Durham City (like Rome, built on seven hills)
Like Rome, the city of Durham is built on seven hills. It’s one of the more affordable cities to rent, likely due to the huge student population, thanks to the local university.
One caveat. Durham is very hilly, so best for fit people! Durham Pointers has notes on accessible places for seniors, disabled travellers and people in wheelchairs.
Full of cobbled streets and historic buildings on the River Wear, this city has an old-world charm that’s quite unique. Explore the market, or relax by the river, with a view of the towering cathedral. Each hill even has its own name and shape:
- Cathedral Hill (Palace Green): The spiritual centre, with the cathedral and castle towering above the river
- Windy Hill: Known for its sweeping outlooks across the city
- Mount Joy: A leafy rise, popular with students and walkers
- Whinney Hill: Edged by college buildings and family homes
- Claypath Hill: Where the old main road leads into town
- Gilesgate: Now a busy suburb, once a key entry into Durham
- Crossgate: Old streets lining the slopes across from the castle
A Beautiful Romanesque Cathedral
Durham Cathedral is one of England’s best, with a stone vaulted ceiling, and one of the best examples of Romanesque architecture. The shrine at the cathedral is popular for pilgrims, learning the history of Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne (who is buried here).
The Birthplace of English Mustard
This popular condiment was created in Durham City, by Mrs Clements. When she decided to grind mustard seeds into flour, at a mill on Sadler Street in 1720.
In the early 18th century, Durham became the site of the first mustard mill in England. Before this, mustard was sold in rough, whole seeds, which people ground at home.
Durham in Hard Times: The Great Depression
Like many places in the North, in the 1930s people in Durham suffered during the Great Depression when the coal industry slumped, wages shrank and jobs disappeared almost overnight. Families lived very close to each other in terraced small houses, sharing what they had, to make ends meet.
Refusing to give up hope, people looked out for each other. Local churches and clubs became lifelines, handing out cups of tea, or running clubs for children with struggling parents. Simple comforts (a loaf of bread, a borrowed book, a warm fire) got families through this difficult time.
Durham University: Life and Pulse of the City
With over 20,000 students, Durham is a main draw to this city, with colleges lining narrow lanes and leafy hills. Cafés brim with students swapping ideas over laptops, theatres put on student plays, and bookshops serve both locals and scholars.
Although Tony Blair was born in Scotland, his family moved to Durham when he was five. As an adult, he returned from Oxford University and living elsewhere, to represent a new constituency, where he became an MP and then Prime Minister.
At first lauded as someone fresh and positive, of course since then controversy has ensued, due to it later been found that there were not weapons of mass destruction, meaning the war with Iraq (not authorised by a United Nations Security Council resolution) violated the UN charter. He now advises governments with his own foundation.
