Bearpark
Bearpark | |
The centre of Bearpark village |
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Bearpark |
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Population | 2,283 (2011 Census)[1] |
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OS grid reference | NZ238431 |
Unitary authority | County Durham |
Ceremonial county | County Durham |
Region | North East |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United 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 Parliament | City of Durham |
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Coordinates: 54°46′56″N 1°37′48″W / 54.782222°N 1.630000°W
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
- ↑ "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 13 July 2015.
- ↑ "Chapel of Beaurepaire, Bearpark, Witton Gilbert (Bearpark)". Durham County Council and Northumberland County Council. 2012-09-11.
- ↑ 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
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bearpark. |
- Bearpark-Online : Many Photos of Bearpark and Beaurepaire
- Durham Mining Museum information on Bearpark Colliery
- Subterranea Britannica entry on Bearpark Station
- Keys to the Past's notes on Bearpark.
- City of Durham Council's notes on Beaurepaire