|
England
Bedfordshire
Berkshire
Buckinghamshire
Cambridgeshire
Cheshire
Cornwall
Cumberland
Derbyshire
Devon
Durham
Dorset
Essex
Gloucestershire
Hampshire
Herefordshire
Hertfordshire
Huntingdonshire
Kent
Lancashire
Leicestershire
Lincolnshire
More |
-
Durham (Durham, Sunderland, Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington,
Hartlepool, Gateshead, Washington)
County Durham has a fascinating past
with archaeological evidence pointing to signs of human habitation
stretching back an astounding 10,000 years.
However, the Romans were the first to really exploit the area's
strategic importance and Dere Street, their main highway to the
north, passes right through the heart of the County. The route,
begun in about AD 80, was crucial to the defence of the northern
limits of the Roman Empire.
Today there are still plenty of places to view intriguing remains of
the Roman occupation, including Binchester Roman Fort near Bishop
Auckland, at Lanchester and at Ebchester.
The County also has a Christian heritage stretching back to the
early English saints. Indeed, in AD 995 Durham became the final
resting place of Northern England's revered Saint Cuthbert.
Monks built a white church on the rocky peninsula above the River
Wear to shelter the saint's body and its importance as a place of
pilgrimage began to grow.
But it was the coming of the Normans, and William the Conqueror's
decision in 1072 to confer a special blend of religious and military
authority on Durham's Bishops, that really marks the emergence of
unique powers that shaped the County's future |
