lanchester, is another Roman station, which has hitherto been left untouched in the course of improvements, and is one of the most perfect in the kingdom. It occupies a fine eminence, and is of an oblong figure, being 174 paces from north to south, and 160 from east to west, within the vallum. In some parts the wall still remains perfect; the outside is perpendicular, twelve feet in height, and built of ashlar work in regular courses, each stone being about nine inches thick and twelve long. The site of the praetorium is clearly distinguishable. Binchester, the seat and manor of the Wren family, is the site of the Roman station called Vinnovia by Antoninus. Its figure and extent seem nearly similar to those of the station just mentioned; but the walls have been destroyed, and the area inclosed and cultivated. A military way, it is supposed, issued from it, leading towards Chester-le-Street. Immense fragments of Roman remains have been discovered here.

The most ancient part of Durham Castle is the keep, now a mere shell; the magnificent hall is fast going to decay. Hilton Castle, an ancient baronial residence of the Hyltons, is situated in a pleasant vale on the north side of the Wear, about three miles from Wearmouth; its present form is that of an oblong; the interior consists of five stories; the rooms are small, and exhibit every symptom of neglect and decay. Ravensworth Castle, the seat of Lord Ravensworth, occupies part of the site of an ancient castle, which seems to have formed a quadrangle, having a square tower at each angle, connected by a curtain wall. Two of the towers are built up in the offices, the others are partly in ruins. Lumley Castle, about a mile to the east of Chester-le-Street, is one of the seats of the Earl of Scarborough. It forms a quadrangle, with an area in the centre; at each angle are projecting turrets of an octangular form; it is a grand model of the taste of its age. Brancepeth Castle, an irregular but stately pile, was erected about Stephen's reign, by the family of Bulmers. The original building has had many modern improvements effected on it by the present proprietor. The castle of Bishop-Auckland stands on the north angle of the town, and, together with its courts and offices, covers about five acres of ground. Raby Castle, the magnificent seat of the Duke of Cleveland, owes its splendour to the Earl of Westmoreland, who enlarged a more ancient castle which stood here prior to the year 1379. The present mansion of Streatham Castle was erected on the foundation of the old castle at the beginning of the last century, and several of the apartments are retained in it. Barnard Castle is situated on the southern acclivity of an eminence, rising with a steep ascent from the river Tees; its ruins cover an extensive plot of ground.

Kepier Hospital, near Durham, was founded in 1112; but the only part of the monastic buildings now standing is the gateway, a strong and not unhandsome piece of masonry with pointed arches. The ruins of a monastery for gray friars may be seen at Hartlepools. Several remains of monastic buildings occur near the church at Monk-Wearmouth. The monastery of Jarrow may still be traced in its ruins on the summit of an elevated ridge near the church. On the east side of the main street of Gateshead are the ruins of St Edmond's Monastery, which appears from Bede to have been established before the year 653. Finchall Priory was beautifully situated in a vale on the banks of the Wear; the ruins cover an extensive plot of ground, but are so much dilapidated that the original appropriation of their respective parts can be traced only with great difficulty. The remains of a chapel at Bear Park are most perfect, and display some neat ornamental architecture. There are at Walsingham the ruins of a considerable building, inclosed with a deep moat, supposed by some to have been a part of a monastery.

The ecclesiastical buildings now remaining, and most worthy of notice, are, the Cathedral of Durham, begun in 1093, in the Saxon and Norman style; Sedgefield Church, Durham, in the Saxon style; Bishop-Wearmouth Church, supposed to have been founded very soon after the restitution made by Athelstan; and the parish church of Brancepeth, an ancient structure of the conventional form, but apparently of different ages.

Annual value of real property assessed £1,679,938. Places of worship belonging to Church of England 169, sittings 68,958; other denominations 452 places of worship, sittings 112,874; day schools 837, scholars 49,231; Sunday schools 490, scholars 47,771.

capital of the above county, is a city of great antiquity. About the end of the tenth century the monks of Lindisfarne rested here with the remains of St Cuthbert; and soon afterwards a church was built by Bishop Alduin, and dedicated to that saint, whose remains were enshrined in it. Durham suffered severely from the cruelties of William the Conqueror, who repeatedly laid waste the surrounding country with fire and sword. In 1072 a strong castle was built here; and Walcham, a Norman, was appointed to the bishopric, and assumed the title of Count Palatine. In 1093 the old church built by Alduin was pulled down, and the present magnificent edifice commenced by King Malcolm; Carilepho the bishop, and Tar-got the prior. Durham figured conspicuously in all the great transactions that have agitated the north. It frequently suffered from the invasions of the Scots; and was often the headquarters of Edward III., and other monarchs and commanders in their excursions against Scotland. Durham is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors, and returns two members to parliament. Pop. (1851) 13,188. The city is irregularly built on a rocky eminence, and is nearly surrounded by the river Wear. The cathedral and castle occupy the highest part of the eminence, and are fully 80 feet above the bed of the river. The cathedral was founded in 1093, and is one of the noblest edifices in the kingdom. The successive additions which have been made to it afford a striking illustration of the gradual changes in the English style down to the beginning of the fifteenth century. This remarkable edifice has been admirably delineated in Billings' Architecture of Durham Cathedral. It is 507 feet in length, by 200 in extreme breadth, with a central tower 214 feet in height, and two smaller ones 138 feet high at the west end. The Galilee or western chapel was built by Bishop Pudsey between 1153 and 1195, and contains the remains of the Venerable Bede. In the chapel of the Nine Altars are the remains of St Cuthbert, brought to light in 1827. The cathedral library contains a number of curious and interesting works, MSS., and relics. The castle of Durham, which stands opposite the cathedral, was erected by William the Conqueror, and till recently was the residence of the bishops of the Palatinate. It is now appropriated to the uses of the university, with the exception of a suite of rooms reserved for the use of the bishop when he visits the city. A university was founded here by Cromwell in 1657, but on the Restoration it was dissolved. The present university was opened in 1833; an account of it will be found under the head Universities. The see of Durham was long the richest bishopric in England. At an average of the three years ending 1831, it yielded a nett revenue of £19,066 a-year. The total revenue of the dean and chapter during the seven years ending 1834 amounted to £36,937 a-year. On the demise of the incumbent in 1836, at the recommendation of the ecclesiastical commissioners the income of the bishop was fixed at £8,000 per annum—the surplus revenues of the see being reserved to form a fund for augmenting the incomes of the poorer bishops. Besides the cathedral, Durham has six parish churches, and places of worship for Independents, Methodists, Quakers, and Roman Catholics. The grammar-school connected with the cathedral has four exhibitions of £25 each for the sons of clergymen, and of £30 each at either of the English universities, besides several scholarships at Peterhouse, Cambridge. There are also a diocesan training school, a blue coat, national, infant, charity, and other schools. Durham likewise possesses a mechanics' institute, savings-bank, subscription library, news-room, assembly rooms, theatre, infirmary, almshouses, and various charities. The banks of the river are ornamented with gardens and plantations, forming an agreeable public promenade. The district called the North and South Bailes, between the precincts of the cathedral and the river, is occupied chiefly by houses of a superior class. The principal shops are in the old town, which also contains the market-place, with a fountain in the centre. The suburbs extend on both sides of the river. On the west side is Framwellgate, with a detached suburb called Crossgate; while on the east side is the suburb Elvet, which contains the magnificent new county gaol and courthouse, erected in 1809, and some of the best houses in the place. These suburbs are connected with the town by several bridges. The town-hall is a spacious and handsome edifice in the Tudor baronial style. The manufactures, consisting chiefly of hats, woollens, paper, leather, and brass and iron wares, are not important. There are extensive coal mines in the neighbourhood, as well as some saline, chalybeate, and sulphurous springs. About three-quarters of a mile from the city is the site of the Maiden Castle—a fortress ascribed to the Romans—as well as some remains of the Icknield Street. One mile to the west of Durham is Neville's Cross—erected by Ralph Lord Neville to commemorate the defeat and capture of David II. of Scotland. Market-day Saturday. The Great North of England railway connects this city with Newcastle-on-Tyne, 14 miles distant.