The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

DUEHAM. 291
The only place of note along the rather tame coast between Hartlepool and
Sunderland is Seaham, near which are important collieries.
The river Wear, with all its tributaries, lies wholly within the county of Durham.
Rising near the Kilhope Law, it first flows through the weird and picturesque
TTeardale, and tlien, forcing itself a passage through a succession of gorges, finds
its way to the German Ocean. Castles and parks are numerous along its banks,
and alternate with collieries and iron works, but notwithstanding manufactories
and the unsightly heaps of slags, its valley still remains the Arcadia of England.
Stanhope, in the upper part of the valley, depends upon the lead mines and
quarries in its neighbourhood. On reaching Wokinghatu we first enter the coal
and iron region. All around it, as well as about Towlaw, to the north-east of it,
coal, iron, and limestone are found in abundance. Bishop Auckland, prettily
seated on a hill, has an old castle, one of the manorial residences of the ancient
Bishops of Durham, standing in the midst of an extensive park. The bridge
which spans the river at this town was built upon Roman foundations by Bishop
Skirlaw in 1388. Collieries and iron works abound in the vicinity of Auckland,
one of their principal centres being Speiiiii/ Moor, to the north-east. The "Wear
here abruptly turns to the northward and penetrates a narrow gorge, formerly
defended by the Roman station of Vinotium, upon the site of which stands the
village of Binchester.
On leaving the gorge the river once more winds between gentle hills until it
approaches the bold promontory upon the summit of which rise proudly the Xorman
cathedral and the keep of the castle built by "William the Conqueror, and which
subsequently became the residence of the bishops. Since 1833 the castle has been
occupied by a university, which Cromwell intended to establish, and which owes its
origin to the enormous increase in the revenues of Durham Cathedral, mainly
derived from collieries. The University of Durham enjoys the same privileges as
Oxford and Cambridge. It possesses a library rich in precious manuscripts, a
museum, and an observatory, and students are able to pursue their studies at a far less
expense than either at Oxford or Cambridge. Notwithstanding this the university
is very little frequented, and this appears to be owing to the servility with
which the mechanical routine followed at the older universities has been copied.
The organization of the University of Durham is altogether under the direction
of the clergy, and the chapter of the cathedral virtually governs it.*
Durham has carpet and woollen manufactories and iron works. Collieries
are numerous in its vicinity. A few miles to the west of it stand the remains of
Xeville's Cross, where the " Battle of the Red Hills " was fought in 1346. Some
of the weapons used on that occasion are preserved at the ancient castle of the
Nevilles at Brancepeth, to the south. Ascending the vaUey of the Browney,
which joins the "V\'ear above Durham, we pass Ushaw College, a Roman Catholic
seminary founded in 1808 on a bleak and barren hill, and finally reach the small
colliery town of Lanchester, near which are extensive remains of the Roman
station of Epideum.
* Demogeot et Monlucci, ' De lEaEeignemeLt superieur en Angleterre et en Ecosse."