Researching your local area
This guide describes some of the resources available for studying the history of your local area in County Durham, incuding high streets, villages, towns and the countryside.
Researching your local area
This guide describes some of the resources available for studying the history of your local area in County Durham, incuding high streets, villages, towns and the countryside.
Durham's unique history
Durham’s history and records differ from those of most English counties. The most obvious feature of its history is that, until 1836, the Prince Bishop exercised powers in the County Palatine much greater than those of the authorities in other counties.
Another feature of County Durham’s history is the influence wielded by the Dean and Chapter of Durham through its extensive ownership of land and consequent participation in the development of the coal industry.
The third significant characteristic of Durham’s history is the rise and decline of the coal mining.
These three features of the history of the county have also meant that the bodies responsible for the preservation of its records are unusually diverse:
- The Story holds extensive records for the historic county of Durham, including settlements now in Darlington, Gateshead, Sunderland, South Tyneside, Hartlepool, and Stockton.
- Tyne & Wear Archives holds records relating to settlements in Gateshead, Sunderland, and South Tyneside that were previously in County Durham.
- Teesside Archives holds records relating to settlements in Hartlepool and Stockton that were previously in County Durham..
- The National Archives holds the Palatinate of Durham records (reference: DURH).
- The records of the Bishopric and Dean and Chapter of Durham, including the Palatinate courts, are at Archives and Special Collections, Durham University
This guide describes the records held at The Story which are relevant to the study of your local area including:
- Your high street.
- Your village and town.
- The countryside.
For the history of your house and neighbouring houses, see our House History guide.
Durham's unique history
Durham’s history and records differ from those of most English counties. The most obvious feature of its history is that, until 1836, the Prince Bishop exercised powers in the County Palatine much greater than those of the authorities in other counties.
Another feature of County Durham’s history is the influence wielded by the Dean and Chapter of Durham through its extensive ownership of land and consequent participation in the development of the coal industry.
The third significant characteristic of Durham’s history is the rise and decline of the coal mining.
These three features of the history of the county have also meant that the bodies responsible for the preservation of its records are unusually diverse:
- The Story holds extensive records for the historic county of Durham, including settlements now in Darlington, Gateshead, Sunderland, South Tyneside, Hartlepool, and Stockton.
- Tyne & Wear Archives holds records relating to settlements in Gateshead, Sunderland, and South Tyneside that were previously in County Durham.
- Teesside Archives holds records relating to settlements in Hartlepool and Stockton that were previously in County Durham..
- The National Archives holds the Palatinate of Durham records (reference: DURH).
- The records of the Bishopric and Dean and Chapter of Durham, including the Palatinate courts, are at Archives and Special Collections, Durham University
This guide describes the records held at The Story which are relevant to the study of your local area including:
- Your high street.
- Your village and town.
- The countryside.
For the history of your house and neighbouring houses, see our House History guide.
Your high street
All the records and approaches described in our House History guide can be used for more than one house to build up a picture of an entire street. The Ordnance Survey (OS) maps and other plans, show changes in buildings; the census, directories, electoral registers and rate books show changes in the people who lived there and what type of people lived in each house.
It should, by using all the records mentioned above, be possible to tell when the street was built, what each building was used for, and when buildings were demolished or changed in use.
In some cases, it should be possible to make this picture of the street more vivid by using old photographs. The Story holds have many topographical photographs. These mainly cover the main street of a village or town or significant buildings. Use our online collections search to search for images that have already been digitised, using the search bar to add the name of your town or the surrounding area.
Many images we hold have not been digitised, so look out for items with no image attached, but might have 'photograph' in the description. You will be able to see any undigitised photographs by booking an appointment in the Collections Room.
Your high street
All the records and approaches described in our House History guide can be used for more than one house to build up a picture of an entire street. The Ordnance Survey (OS) maps and other plans, show changes in buildings; the census, directories, electoral registers and rate books show changes in the people who lived there and what type of people lived in each house.
It should, by using all the records mentioned above, be possible to tell when the street was built, what each building was used for, and when buildings were demolished or changed in use.
In some cases, it should be possible to make this picture of the street more vivid by using old photographs. The Story holds have many topographical photographs. These mainly cover the main street of a village or town or significant buildings. Use our online collections search to search for images that have already been digitised, using the search bar to add the name of your town or the surrounding area.
Many images we hold have not been digitised, so look out for items with no image attached, but might have 'photograph' in the description. You will be able to see any undigitised photographs by booking an appointment in the Collections Room.
Your village and town
The history of settlements in County Durham differs from many other English counties. Most English counties are either primarily agricultural and characterised by market towns and agricultural villages or have been shaped by the development of large industrial towns. County Durham, however, enjoys a combination of pre-industrial villages and small mining villages, which developed very rapidly in the second half of the nineteenth century. The history of the mining villages in County Durham is, therefore, comparatively short. Their physical expansion, which usually follows the opening of a colliery, can be seen by comparing successive editions of OS maps.
A good starting point for any research are the general histories of the county which provide a short description of each settlement. The standard histories of County Durham are:
- William Hutchinson, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine, 3 volumes, 1785-1794.
- Robert Surtees, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, 4 volumes, 1816-1840.
- William Fordyce, The History and Antiquities of Durham, 2 volumes, c.1855-1860.
- The Victoria County History of Durham, 5 volumes to date.
These volumes may be viewed in the Collections Room. A duplicate copy of Fordyce's The History and Antiquities of Durham is available in Search and Discover.
You can trace the consequent rapid increase in population by using the census statistics which are available for every 10 years from 1801. Find census reports on the website A Vision of Britain through Time. (No census was taken in 1941). A small number of census statistical reports are in The Story's library collection and may be viewed in the Collections Room. If your village developed before 1891, the nature and origin of its population can be traced using the census returns which are available online on sites like Ancestry and Find My Past. Free access to FindMyPast is available in Search and Discover.
The only corporate towns within the present county boundaries are Darlington and Durham, and records for both towns are held in the archives at The Story. Check the online collections search for more information.
Trade directories, especially Francis Whellan’s County Directory published in 1894, give useful, brief descriptions of the most important aspects of the history of each settlement and its schools, churches and administrative bodies. More specialised aspects of a settlement’s history can be traced by using school log books (a diary kept by the headmaster of each school) over 100 years old, or records of the Church of England, Methodist and other non-conformist places of worship.
Also of use may be records of the boards of guardians (the poor relief authorities from 1834 to 1929) and district councils and their predecessors as local authorities (local boards of health and sanitary authorities). Records for all these institutions may not have survived for every area.
In addition, all records mentioned in connection with tracing the history of a house or street may be used to build up a picture of the whole village or town.
The records helpful for tracing the history of the mining villages so characteristic of Durham will also be useful in tracing the history of the longer-established villages. Their earlier history can be seen by using tithe maps and land tax returns which listed, by township, the owners and chief lessees of property worth more than £2 a year for the period from 1759 to 1831. The land tax returns were made annually, but by no means have all survived. They do, however, give a good idea of the land ownership and prosperity of many settlements from the mid-eighteeenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries.
The registers of baptisms, marriages and burials, which were kept from the sixteenth century by the Church of England are, until the introduction of civil registration in 1837, the main source for tracing the details of the size and rise and fall of population in any town or village.
Search our online catalogue and book a space in our Collections Room to view these records.
Your village and town
The history of settlements in County Durham differs from many other English counties. Most English counties are either primarily agricultural and characterised by market towns and agricultural villages or have been shaped by the development of large industrial towns. County Durham, however, enjoys a combination of pre-industrial villages and small mining villages, which developed very rapidly in the second half of the nineteenth century. The history of the mining villages in County Durham is, therefore, comparatively short. Their physical expansion, which usually follows the opening of a colliery, can be seen by comparing successive editions of OS maps.
A good starting point for any research are the general histories of the county which provide a short description of each settlement. The standard histories of County Durham are:
- William Hutchinson, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine, 3 volumes, 1785-1794.
- Robert Surtees, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, 4 volumes, 1816-1840.
- William Fordyce, The History and Antiquities of Durham, 2 volumes, c.1855-1860.
- The Victoria County History of Durham, 5 volumes to date.
These volumes may be viewed in the Collections Room. A duplicate copy of Fordyce's The History and Antiquities of Durham is available in Search and Discover.
You can trace the consequent rapid increase in population by using the census statistics which are available for every 10 years from 1801. Find census reports on the website A Vision of Britain through Time. (No census was taken in 1941). A small number of census statistical reports are in The Story's library collection and may be viewed in the Collections Room. If your village developed before 1891, the nature and origin of its population can be traced using the census returns which are available online on sites like Ancestry and Find My Past. Free access to FindMyPast is available in Search and Discover.
The only corporate towns within the present county boundaries are Darlington and Durham, and records for both towns are held in the archives at The Story. Check the online collections search for more information.
Trade directories, especially Francis Whellan’s County Directory published in 1894, give useful, brief descriptions of the most important aspects of the history of each settlement and its schools, churches and administrative bodies. More specialised aspects of a settlement’s history can be traced by using school log books (a diary kept by the headmaster of each school) over 100 years old, or records of the Church of England, Methodist and other non-conformist places of worship.
Also of use may be records of the boards of guardians (the poor relief authorities from 1834 to 1929) and district councils and their predecessors as local authorities (local boards of health and sanitary authorities). Records for all these institutions may not have survived for every area.
In addition, all records mentioned in connection with tracing the history of a house or street may be used to build up a picture of the whole village or town.
The records helpful for tracing the history of the mining villages so characteristic of Durham will also be useful in tracing the history of the longer-established villages. Their earlier history can be seen by using tithe maps and land tax returns which listed, by township, the owners and chief lessees of property worth more than £2 a year for the period from 1759 to 1831. The land tax returns were made annually, but by no means have all survived. They do, however, give a good idea of the land ownership and prosperity of many settlements from the mid-eighteeenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries.
The registers of baptisms, marriages and burials, which were kept from the sixteenth century by the Church of England are, until the introduction of civil registration in 1837, the main source for tracing the details of the size and rise and fall of population in any town or village.
Search our online catalogue and book a space in our Collections Room to view these records.
The countryside
The most obvious sources for the study of the countryside are maps and plans. The OS maps and tithe plans have been mentioned above. The tithe plans are especially useful in that they show the use of each field.
One important factor in the development of the modern countryside was the inclosure, or enclosure, of the medieval pattern of common fields. Much of the inclosure of the lowland in Durham occurred at an early date and most of the inclosure awards made in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century covered fell and wasteland. We have copies of the seventeenth century inclosure awards among the Palatinate records in The National Archives and hold inclosure awards and plans for the later period of inclosure.
For those areas which formed part of a large estate, estate plans are also useful for constructing a picture of the countryside. We have some collections of estate records, including plans, but many others remain in private hands.
Other estate records, such as account books, ledgers and even title deeds are important in building up a picture of the development of the landscape. In much of County Durham the landscape has been determined mainly by the coal trade – many villages owe their existence to this alone and many of the county’s physical features still are a legacy of mining activity. Roads, waggonways and railways were built to serve the needs of the trade. Estate collections, especially the Londonderry and Strathmore collections, and the records of the pre-vesting colliery companies deposited by the National Coal Board may be useful here.
Search our online catalogue and book a space in our Collections Room to view these records.
The countryside
The most obvious sources for the study of the countryside are maps and plans. The OS maps and tithe plans have been mentioned above. The tithe plans are especially useful in that they show the use of each field.
One important factor in the development of the modern countryside was the inclosure, or enclosure, of the medieval pattern of common fields. Much of the inclosure of the lowland in Durham occurred at an early date and most of the inclosure awards made in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century covered fell and wasteland. We have copies of the seventeenth century inclosure awards among the Palatinate records in The National Archives and hold inclosure awards and plans for the later period of inclosure.
For those areas which formed part of a large estate, estate plans are also useful for constructing a picture of the countryside. We have some collections of estate records, including plans, but many others remain in private hands.
Other estate records, such as account books, ledgers and even title deeds are important in building up a picture of the development of the landscape. In much of County Durham the landscape has been determined mainly by the coal trade – many villages owe their existence to this alone and many of the county’s physical features still are a legacy of mining activity. Roads, waggonways and railways were built to serve the needs of the trade. Estate collections, especially the Londonderry and Strathmore collections, and the records of the pre-vesting colliery companies deposited by the National Coal Board may be useful here.
Search our online catalogue and book a space in our Collections Room to view these records.