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Barnard Castle

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Beyond the market – a day on the Tees

Most visitors linger in the town centre, yet the river offers a quieter way to linger. A short riverside walk from the old bridge takes you beneath the historic weir and onto a well‑marked footpath that follows the Tees to the dramatically rising Willowburn Woods. Early morning anglers often share tips about the best spots to glimpse salmon runs, while late‑afternoon light turns the water into a mirror for the surrounding limestone crags. Pack a light lunch and bring sturdy shoes; the path is unpaved and can be slippery after rain, but the occasional glimpse of a peregrine falcon hunting over the ripple‑riddled surface makes the effort worthwhile.

Cultural ripple – the Bowes Museum’s quiet corners

The Bowes Museum is celebrated for its grand halls, yet its lesser‑known study rooms hide a narrative of regional patronage. Tucked behind the main galleries, a modestly decorated library displays original correspondence between the 19th‑century founders and local industrialists, shedding light on how the museum’s collection was assembled to reflect both continental taste and northern modesty. Visitors with a penchant for history can request a guided tour of these archives, often arranged on the spot by the resident curator. The experience adds a layer of context to the more flamboyant paintings, anchoring them in the very social fabric that funded their acquisition.

Seasonal rhythm – when the town breathes differently

Barnard Castle’s calendar is punctuated by subtle shifts that escape the typical travel guide. In late August, the town’s farmers’ market expands onto the high street, featuring regional cheeses and cured meats that are no longer on shelves in supermarkets. By contrast, early winter brings a modest yet lively lantern festival, where locals hang hand‑crafted lights along the riverbanks, casting a amber glow that softens the stone facades. Planning a visit around these moments offers a glimpse of the community’s own pacing, and provides an authentic backdrop for photographs that capture more than just the castle’s silhouette.

Introduction

Town and civil parish in County Durham, England This article is about the town in England. For the castle in the town, see Barnard Castle (castle). For the constituency, see Barnard Castle (UK Parliament constituency). Town and civil parish in EnglandBarnard CastleTown and civil parishMarket CrossCastleSt Mary’s ChurchBowes MuseumBarnard CastleLocation within County DurhamPopulation5,495 (2011)OS grid referenceNZ047166Civil parishBarnard Castle Unitary authorityCounty DurhamCeremonial countyCounty DurhamRegionNorth EastCountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townBARNARD CASTLEPostcode districtDL12Dialling code01833PoliceDurhamFireCounty Durham and DarlingtonAmbulanceNorth East UK ParliamentBishop AucklandWebsitebarnardcastletowncouncil.gov.uk List of places UK England County Durham 54°33′N 1°55′W / 54.55°N 1.92°W / 54.55; -1.92 Barnard Castle (/ˈbɑːnəd/, BAR-nəd) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, England. The town is named after and built around a ruined medieval castle. The town's Bowes Museum has an 18th-century Silver Swan automaton exhibit and paintings by Goya and El Greco. Barnard Castle is on the left bank of the River Tees, opposite to Startforth, and is 21 miles (34 km) south-west of the county town of Durham. Nearby towns include Bishop Auckland to the north-east, Darlington to the east and Richmond to the south-east. The largest employer is GlaxoSmithKline, with a manufacturing facility on the town's outskirts.

History

[edit] Before the Norman Conquest, in 1066, the upper half of Teesdale was combined into an Anglo-Norse estate, which was centred upon the ancient village of Gainford, and mortgaged to the Earls of Northumberland. During Norman times, in 1080, the first Norman Bishop of Durham, Bishop Walcher, was murdered. This led to the surrounding country being attacked and laid waste by the Norman overlords. Further rebellion, in 1095, caused the king, William II, to break up the Earldom of Northumberland into smaller baronies. The Lordship of Gainford was given to Guy de Balliol. The earthwork fortifications of the castle were rebuilt in stone by his successor, Bernard I de Balliol, during the latter half of the 12th century, giving rise to the town's name. The castle passed down through the Balliol family (of which the Scottish king, John Balliol, was the most important member) and then into the possession of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. King Richard III inherited it through his wife, Anne Neville, but it fell into ruins in the century after his death. The remains of the castle are Grade I listed, whilst the chapel, in the outer ward, is Grade II listed. Both sets of remains are now in the care of English Heritage and open to the public. John Bowes lived at nearby Streatlam Castle (demolished in 1959). His Streatlam stud never had more than ten breeding mares at one time, but produced no fewer than four Derby winners in twenty years. The last of these, "West Australian", was the first racehorse to win the Triple Crown, in 1853. Bowes and his wife Joséphine Benoîte Coffin-Chevallier founded the Bowes Museum, which is of national status. Housed in its own ornate building, the museum contains an El Greco, paintings by Goya, Canaletto, Boucher, Fragonard and a collection of decorative art. A great attraction is the 18th century silver swan automaton, which periodically preens itself, looks round and appears to catch and swallow a fish. Although never a major manufacturing centre, in the 18th century industry centred on hand loom wool weaving, and in the early 19th century the principal industry was spinning and the manufacture of shoe thread.

Notable visitors

[edit] The ruins of Barnard Castle, which gave the town its name Walter Scott frequently visited his friend, John Sawrey Morritt, at Rokeby Hall, and was fond of exploring Teesdale. He begins his epic poem Rokeby (1813) with a man standing on guard on the round tower of the Barnard Castle fortress. Charles Dickens (Boz) and his illustrator, Hablot Browne (Phiz), stayed at the King's Head in Barnard Castle, while researching his novel, Nicholas Nickleby, in the winter of 1837–38. He is said to have entered William Humphrey's clock-maker's shop, then, opposite the hotel, and enquired who had made a certain remarkable clock. William replied that his boy, Humphrey, had done it. This seems to have prompted Dickens to choose the title "Master Humphrey's Clock" for his new weekly, in which The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge appeared. William Wordsworth, Daniel Defoe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Hilaire Belloc, Bill Bryson and the artist J. M. W. Turner have also visited the town. In May 2020, Barnard Castle came to national attention when Dominic Cummings, the chief adviser of the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was discovered to have driven to the town, with his family, during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was, at that time, at a significant risk of having the disease himself, because of recent contact with the infected Prime Minister (Cummings developed symptoms the next day). Following media allegations that he had broken lockdown regulations by driving to the town, he told how he drove there to test his eyesight, to reassure his wife that he was able to drive them back to London the next day. Media commentators subsequently discovered that historically, the phrase "Barnard Castle" had been slang for a pathetic excuse.

Governance

[edit] Barnard Castle Post Office Barnard Castle is for all purposes (historic, ceremonial and unitary authority) located in County Durham. Barnard Castle has a Town Council governing a civil parish. The Town Council elects a ceremonial Town Mayor annually. It is part of the Bishop Auckland parliamentary constituency, which, as of 2024, is represented in parliament, by Sam Rushworth of the Labour Party. Barnard Castle's County Councillor is Chris Foote-Wood of the Labour Party. The local police force is Durham Constabulary. The town is the base for the Barnard Castle division, which covers 300 square miles (780 km2). This division is within the force's south area. Former[edit] Between 1894 and 1974, the town was, administratively, part of Barnard Castle Urban District. The administrative and ceremonial county boundary was adjusted in 1974. Barnard Castle became the administrative centre of the Teesdale district of County Durham non-metropolitan county, until its abolition, on 1 April 2009, and the county council became the unitary authority of County Durham.

Geography

[edit] Elevation: 180 m (600 ft) Nearest large towns: Darlington, 16 miles (26 km). Bishop Auckland 14.8 miles (24 km) Destinations from Barnard Castle Upper Teesdale, Middleton-in-Teesdale, Alston Hamsterley Forest, Weardale, Bishop Auckland, Durham CIty, Tyneside, Wearside Brough, Appleby-in-Westmorland, Pennines, Cumbria Barnard Castle Gainford, Darlington, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough Yorkshire Dales National Park River Tees, Startforth, The A66, Reeth, Yorkshire Dales Richmond, Scotch Corner, Northallerton, North York Moors National Park

Transport

[edit] Barnard Castle Bridge over the River Tees Barnard Castle has road connections to Bishop Auckland, Spennymoor and central County Durham via the A688 and Darlington, Stockton-on-Tees, and Middlesbrough by the A67. Barnard Castle is also four miles (6.4 km) from the A66, with access to the M6 to the west and the A1(M) to the east. The B6278 also connects Barnard Castle with Middleton-in-Teesdale. The old road bridge over the River Tees was built in 1569 and is Grade I listed. Barnard Castle railway station was closed for passenger trains in 1964. A Bill was approved in 1854 for a line from a junction with the Stockton & Darlington Railway at Darlington to Barnard Castle and opened on 9 July 1856, with intermediate stations at Broomielaw, Winston, Gainford and Piercebridge. The terminus at Darlington only lasted five years. In 1856 the South Durham & Lancashire Railway proposed a line from Bishop Auckland to Tebay via Barnard Castle and Kirkby Stephen but only the western section was built with the Company receiving its Bill in 1857. The line opened on 8 August 1861 from a second terminus at Barnard Castle to a junction with the Lancaster & Carlisle Railway at Tebay with intermediate stations at Lartington, Bowes, Barras, Kirkby Stephen, Ravenstondale & Gaisgill. The two stations at Barnard Castle were some distance apart; the earliest station became a through station and closed to passengers on 1 May 1862, but remained in use as a goods depot. The second station was closed for passenger trains under the Beeching cuts in 1964 and completely on 5 April 1965 and the site was eventually built on by GlaxoSmithKline. Today rail access is via Bishop Auckland, or Darlington. There are two bus routes provided by Arriva North East which connect Barnard Castle to Darlington, the X75 (Via Staindrop) and X76 (Via Winston) and there is also the 79, provided by Hodgsons Coaches, which travels from Barnard Castle to Richmond.

Education

[edit] Barnard Castle School is an independent co-educational boarding school located on the eastern edge of the town. Teesdale School is an 11–18 comprehensive school on the outskirts of the town, just off the A688. There are three primary schools serving the town. Green Lane school is a primary school for 4–11 year olds. St Mary's is a Roman Catholic school situated on Birch Road near the church of the same name. Montalbo Primary School and Nursery is for 3-11year olds.

Culture

[edit] The Bowes Museum was purpose-built to house the collection of John and Josephine Bowes. The museum is built in the style of a French chateau, in extensive grounds, and is by far the largest building in the town. It contains paintings by El Greco, Francisco Goya, Canaletto, Jean-Honoré Fragonard and François Boucher, together with a sizable collection of decorative art, ceramics, textiles, tapestries, clocks and costumes, as well as older items from local history. It is famous for the Silver Swan automaton, which played every day at 2pm until it seized up during the 2020 COVID-19 Lockdown, it is currently undergoing repairs. The Witham Arts Centre, on the Horse Market, presents a variety of events, including drama, cinema, music, spoken word and children's events, as well as being the town's visitor information centre. The Barnard Castle Meet is an annual carnival festival, held on the second bank holiday weekend in May, the schools' summer half-term week. The Meet, as it is known locally, grew from the North East Cyclists' Meet, dating back to 1885. Since the early 1900s, the town has staged a carnival and grand procession through the town centre on the bank holiday Monday. There are around twenty separate events that the Meet Committee asserts 'reach every corner of the community'. In recent years, the committee has staged its own music event, showcasing local and national talent on the Sunday and Monday, with all technical and musical support from Teesdale Community Resources (TCR). The TCR Hub is a community centre on the edge of the town, with a wide range of indoor and outdoor activities. The Barnard Castle Band, founded in 1860, is a brass band, based in the town, known outside the area as a result of the march Barnard Castle by Goff Richards.

Notable people

[edit] This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) George Brown – missionary and ethnographer Anne Fine – children's writer. Twice Whitbread Prize winner Arthur Henderson – Winner of Nobel Peace prize (1934). Former MP for Barnard Castle and first Labour cabinet minister David Harper - BBC TV Antiques Presenter Glenn Hugill – television presenter and producer David Jennings – composer Ian Usher – traveller, adventurer, writer and speaker. Sold "entire life" on eBay in 2008 Former residents[edit] Joshua Harold Burn, 1942, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology at Oxford University Bob Chatt, footballer for Aston Villa Siobhan Fahey, singer/songwriter from Bananarama/Shakespears Sister lived here for a short time as a child Hannah Hauxwell, English farmer who was the subject of several television documentaries William Hutchinson, 18th-century historian Roderick Murchison, President of both the Royal Geological and the Royal Geographical Societies Cyril Northcote Parkinson, writer and inventor Arthur Riddell, third Catholic Bishop of Northampton Henry Witham, geologist and philanthropist