A Darlington Town Trail

WELCOME TO OUR TOWN!

This is a brief geographical and historical introduction to our town. It takes the form of a town trail and the places we will visit are: St Cuthbert’s Church and Bridge, Tubwell Row, The Market and Town Clock, High Row, Post House Wynd, Bondgate, Skinnergate, Houndgate, George Street and The Railway Station. We hope you like what we have done. If you have any suggestions, please contact us. We aim to please!

Darlington is best known around the world for its contribution to railway history but it was already an ancient town before railways began.

St Cuthbert's Church

St Cuthbert’s Church was built during medieval times (1180). On display within St Cuthbert’s are two crosses which indicate that Darlington was occupied by Anglo-Saxons. The ending to Darlington’s name, -ington, also tells us that this was a Saxon settlement. Early spellings of the name were Dearthington, Dearnington, Derlington. The site on which Darlington is built is responsible for the growth of the town. St Cuthbert’s Church and bridge show us where the town first started. In Saxon times the land would have been undrained, swampy and forested.

Tubwell Row

There are several reasons why the pioneer Saxon farmers chose this site. No town could develop without a good water supply. Porous sands and gravels along Tubwell Row held water which could easily be reached by shallow wells. Hence the name! The Skerne was difficult to cross because of marsh land but at St Cuthberts’ a ford has been found where the valley narrows. It became a meeting point for routes along the Tees Valley and a market developed. There is a steep rise from the bridge at the bottom of Tubwell Row to High Row which has made High Row safe from flooding. Water still has to be pumped from the basement of The Nag’s Head because the sands and gravels it is built on still hold water.

The market square

A market is held here on Mondays and Saturdays. It has very early beginnings. The Prince Bishop of Durham created a ‘borough’ to serve as a town with the privilege of holding a weekly market. Farmers exchanged produce with the town’s craftsmen and the stallholders paid rent to the bishop.

High Row

This is one of the main shopping areas of the town. It was in the centre and it was safe from flooding. When the town first developed, the townspeople would have had small houses, perhaps with a shop at the front and a workshop behind.

Of course, the 12th century buildings have been replaced many times, but not all at once, so each individual shop today is built on one old building plot. If two or more plots could be bought together, then a wider shop could be built.

When a borough was established, its inhabitants were granted freedom to make their own living.

Bondgate, however, lay outside the borough and its population remained in bond tenure (working for the lord - in this case, the Prince Bishop). Hence the name, Bondgate.

Bondgate