Bearpark

Bearpark

The centre of Bearpark village
Bearpark
 Bearpark shown within County Durham
Population 2,283 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceNZ238431
Unitary authorityCounty Durham
Ceremonial countyCounty Durham
RegionNorth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town DURHAM
Postcode district DH7
Dialling code 0191
Police Durham
Fire County Durham and Darlington
Ambulance North East
EU Parliament North East England
UK ParliamentCity of Durham
List of places
UK
England
County Durham

Coordinates: 54°46′56″N 1°37′48″W / 54.782222°N 1.630000°W / 54.782222; -1.630000

Bearpark is a village and civil parish in County Durham in England. It is situated two and a half miles west of Durham, and a short distance to the north of Ushaw Moor. The name may be a corruption of the French term Beau Repaire – meaning "beautiful retreat". Half a mile to the north of the present village lies the ruins of Beaurepaire Priory, built in 1258 by the Prior of Durham, Bertram de Middleton, as a retirement residence. The building was extended in the subsequent three centuries, becoming a retreat for the Durham monks in a similar way to the nearby Finchale Priory. The manor was largely destroyed by the Scots in 1640 and 1644 during the British Civil War.[2][3] Bearpark later became a coal mining village until 1984, when the mine was closed.

Bearpark Community Centre is at the hub of the local village, a red brick building originally built in 1921 as a miners' welfare hall. An old pit wheel stands in front of the building, a memorial to the village's mining history.

References

  1. "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  2. "Chapel of Beaurepaire, Bearpark, Witton Gilbert (Bearpark)". Durham County Council and Northumberland County Council. 2012-09-11.
  3. Pevsner, Nikolaus; Williamson, Elizabeth (1985). The Buildings of England: County Durham. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 92–93. ISBN 978 0 300 09599 9.

External links

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This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/8/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.