Darlington-Town-Centre-Fringe-Conservation-Management ...

Conservation Management Plan for Darlington’s Town Centre Fringe

Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Darlington Borough Council 2

SUMMARY

The town centre fringe (TCF) has much that is of heritage significance;

however it is an area that hides its heritage assets well. Historic bowed

windows peer out from behind freezers, ornate rooftops are obscured by

modern buildings, houses of international significance sit shyly behind a

kebab shop, the town’s much loved Bulmer stone sits trapped behind railings

and renowned poets are long forgotten. It is time that the town centre fringe

celebrated its rich heritage.

It is the railway heritage that consistently appears as the exceptional

contributor to local distinctiveness and as Darlington’s unique selling point.

The architecture is exceptionally significant because of the contribution that it

makes towards our understanding of the birth and early years of a mode of

transport that was to change the face of the world. Its educational value is

already exploited via the Head of Steam museum and has the potential to

provide more. The railway heritage also has considerable potential to draw

visitors to Darlington from across the world. However its condition and

management would have to match that of the Head of Steam Museum before

it was worth crossing continents for.

Decisions regarding the future management of the town will want to be guided

by the existing historic building stock and the predominantly 19th century

street pattern. It will need to consider the contribution that traditional building

materials, such as red brick and the beautiful scoria blocks, will make to the

Darlington of the future. New developments and the adaptation of existing

development will need to recognise the importance of designed and fortuitous

views towards significant skyline features and the restoration of more general



views which have been blighted by 20th century development. It will also need

to recognise the recent loss of important physical links with the town centre

and the river and important existing links to green spaces such as South Park.

Throughout all of the important future management decisions, we must ask, is

this proposal good enough for an area of town of international importance

because of its association with the birth of the railways?

The Vision

By 2025, two hundred years after the birth of the railway, Darlington’s town

centre fringe will be transformed into a vibrant urban area with well-

maintained historic buildings, exciting small scale modern development, a

thriving tourism industry based on the railway heritage and a healthy

accessible river cherished by the local community.

In order to achieve this, the Borough Council in partnership with local

residents and businesses, will revitalise the town centre fringe through

sustainable imaginative regeneration which recognises the historical value

and embodied energy of existing pre 1919 building stock.

The Council will also recognise the international importance of the town centre

fringe’s railway heritage through conservation, restoration and celebration of

its role in the birth of the railways.

In order to achieve this, the following broad management recommendations

have been made, in addition to more detailed management recommendations

for each character area. These recommendations have arisen out of the

public consultation process and the first two stages of the conservation

management plan which looks at our understanding of the TCF, its

significance and its issues. Shaded recommendations may require the

adoption of new or altered policy.

Summary of management recommendations HE1 – loss of river Timetable



a) Restore Cocker Beck access from Northgate to Westbrook 1-3 years1

b) negotiate visual access to beck and its management (litter collection) from the Bridge Inn beer garden

1-3 years

c) Move sheds back 3-5m from the east bank of the Skerne between Russell Street and Chesnut Street

gradual over 10 years

d) Negotiate access from the side of Magnets on John Street to the Skerne Bridge then improve path facilities from the bridge to Northgate with signage to the museum

1-3 years

e) Recreate attractive footpath walks along Weir Street as part of a wider redevelopment package which will link existing riverside access beside the printing Works and Edward Pease’s House.

1-15 years and as opportunities arise through the planning process

f) Ensure redevelopment of MFI site improves and enhances access to the river bank.

1-5 years

Redesign road crossing to link the river across the road. 1-15 years

Repair missing cap from listed bridge pier. 1-3 years

g) Bring the river back to the surface in the vicinity of St Cuthbert’s Way and Victoria Road as part of wider landscaping scheme to reduce the visual impact of the ring road

within 15 years

h) Enhance the scoria block back lane between Victoria Embankment and Feethams through the redevelopment of Feethams to create a safer walking/cycling environment and as part of this scheme, repair the listed bridge across the Skerne.

within 7 years

Summary of Management Recommendations HE2 – Streets dominated by cars

Timetable

a)Create design briefs for the ring road area to encourage street fronted development with varied roof lines and detailed designed elevations facing the ring road and Parkgate (where appropriate), with gaps to create vistas towards the town centre and St. Cuthbert’s spire in particular. There are plots currently available for redevelopment plus proposals to move the fire station and police station away from the ring road and so this policy should be implemented immediately.

Immediate

b)Traffic management should give priority to pedestrians and cyclists and prevent the construction of further subways or dual carriageways within the town centre fringe.

Immediate

c) the Council to explore a park and ride scheme

Summary of Management Recommendations HE3 – Car parking Timetable

Car parking strategy to consider the following:

a) Beaumont Street, Houndgate and Feethams to be redeveloped as mixed use development with a design brief to reflect varied roof lines, vistas to town centre and historic skyline features, yards and alleys

Production of design brief immediate

b) Garden Street to be redeveloped with mixed use, restore Weavers Yard, re-instate ‘Edward Pease’s garden’ in part or allotment element – design brief required


c) Kendrew Street and King Street car parks reduced through landscaping and possibly street fronted development

up to 10 years

1 Subsequent consultation has suggested that local residents would like to see this actioned sooner



Summary of Management Recommendations HE4 – Skyline features (New policy is shaded)

Timetable

a) New developments should seek to incorporate views towards historic skyline features

immediate adoption of policy

b) Planning applications will be assessed against the impact of the proposal against skyline features.


Summary management recommendations: Multiple Occupancy as indicator of decline

Timetable

a) The council has already decided to put a moratorium on multiple occupancy planning permissions and so no action is required

N/A

b) Enforcement needs to be improved where loss of historic character is threatened

Immediate

c) The Council need to consider how best to respond to resident’s complaints regarding anti-social behaviour of its own tenants or breaches of local bye-laws

Immediate

d) The police and the council need to consider if dog fouling and fly-tipping can be targeted for a rapid response when complaints are made and the council needs to reconsider charging honest residents for the acts of dishonest ones.

Immediate

e) The council and local communities to join together to create a wardening service collecting litter until such time as the area regenerates and litter dropping becomes more difficult

Immediate

f) Consult with the local community to see if there is a demand to trial gated and landscaped back lanes.

1-5 years

Summary management recommendations HE6: Inappropriate maintenance of historic buildings (new Policy is shaded)

Timetable

6a.1 Planning permission to replace shop windows on properties pre-dating 1919 should only be granted for traditional window types in consultation with the Conservation Officer

Immediate

6a.2 Permitted development rights should be withdrawn in Victoria Embankment Conservation Area (they are already withdrawn in Northgate Conservation Area) and should be withdrawn in any future Conservation Areas that are created.

1-5 years

6a.3 The council needs to improve its enforcement procedure for Article 4 directions, listed building consents and planning conditions relating to historic buildings

Immediate

6a.4 Building regulation staff should attend a course run by Heritage Skills Initiative on the breathability of pre-1919 houses so that they can make informed decisions regarding the application of the regulations on historic buildings

1-3 years

6a.5 The council should provide free written or oral advice on home maintenance as leaflets, web pages or DVDs covering everyday maintenance, energy efficiency in older buildings, windows, doors, roofing, domestic chimneys and flues, damp, cast iron rainwater goods, painting and repointing.

1-5 years

6a.6 Create a traditional skills web site, possibly in partnership with Durham County Council and Tees Valley for home owners to source the skills necessary to properly maintain their historic buildings

1-5 years

6a.7 The council should apply for Townscape Heritage Initiative Funding for all conservation areas (once Parkgate and any others have been designated)

1-5 years

6bThe council should formally create a conservation area based on Parkgate and possibly include the east side of Hargreave Terrace. A conservation area appraisal and management plan will then be required in consultation with the residents

1-5 years

c) The council should create a conservation area based on Victoria Road, to be followed by a conservation area appraisals and management plan

1-7 years

d) The town centre conservation area should be extended to include Victoria Road west of South Arden Street (and possibly with a little less justification land



east of South Arden Street).

e) The Victoria Embankment conservation area could be extended to include South Terrace

Summary management recommendations HE7: Reuse of historic buildings stock (new Policy is shaded)

Timetable

a) No new large scale development should take place outside the town until existing historic buildings are used and brown field sites are developed within the TCF

immediate

b) No demolition of properties should be agreed without a full planning application showing what will replace it

immediate

c) There should be a presumption against planning permission for the demolition of any property built before 1919

immediate

d) The local development framework should actively encourage the reuse of historic buildings and the need for a Statement of Significance to guide conversions. The council should favour mixed use development so that there is a residential element to all areas providing the necessary profits in redevelopment and ensuring that the area does not empty outside office hours

immediate

e) The Council also need to exert their repair and compulsory powers quickly before decline in buildings is too advanced

immediate

f) Design briefs should be prepared for the following TCF areas (where they have not already been carried out): ‘Left Bank’ of the Skerne between Russell Street and John Street Borough Road Waste ground in front of Skerne Bridge Land between Valley Street and East Mount Cattle Market

Immediate Immediate TBC 1-5 years TBC

Summary Management Recommendations HE8– the design of new build Timetable

a) Developers should be discouraged from creating pastiches of old build, but instead use historic buildings to inform exciting new designs of high quality. Developers will be expected to outline how their build will fit into the historic environment in their design statement which must accompany their planning application.

immediate

b) Where a development does not conform to council prepared design briefs, the developer will be encouraged to discuss their designs with the conservation officer at an early stage in the application process

immediate

Summary Management Recommendations HE9 – the protection of historic buildings

Timetable

a) Include terrace houses with traditional windows and doors in the local list 1-2 years

b) Have the local list adopted as a material consideration in the planning process 1-2 years

c) The Borough Council should ensure that they have a Statement of Significance for each heritage asset in their care

1-7 years

d) Each planning application or listed building consent application should be accompanied by a Statement of Significance

ongoing

e) Submit the Railway Tavern and 1-5 Victoria Road for spot listing to English Heritage



Facilities for younger people – HE11. Summary Management Recommendations

Timetable

See HE 10.10 and HE 7

Summary Management Recommendations HE 12 Local production of materials

Timetable

a) Encourage through strategic planning the housing of small scale science or green based businesses or research establishments within the TCF

Immediate policy creation- implementation opportunity driven

The railway heritage – HE10 Management Recommendations Timetable

a) The tourism potential of the railway heritage needs to be realised in the local development framework and TCF AAP

immediate

b) Create a heritage walk through the TCF (se also 10.3, 10.4, 10.14 and 10.15)

1-5 years

c) Work with DCC to link any rail walks with the TCF S&DR area by 2025

d) Open up stretches of the original S&DR route as recreational trails by 2025

e) Create welcoming display at Bank Top station – the towns where trains were born

by 2025

f) Seek the removal of ticket barriers at Bank Top or the return of free platform passes for visitors

1-5 years

g) Nominate Darlington’s town centre fringe and additional outlying buildings for World Heritage Site Status, initially by inclusion on the Tentative List. There is some increasing urgency to this as other town’s seek the title of the ‘birth of the railways’

1-10 years (WHS status by 2025)

h) Conduct a review of scheduling of the S&DR line and associated features in Co. Durham

1-5 years

i) The railway preservation groups, the Friends of the Head of Steam and the Borough Council to work together to seek HLF support in finding sustainable uses and conservation works at the carriage works and goods station. This may be better achieved as part of implementing HE 10.7 and HE 10.10

1-3 years

j) Actively seek partners such as Haughton College to take over Engine Shed no.2 to be used for recreational purposes for college students or for sports facilities.

1-3 years

k) Explore ways of making the Goods Station part of the museum experience (this may be achieved through HE10.9 above), the removal of security fencing from between the museum and the goods station and permitting access to the café without paying an entrance fee.

by 2025

l) North Road station requires better landscaping and design to reflect its importance. It should aim to remove the security fencing between the museum and the station and replace with gated iron railings which better reflect Victorian styles and where the gate can be unlocked for targeted train services. A new platform shelter could better reflect the heritage of the site.

by 2025

m) One end of Northgate would benefit from some sort of gateway feature to mark the start of the railway heritage area

by 2025

n) Attach small S&DR type plaques to buildings marking them as railway heritage features

1-5 years

o) Improve the setting of Skerne bridge and access to it preferably as part of a heritage trail and riverside walk – instigate a study of desire lines from Haughton Road college to town centre in order to inform location of additional footpaths

1-5 years

p) Aim to have the railway heritage in a much improved more accessible condition by 2025 and prepare to celebrate

by 2025



Acknowledgements

This report has been written with considerable help from a number of people.

Heather Grimshaw, Tim Crashaw, Gabriella White, Peter Roberts, Phil Roxby

and the staff of the Local Studies Library, all of Darlington Borough Council,

have made information available on the area, offered advice and helped with

the consultation process. Charles McNab, Brian Denham and Ian Dougill of

the Darlington Historical Society have kindly provided additional information

derived from their extensive researches and Mr Dougill has also provided a

guided walk around the Skerne, old photographs, newspaper cuttings, historic

maps and his own paintings of the river and its historic environment. We are

particularly indebted to Dave Tetlow of the Head of Steam Museum who

made the museum available for our consultation event and provided free entry

to those attending so they could spend time at the museum and enjoy its

delights. We are also indebted to Sarah Goldsborough and staff at the

museum who provided information on visitor use and helped with the

consultation event. Richard Wimbury, Chair of the Friends of the Head of

Steam Museum gave us hours of his time to talk through the importance of

the railway heritage and provided a guided walk around a number of railway

buildings. He also delivered a group of railway enthusiasts to the consultation

event for which we are very grateful. Don Whitfield provided photographs of

various features of historic interest throughout Darlington and Chris Fish, a

former conservation officer for the Borough shared his in depth knowledge of

the railway heritage and provided books, property deeds and tea. The local

historian Jean Kirkland also offered support and advice and from further afield

we were delighted to received contributions and support from Darlington

enthusiasts across the world. Many residents came out to talk to us when we

were conducting the fieldwork and we would like to thank all of them for their

advice and for expressing their concerns.

The main consultation event was held on the 22nd May 2010 at the Head of

Steam Museum. Additional consultation meetings were held with the Friends

of the Head of Steam Museum and Darlington Historical Society. A wider

consultation process took place concurrently on the future of the town centre



fringe and this provided additional opportunities for the local community and

stakeholders to become involved. Our grateful thanks go to the people who

attended the consultation events, completed questionnaires or made their

views known by other means.

Author: Caroline Hardie

Additional fieldwork: Niall Hammond

Mapping: Jane Skriabin

Cover Illustration: Bank Top Station

All mapping is reproduced from Ordnance Survey Material with the permission

of Ordnance Survey on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery

Office. © Crown copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown

copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Darlington

Borough Council. Licence No. 100023728. 2010

‘The numerous Churches, Chapels, Recreation Grounds, Public Baths,

Hospitals, and other necessary Municipal Institutions, though not within the

scope of this guide to severally detail, show that the town in matters religious

and social is not content to stand still or even to lag behind.

These in conjunction with unusually low rates, with beautiful surroundings,

ready facilities and easy access to still more beautiful and interesting districts,

explain why Darlington is becoming so attractive and well appreciated a

residential centre.’

Darlington Half Holiday Guide 1899



CONTENTS

VOLUME I

Summary 2

Acknowledgements 8

1.0 Introduction 12

2.0 Historic Background: Understanding the town centre fringe 18

3.0 The Built Form 33

4.0 Statement of Significance 59

4.1 Historical Values 60

4.2 Aesthetic Values 78

4.3 Communal Values 105

4.4 Evidential Values 108

5.0 Statement of Significance Conclusion 114

VOLUME II

Introduction 119

Issues and Management Recommendations 122

Loss of River 123

Streets dominated by cars 131

Car parking 135

Skyline features 138

Multiple occupancy as an indicator of decline 139

Inappropriate maintenance of historic buildings 144

Reuse of historic buildings stock 162

The design of new build 169

The protection of historic buildings 170

The railway heritage 174

Facilities for younger people 185



Local production of materials 186

Zones by Character Areas 188

Zone one:

S&DR 191

The Left Bank 195

Eastmount 197

Bondgate and Gladstone 199

The Lost Valley 202

Zones two and three:

The Bishop's Park 206

Borough Road 210

Zone four:

Bank Top 213

Zone Five:

Feethams 216

Bibliography 221

Appendix A The evolution of the town centre fringe 223

Appendix B Historic Street names in the town centre fringe 225

Appendix C Negative Features in the town centre fringe 227

Appendix D Conservation Areas in the town centre fringe 228

Appendix E Listed Buildings in the town centre fringe 229

Appendix F Local List of Buildings in the town centre fringe -

Recommendations 230

Appendix G Statement of Significance - our approach 251



1.0 Introduction

What is a Conservation Management Plan?

A conservation management plan (CMP), is a document which provides an

understanding of an area’s historic environment composed of buildings,

landscape, culture, character and archaeology. The CMP will identify what is

significant and worthwhile about that place, the issues facing it and provide

policies to guide the long-term-management and conservation of the place.

Through application of the CMP by local authority, statutory bodies and

community, the best of the old is valued and kept, and a sustainable future for

the place is delivered, inspired and enhanced by the past. This Plan is a non-

statutory document. It has been prepared to supply guidance and direction for

future management and decision making in relation to Darlington’s town

centre fringe. Figure 1 shows where the town centre fringe is in relation to the

rest of Darlington.

The town centre fringe was identified as a key area of strategic importance for

Darlington in 2006 as part of work commissioned to underpin Darlington’s

Economic Regeneration Strategy. Archaeo-Environment was commissioned

by Darlington Borough Council in 2010 to prepare this Conservation

Management Plan in order to inform the process of regeneration. By

commissioning this work at a very early stage when no decisions have been

set in stone, it will ensure that heritage and local distinctiveness are key

drivers in the regeneration of the area.



‘The Vision: That the value of the historic environment is recognised by all

who have the power to shape it; that Government gives it proper recognition

and that it is managed intelligently and in a way that fully realises its

contribution to the economic, social and cultural life of the nation’.

The Government’s Statement on the Historic Environment for England 2010:

the vision

The role of the historic environment in the cultural, social, economic and

environmental success of a place is recognised by government. It is accepted

fact that the historic environment makes a very real contribution to our quality

of life and the quality of our places (DCMS 2010, 1). Aside from its inherent

cultural value, the historic environment also has an important role to play in

helping local and national Government to achieve many of its broader goals. It

can be a powerful driver for economic growth, attracting investment and

tourism, and providing a focus for successful regeneration. Alongside the best

in new design, it is an essential element in creating distinctive, enjoyable and

successful places in which to live and work. Heritage can be a significant

focus for the local community, helping to bring people together, to define local

identities and to foster a new understanding of ourselves and those around

us.

North East Research Recommendation SU 21. The possibility for heritage-led

urban regeneration projects should be explored, combining a drive for

economic renewal with the opportunity for conservation-led research. An

example of good practice is the Grainger Town Project, carried out by a

partnership including One North-East, English Heritage and Newcastle City

Council.

(Petts and Gerrard 2006, 207 )

Darlington Borough Council is aware that successful regeneration means

bringing social, economic and environmental life back, not just into the town

centre fringe, but the community as a whole. Conservation-led regeneration



transforms places, strengthens a community’s self image and recreates

viable, attractive places which encourage sustained inward investment

(English Heritage, 2005).

At a time when we are all concerned with climate change, we must also

recognise and value the inherent sustainability and embodied energy of

historic buildings and their surroundings and by learning from them and the

other types of evidence left by the low carbon economies of the past, we can

make real progress in helping to mitigate and adapt to climate change (ibid).

This historic environment is all around us. In Darlington it is not just the listed

buildings and conservation areas which are the most visible signs of our

heritage, but the rows of terraced houses and railway buildings which

transformed the town in the 19th century, the street names and skyline, the

ground beneath our feet which covers the remains of the earliest settlements.

Through the centre of it all, flows the life line of the River Skerne; once the

very reason for establishing a settlement here, sometimes cruelly tamed and

channelled, often neglected and inaccessible, but a constant presence with a

potential central position in the heart of community life; as such, it cannot be

ignored in any regeneration scheme.

Much of the historic environment has been lost in Darlington, but much more

survives, sometimes cherished, sometimes under-valued and hidden. This

Conservation Management Plan flags up that which is of significance to the

historic environment and those elements of the town centre fringe which

detract from the historic environment. It offers guidance, created through

expert advice and public consultation, on how the negative can be reversed,

how the valued can be enhanced and how the past can inspire, but not dictate

the designs of the future.



The organisation of the Conservation Management Plan

Understanding the town centre fringe (volume 1)

In order to manage such changes without compromising the cultural values of

the town centre fringe we need to understand what elements contribute to the

significance and character of the area, and how these may be vulnerable and

susceptible to any changes in the future. The following Conservation

Management Plan aims to look at the area from a wide range of different

perspectives including its history, the built form, the open spaces, use,

community involvement and local distinctiveness.

“These assets are unique and once they have been damaged or destroyed

they cannot be recovered or be re-created. However, conservation of historic

assets need not prevent development and change. English Heritage

recognises that the most effective way to conserve cultural values is to

manage change by prompting awareness of the values that will be affected”.

English Heritage 2006, 1

The Statement of Significance (volume 1)

The Statement of Significance covers those aspects of the town centre fringe

which contribute towards its significance whether that be its buildings, open

spaces, street pattern, traditions or associations with notable people or

events. The Planning Policy Statement issued by the Department for

Communities and Local Government (PPS5 2010) makes it clear that

planning decisions should be based on the heritage significance of an asset

and the impact of any proposals on that significance. This section of the

Conservation Management Plan is therefore very important in dealing with

how the town centre fringe should be developed in future.

Issues, Policies and Management (volume 2)

In terms of looking at the issues affecting significance, the Plan has aimed to

provide a general, unbiased assessment of the current factors influencing the



various aspects of each character area. It does not specifically set out to

address the current regeneration proposals, or provide the type of detailed

assessment that would be needed to support a planning application. For

ease of use, the area has been divided into zones when considering

management options; within each zone there are areas of distinctive

character with different management issues. In order to maintain that local

distinctiveness the management recommendations may be specific to

individual character areas, but there are some issues which run through the

whole area. These issues and management recommendations are contained

within volume two.

The Team

In compiling the Plan a team of key specialists were consulted including the

Conservation Team of Darlington Borough Council, the Darlington Historical

Society and The Friends of the Head of Steam Museum. Additional

consultation has taken place with Urban Splash, English Heritage, The

Environment Agency and the Department of Culture Media and Sport (re

World Heritage Site status). The Conservation Management Plan was

compiled by Archaeo-Environment after a wider programme of consultation

open to residents and businesses in the town centre fringe.



Figure 1. The town centre fringe outlined in green. This is the area covered by this conservation

management plan



2.0 Historic Background: Understanding the Town Centre Fringe

Darlington before the 19th century.

From the end of the last ice-age around 10,000 years ago, the presence of

the river Skerne was vital in establishing whether settlement here would be

desirable or successful. The river provided an abundance of resources such

as fish, bird life and reeds and it was later to be used as a source of power for

mills in the 19th century.

While the land in the wider area around the Skerne was well drained and

fertile making it attractive to settlers, immediately adjacent to the river it was

waterlogged and so settlement was restricted to the higher river terraces such

as that excavated in the Market Place (HER 4000)2 and was normally

seasonally occupied. The earlier river bed was wider and a little to the east of

where it is today and settlement grew up at a point where the river could be

crossed and on a river terrace (equivalent to High Row, Bondgate and

Skinnergate) above and to the west of the Skerne to reduce the threat from

flooding (Cookson 2003, 3). Research into other early settlements (Hardie

and Hammond 2007, 35-6) has shown that such positions on a terrace above

a floodplain and at the junction of a tributary stream with its main river, was

the most popular location for growing settlements from prehistoric times until

industrialisation shifted the criteria away from the need for water.

Some evidence of early settlement has also been found in the suburbs, but

evidence is not plentiful. Evidence for a more permanent form of settlement

can be found at Faverdale (HER 5959) dating to about 2,000 years ago, but

2 Any HER references in this report refer to the Historic Environment Record which is a record of sites

of historic environment interest held by Durham County Council. A publicly accessible version of this

record can be found at www.keystothepast.info.



the main focus of Roman settlement was probably at Piercebridge, not

Darlington. However in 1903 an ‘ancient bridge’ was found underground in

Garden Street (date unknown) and in 1904 a bronze Roman coin dating from

the reign of Tiberius, was found in the same street (Lloyd, Echo Memories

5.8.1994). The bridge would have been on the route of the river before it was

canalised and could be of any date before the 19th century; the Roman coin

may simply be a stray find, dropped by anyone in the last 2,000 years and

may not in itself be an indicator of Roman activity in this area.

The real origins of the present day town do not start until Anglo-Saxon times

with a settlement known as 'Dearthingtun' in 1050 or 'Dearnington', possibly

coming from 'Derning' (Watts 2002, 33), which may have been an Old English

name for the River Skerne or a personal name, such as Dēornōp, of an early

inhabitant (Ekwall 1987, 139). An Anglian cemetery dating to the 5th to 6th

centuries AD was found at Greenbank on the margins of the town centre

fringe in 1876 supporting evidence of early medieval settlement in this area,

but other early medieval evidence in the area is some centuries later.

It has been suggested that Darlington may have been an Anglian burgh – a

fortified town. Wooler stated that this burgh was:

“protected by a ditch and rampart of earth surmounted by a wooden stockade

formed of one or two rows of stout palisades, pointed at the top and fixed

deeply in the ground” (Wooler & Boyd 1913, 43-45).

He maintained that these boundary defences extended west from the River

Skerne (which formed the eastern boundary), along East Street, crossing

Northgate and turning south at Union Street. The western boundary continued

south through properties between Skinnergate and High Row, crossing

Blackwellgate and Houndgate, and turning east at the rear of No 37

Blackwellgate (Post Office). The course of the ditch followed a route roughly

parallel with Beaumont Street back to the river (see Figure 2).



No evidence of such a defensive system has ever been found but evidence

has been found of an Anglian settlement around St Cuthbert’s church. While

the church did not exist in its present form, the area was the focus of a late

10th or early 11th century cemetery and gravestones have been found which

suggest that the local populace was part Scandinavian. Indeed in the early

11th century the town of Darlington was given to the Bishop of Durham by the

Viking nobleman Styr, son of Ulf, suggesting that it was the Vikings who held

the power in the town at that time. Carved stone crosses have also been

located here suggesting that it was some sort of spiritual centre for the

settlement by the 10th century.

St Cuthbert’s remained the focus of settlement throughout medieval times. By

the 12th century the town had the bishop’s corn mill on the west bank of the

Skerne, north of the church (Cookson 2003, 29). The course of the mill race

was already so well established that it was used as the boundary for the

borough, suggesting that the mill pre-dated the borough’s foundation. The

Skerne also supported other mills at Haughton and Blackwell in the 12th

century and other mills were later constructed in the town one of which was

maintained by the tenants of Bondgate (ibid).

The existence of an early cloth making industry is shown by references in the

Boldon Book of 1183 to the presence of dyers. It was also an important

trading centre, and goods such as wine, salt and herrings were bought and

sold here. All of this remained in the ownership of the Bishop who had a

residence here, built in 1164, and the tenants of the Bishop’s land which

extended throughout the north of England and parts of Northumberland all

had duties to provide both for the Bishop on his journeys and to farm his land.

The borough of Darlington may have been an administrative creation by the

bishops to enhance an already important settlement in the 11-12th century.



‘In Darlington there are 48 bovates3 which the villeins4 hold as much by old

villain tenure as by new, and they pay 5s for each bovate, and they ought to

mow the whole meadow of the Bishop, and make and lead the hay and to

receive subsistence once, and enclose the copse and the court and do the

works they were accustomed to do at the mill, and for each bovate to carry 1

cart-load of wood and carry loads on the Bishop’s journeys, and in addition 3

loads a year for transporting wine, herring and salt.’ (Boldon Book)

Medieval Darlington grew out from the market place with properties on three

sides and St. Cuthbert’s church on the fourth. The Market Place formed the

junction of the roads into and out of the town. The plan form followed a typical

street pattern with burgage plots and street fronted properties. Narrow lanes

ran along burgage plot boundaries to back lanes and beyond lay agricultural

land and Bondgate.

Bondgate, close to the 5th to 7th century Anglian cemetery discovered on

Greenbank Road, may have evolved as an earlier settlement or more likely as

a suburb to the main town laid out in the 12th to 14th centuries and with its own

administration. Bondgate grew as a two row settlement of bond holdings5

facing a green which survives in the street name today. This plan form is

typical of villages in the 11th century onwards and has parallels in other

northern towns such as West Auckland, Bishop Auckland, Staindrop and

Sedgefield.

3 Bovate Derived from the Latin word bo, meaning ox, a bovate was a measure of land which

could be ploughed by one eighth of a plough; this varied depending on the land but in Darlington was about 15 acres. 4 The wealthiest class of peasant, they usually cultivated 20-40 acres of land, often in isolated

strips. They were required to carry out a range of duties as part of their tenancy, such as spending a specified number of days ploughing the bishop’s land or providing eggs for particular feasts 5 Where bondsmen lived who were bound to the land and required to work without payment



‘This is a Little Market town, the Market day was on Munday wch was the day I

passed through it: it was a great Market of all things, a great quantety of

Cattle of all sorts but mostly Beeves6- it seems once in a fortnight its much

fuller.’ Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour Durham to Shropshire

Figure 2. 1850s public health map showing the street pattern of Bondgate. This is a typically medieval street pattern of long burgage plots extending from a wide market place or village green. The long plots are still discernable running from the west of the market place and at this time Archer Street and Temperance have been developed along the plot boundaries. The plot boundaries on the east side are more complex to accommodate the widening of the market place or green and then to meet the borough boundaries at Skinnergate.

The pattern of development within Darlington rarely extended over the

borough boundary before the 18th century. Indeed by the late 18th century,

development within Darlington was still almost entirely within this boundary

and St Cuthbert’s church spire still dominated the skyline. The streets were of

‘princely width’ and trees and gardens in the town centre added to the

generally spacious and pleasant surroundings (Cookson 2003, 59). The

Skerne may have fed a number of mills, but rushes grew ‘luxuriantly’ in the

water and were ‘harvested for conversion into matting and chair seats’ and

dried on a hedgerow near the road to Cockerton. Across the Skerne towards

what was later to become Park Place was the Bishop’s Park and Feetham’s

which consisted of open fields with a tithe barn in the 15th century (Longstaffe

1854, ciii) where dues were collected and stored for the bishop as rent. The

common fields for the mainly agricultural residents were located on the east

side of the Skerne.

6 Beef cattle



‘Darnton! I think it is Darnton I’t dirt.’

James I, King of Scotland and England in 1617 on visiting Darlington

The early 19th century saw new civic buildings being constructed within the

town and an Act of Parliament was obtained to improve paving, cleansing and

lighting in the central area in 1823. The process of expanding beyond the

borough boundary was slow and hesitant and the result of a number of

factors.

The earliest development outside the borough boundary was in the form of

villas, constructed from the late 18th century, such as Polam Hall in 17807,

West Lodge at about the same time, Elmfield off Northgate in the early 19th

century and Greenbank. Within what was to become the town centre fringe,

East Mount was built about 1832 above Freeman’s Place and this was the

only villa to be constructed at that time on the east side of the Skerne (ibid,

65).

The choice of Darlington for a number of Quaker families as their home in the

1700s was to have significant implications for Darlington’s growth post 1800.

Debarred from many professions, Quaker talents were channelled into

commerce and banking where they prospered and gained an influence out of

all proportion to their numbers (Flynn 1983, 1) In particular the Pease family

were to become major landowners and entrepreneurs who were able to

withhold or release land for development as they saw fit. Most Quaker houses

were outside the town centre fringe - the Backhouses lived at Polam Hall;

Joseph Pease at Feethams, close to the Market Place; his son John

Beaumont Pease at North Lodge. Brinkburn, Woodburn, Elm Ridge,

Hummersknott and Mowden Hall were all built for Quakers.

7 Polam was known as Polumpole in the 12

th century



Figure 3. The extent of development in Darlington in the 1850s (Public Health Map). Development is underway along Northgate and Hopetown and there is some development east of the river Skerne along Yarm Road and on the former parkland of the Bishops. However Bank Top and Polam remain rural (the land around Polam (Powlam) Hall is clearly depicted as a designed landscape showing typical 18

th century layout in tree cover.

They were also pioneers of the railway age, foremost of which was Edward

Pease, born in Darlington in 1767. Like his father he joined the wool trade,

and during his time buying and selling wool he realised that there was a need

for a railway to carry coal from the collieries of West Durham to the port of

Stockton. Pease and a group of businessmen formed the Stockton &

Darlington Railway Company in 1821. On 19th April 1821 the Stockton &

Darlington Railway Act was passed to allow the company to build a horse-



drawn railway that would link West Durham, Darlington and the River Tees at

Stockton.

Pease’s home from 1798, which was in the town centre fringe at 138-148

Northgate, was a plain three storied 18th century house with a garden running

down to the Skerne where it joined the grounds of East Mount, home of his

eldest son John from 1838. A rustic bridge led over the stream to an orchard

(VCH 87) and this valley was nick-named the Peaceful Valley (Pease-full).

The Quakers had a particular fondness for gardening and Pease’s garden

was renowned for its orchards, vinery and gardens. Sadly the only hint that

the garden ever existed today is in the name of Garden Street which once

formed the north boundary of the garden. The house of Edward Pease has

survived but is hidden behind later shop fronts and additions (plate 1 and 2).

George Stephenson met with Pease at the latter’s home in Northgate (see

plates 1 and 2) and persuaded him to use steam powered locomotives on the

railway, when all previous discussions had involved using horse-power.

Stephenson also convinced Pease that the locomotive should run on rails

raised above the ground rather than tram tracks set into the ground. These

two factors (especially the first) separated the Stockton & Darlington Railway

from all the other colliery railways and changed the history of Darlington, the

North East, and the world. Pease had been so impressed with Stephenson

that he gave him the post of Chief Engineer of the Stockton & Darlington

Company. Following intense lobbying, a second Act of Parliament was

passed to allow the company ‘to make and erect locomotives or moveable

engines’. This led to the world changing introduction of the railway starting

with the Stockton & Darlington Railway. While the railway was to change the

face of the world, it was to take a little longer to change the face of Darlington

with development associated with the new railway works largely restricted to

the station area and north around Albert Hill and beyond the town centre

fringe.



Plate 1. Edward Pease’s home on Northgate. By the 1930s the grand classical façade had been divided up at ground level with shop fronts and a tiled façade added to one bay in 1907.

Plate 2. The large classical building which sits behind the shops is now barely discernable amongst the shop fronts and individual decorative schemes.



However the presence of the station, the need to engineer and manufacture

railway and locomotion goods, encouraged other industry into the area,

including the iron industry. The burgeoning industries needed workers and

workers needed houses, shops and entertainment and the most obvious

place to start developing was the land between the borough and the railway

line. This coincided with an increasing unacceptability of wealthy families

living cheek by jowl with poorer families and by the mid 19th century the

Quaker families moved out towards the countryside and the town centre fringe

became dominated by yards, back to backs, back and fronts, terraces of all

descriptions and civic buildings. The larger Quaker residences were divided

up and the plots sold for development. Thus Elmfield was developed from

1855 with swimming baths and a new street (Kendrew Street),8 followed later

with Elmfield Terrace and Gladstone Street within the town centre fringe area

while the reminder became North Lodge Park. It was from this period of

growth that the present day character of the town centre fringe with its

distinctive skyline of spires and clock towers was derived.

Development within the Study Area

Development in what was to become the town centre fringe had a hesitant

start. A few 18th century houses appeared in Bondgate and Northgate as part

of the town’s growing affluence resulting from the Quaker owned woollen and

linen industries (Pevsner 1990, 140). These were large villas and John

Wood’s later map of 1826 shows the villas on Northgate with long gardens

extending down to the river.

8 Named after John Kendrew who was a weaver who lived in this area as a child. He adapted the

Spinning Jenny for the spinning of flax for linen and also invented a machine for polishing optical

glasses.



Figure 4. An extract from John Wood’s map of 1826 showing Northgate and the position of villas along the main road with long gardens extending down to the river

Smaller cobble houses also grew along Northgate opposite Pease’s villa; their

appearance anything from 17th – early 19th century in date and several old

(17th century?) cottages on Bondgate with steeply pitched pantile roofs

survived until the 1850s. By 1826, much of the land around Bondgate still

consisted of orchards or fields. East Mount, another Pease residence, was

built in 1832 (VCH 65).

‘The old cottages opposite the house of Edward Pease esq., in Northgate,

close to the great boulder stone, were known as “Darlington House,” ending

the town to the north. Now in that and all directions, handsome villas and

spreading gardens extend themselves, stretching from Bondgate to

Northgate, and from Northgate to Haughton Road: a belt of countrified farm

land intervenes: but near the church they again begin , covering the Skerne’s

deep holmes, and insinuating themselves to its bank tops’.

Longstaffe 1909, 338 (originally printed in 1854)



In 1826, streets between Northgate and Bondgate were developed for

commercial use. Commercial Street (just outside the study area) developed

from what had been Kendrew’s market gardens and became a mixture of

business and residential uses from 1826 and is one of the town centre fringe’s

earliest streets. Kendrew was developed on a former market garden by John

Kendrew and was a combined business and residential area from the start. It

had a different character from the older shops and houses on the Market

Place and main road (VCH 65). King, Queen and Union Streets were laid out

before 1820.

‘Between King Street and Queen Street, where the houses stood back-to-

back, were open middens which served the houses on either side; into these

middens went everything that wasn’t wanted’.

Cookson 2003, 66 (Nicolson Boys o’ Bondgate)

The growth of the railway facilities was hesitant and carried out through a

process of trial and error at a time where there was no precedence and no

acquired knowledge to guide the process. The town’s first station was

established on farm land along Northgate, east of where the railway crossed

the main road from Darlington to Durham in 1827. It was primarily a goods

station and continued to function as such until 1833 when it was adapted for

passenger use and partially converted into a house and a shop. Until then,

passengers were expected to stand by the line and wait on trains in the same

way that they would wait on a carriage. Goods traffic was then directed to a

new building from 1833 called the ‘Merchandise Station’ along with new

offices built in 1840. A new station was constructed in 1841 as the passenger

station at Northgate was considered inadequate and it was this station that

became North Road station and is now the Head of Steam Museum. Its

original approach was along what is now called McNay Street (after Thomas

McNay the S&DR’s Engineer and Secretary). The large open green spaces

between North Road station and the Hopetown Carriageworks built in 1853



were allotments in the 1850s adding some continuity to its function as open

green space today.

Development of the wider North Road area instigated by the presence of the

railway began in 1831 when Kitching’s relocated their iron foundry from

Tubwell Row in the town centre to the station area and acquired the role as

the S&DRs locomotive works for Darlington (Darlington Borough Council

2006, 6). The foundry was partially demolished in 1870-1895 to make room

for more sidings possibly as part of the Royal Agricultural Show held in

Darlington in 1895 (DBC 2006, 11)

No.s 69-81 High Northgate were the first railway properties to be built in the

town c.1825. The construction of the lime cells, sometime between 1840-55,

on Hopetown Lane on the coal yard branch line (now fossilised as part of

Station Road and Hopetown Lane) may have been indicative of the

development boom which was about to take place around the station. The

lime cells stored lime imported by train and made available for collection from

Hopetown Lane for builders requiring it to provide lime mortar for the many

new houses that were being constructed.

The Cocker Beck Valley was initially developed sometime before 1835 as

large and beautiful gardens with intersecting walks, a pond and a temple by

Henry Pease (unkindly known as Henry’s folly’ by his father, but more kindly,

if less imaginatively as Westbrook gardens).

The creation of Bank Top station in 1842, albeit rather badly served by sheds

rather than a station proper, triggered development of streets of houses all

around the station. Longstaffe in 1854 saw Bank Top as a new town

‘gradually arising on the east of the Skerne’. Initially it was a railway colony, its

church first established in a converted railway warehouse.



Then and Now…

Plate 3. Bank Top station in the 1950s

Plate 4. Bank Top station in 2010

After the discovery of new mineral deposits in Cleveland in 1851 came a

major expansion of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. A decision was

taken to enlarge and relocate the railway’s locomotive works, from Shildon,



where they had been established in 1826, to Darlington. The new works, north

of the old station, opened in 1862. This decision in turn attracted a number of

iron related firms including the Darlington Forge; the first of four businesses to

locate at Albert Hill (outside the study area) between 1854 and 1864. The

demand for workers was to encourage inward migration and an explosion in

house building leading to the creation of the industrial suburbs, part of which

form the town centre fringe today. In the 20 years to 1881 the population more

than doubled and the townscape was transformed by industrial suburbs, many

of which were within the town centre fringe. By 1898 North Road station had

become surrounded by terraced housing, largely associated with the North

Road Shops (outside the town centre fringe). However the green space

between the station and the carriage works was only ever developed as

allotments and then sidings and has never been used for housing. By 1901

there were more than 42,000 people living in the town, nine times the number

of a century earlier (Cookson 2003,102).



3.0 The Built Form

Early Days

Evidence suggests that one of the earliest buildings in the town centre fringe

was the Bishop’s Manor House, described by Leland in the 16th century as a

‘pretty place’ (Flynn 1994, pl 115). This stood on the site of the present day

town hall car park. It was built in the 12th century and had become ruinous by

the 17th century, but was restored by Bishop Cosin. It was neglected again

and became the town’s poor house in the 18th century. The town bought the

building in 1806 and added two wings and a pediment to the centre, creating

a more classical façade to the front in keeping with architectural fashions of

the time. With such a long history, it represented a number of changing

architectural traditions and by 1834 the building was said to retain ‘many

traces of antiquity in its low arches, thick walls and long passages’ (ibid). It

was a long building with windows of all periods from medieval to the 18th

century including three lancets on the street front, possibly the location of the

bishop’s chapel. Ironically the Gothic arches were to become fashionable

again in the mid Victorian period with architects such as Waterhouse and GG

Hoskins designing new buildings with similar arched windows and doorways.

Next to the Palace was The Deanery which stood at the corner of

Horsemarket and Feetham’s. This was a half timbered structure and

represents a more typical building form of medieval urban areas. It was

demolished in 1876.



Plate 5. The Bishop’s Manor House in the late 18

th century (Darlington

Centre for Local Studies)

Early photographs of the town centre fringe area, often featuring the Bulmer

Stone, depict old two storey cobblestone buildings on the site of what is now

the technical college on Northgate, known at the time collectively as

Darlington House. Such buildings were commonly built in the 17th to early 19th

centuries of river cobbles or random rubble stonework, the surface

whitewashed which helped to weatherproof the structure and acted as a

fungicide and pesticide. They had thatched roofs, the thatch perhaps being

obtained locally from the riverbanks of the Skerne. Windows appeared to be

small multi pane sashes, possibly Yorkshire sliding sashes and doors of

simple batten and ledge type.

Small 16th century cottages also existed on Bondgate and were shown on

postcards in 1853 (Flynn 1994, pl 62). These two storied buildings had steeply

pitched pantiled roofs, which may have been thatched in the past, with the

upper windows tucked immediately below them. They were demolished in

1854.



Plate 6. Weavers’ cottages which belonged to Edward Pease. They were demolished in 1895 to make way for the Technical College. Although they are referred to as Weaver’s Cottages, they lack the distinctive row of windows which allowed as much natural light in as possible.

The earliest buildings within the town centre fringe which are still extant are

the early 19th century late Georgian edge-of-town villas such as 138-148

Northgate. These early villas display neo-classical styles of architecture based

on the Georgian ideal of ancient civilisation and learning; ideas on

architecture originally brought back to this country by architects such as Inigo

Jones in the 17th century and popularised in the second half of the 18th

century by the wealthy classes returning from their Grand Tour of Europe and

adapting the styles for domestic and civic architecture; the style remained

popular until the mid 19th century. This can be seen in the simple facades with

pediments such as that found at Edward Peases house on Northgate (see

plates 1 and 2), but this particular pediment may be a later addition of 1866

(C. McNab pers comm. 11.7.10). However at its peak, this style was 18th and

early 19th century and so is for the most part associated with the earlier

historic core of Darlington and not the town centre fringe.

A small enclave of early development took place at High Northgate on both

sides of the road. The terraced houses now known as no.s 69-81 were built

c.1820 and are now much altered with modern replacement windows and a

mixture of property boundaries to the street front. The end terrace on the



corner of Station Road is perhaps the best not having been masked under a

layer of render and still retaining its kneeler on its southern gable. By 1850

when the first edition Ordnance Survey map was published, another row of

terraces were in place opposite what is now Station Road. These buildings

today have been recently improved with replacement render and paintwork,

but still retain inappropriate modern windows. They render is probably not part

of the original design.

There are some surprising survivals; 12 High Northgate is a little shop with

two 12 pane bow windows. Such windows often date to about 1830, but this

row of terraces were not built until after 1850, but before the 1890s. The

windows may have been moved here from another building, simply be a late

example or are more recently built using old fashioned styles (the glazing bars

are quite crude and thick for the mid 19th century). Whatever their date they

are quite a rarity in the town, albeit hidden behind fridges and freezers with

massive metal shutters to protect them at night. From 1825 onwards, homes

of the senior railway management and skilled railway workers were

constructed at North Lodge and at Westbrook Villas, both middle class

enclaves now outside the study area.

Plate 7. Darlington hides its historic assets well. Edward Pease’s house should be celebrated for its role in changing the face of the world, but instead its tawdry appearance and poor shop fronts contribute towards the general decline of Northgate. Delightful little early to mid 19

th

century bow windows with rather crude glazing bars hide behind fridges and freezers on High Northgate.



The pendulum of fashion swung away from such foreign styles of architecture

in the mid to late 19th century in favour of design which was inspired by the

British historic traditions of medieval, Tudor and Jacobean times. This was to

give rise to the neo-Gothic style of architecture, with increasing ornamentation

which was a reaction to the plain symmetrical facades of the Georgian period

and so door lintels and jambs were carved, shop fronts ornamented, barge

boards and tall gables created to produce a Gothic appearance made

possible by the lighter Welsh slate which found favour over the stone slate

roof.

The Westbrook Villas just outside the study

area are an excellent example of this neo

Gothic style of architecture which was

promoted by at least two of Darlington’s

finest talents – GG Hoskins (responsible for

what is now Barclays Bank on High Row)

and Robert Borrowdale, responsible for

some of the Westbrook Villas, Melville

House and 1 Leadenhall Street. Tall

chimneys and steeply pitched gables with

vents and stone leaf finials combined with

the ornate stonework, such as flower stops

to hood moulding over windows and cast iron rain water goods were the

ultimate rejection of classical styles and a Victorian celebration of English

Tudor and Jacobean architectural traditions. Such ornate styles can be seen

on Victoria Road opposite Sainsbury’s and in a more restrained way on High

Northgate where otherwise plain buildings (as much as one can tell given that

they are plastered beneath cement render), have windows with pointed

arches rather than the earlier classical arch or the simpler rectangular sash

window.

Plate 8. A neo-Gothic extravaganza at Westbrook Gardens



Shop Fronts

Many 19th century buildings along the

major thoroughfares such as Northgate

and Bondgate are predominantly shops

or offices today. Some of these may

have had ornate Victorian shop fronts,

but areas such as Parkgate and Victoria

Road may have had more early 20th

century shop fronts reflecting their later

development. For areas of Victorian

expansion, a shop front may have had

little to distinguish it from adjacent homes. Windows at ground floor level at

least, may have had bay windows originally, and a greater commercialisation

of businesses through prominent window displays, welcoming doorways and

trade signs. Improved glass-making allowed larger windows mainly from the

1830s in Darlington, and so a number of multi-paned windows were replaced

with larger plate glass windows. The 1830s also saw the introduction of

retractable blinds and gas lighting to shop fronts. By the mid-19th century, only

fresh food shops had open fronts. By 1860 every shop front on High Row had

large plate glass windows, but these fashions did not necessarily extend to

the outer reaches of Northgate where shops were likely to be more modest

affairs.

‘In this summer [of 1834] a great change took place in the shops in Darlington.

Large windows became all the fashion. A number of new shops were opened

out this year in consequence of the sale of Allan’s houses; and no sooner

had one shopkeeper put out a large elegant window than his neighbour did

likewise’ (Cookson, 71, quoting Mewburn, Larchfield Diary, 35)

In the late 19th century, shop front styles became more eclectic introducing

new materials, such as terracotta and tiling and these styles can be seen in a

variety of buildings on Victoria Road and Parkgate. Signage became more

flamboyant with cut-out letters, gilding and colourful sign writing. The

Plate 9. Tile detail from the Black Swan pub on Parkgate



Edwardian fashion for transom lights allowed for ventilation grilles and

coloured glass to conceal gas light fittings and in Parkgate green glazed tiles

adorned the Black Swan and the Cricketers Arms. Entrances were recessed

to increase window display areas. As shop fronts became an everyday part of

the high street in the 19th and early 20th centuries, a range of pattern books

were published to provide advice for joiners on their design, construction and

installation. However, they tended to avoid standardised detail in order to

allow for local variations. Shops

became a more integral part of new

buildings in the 20th century. In the

1920s, the use of bronze in window

frames allowed the structural

elements to become elegantly more

slender often accompanied by the

sophistication of polished granite or

marble. Art deco styles in the 1930s

introduced features, such as sunbursts and stepped fascias, and new

materials, such as chrome and vitrolite.

The town centre fringe is perhaps

better associated with the corner shop.

These have evolved from end of

terrace houses and served the local

community; the terraced houses were

once well served by these enterprises

with every few streets having one.

However they have since gone out of

fashion as local residents obtain their

purchases from larger supermarkets. Many now stand empty or have been

returned to residential use. Those that survive have shop front designs

popular since the 1920s and 30s with the distinctive corner doorway.

Plate 10. Early 20th century shop front detail

on Parkgate

Plate 11. A surviving corner shop on Northgate



Since the mid-20th century, modern architecture has minimised the design

detail of shop fronts. Float glass became available in large sheets from 1959

and frameless jointing techniques have made most of the structural elements

unnecessary, leading to large glass fronts such as can be found in Northgate.

In the 1970s air curtain technology imported from America enabled some

shops to operate without a shopfront other than folding doors for the night-

time, but none of these have been used in the town centre fringe. However,

there are signs nationally that sustainability issues and rising fuel cost are

forcing a return to more traditional forms of shop front.

19th century Domestic Architecture

Most of the surviving housing in the

town centre fringe takes the form of the

Victorian and Edwardian terraced

house, but there were other forms,

mostly now demolished. Housing was

crammed into small plots around a

courtyard such as Catterick Yard (now

below the ring road) and George’s

Square in Bridge Street (True North Books 1998, 76) and the back to backs,

only one room deep and backing on to an identical row behind. These were

where some of the poorest families lived, often in overcrowded conditions. A

stand pipe in the centre of the yard provided a water supply and privies and

wash houses were located in the yard, but with overcrowding the privies

overflowed and seeped back into the fresh water supply. These yards were

mostly demolished after World War II and alternative housing provided in

council houses, prefabs and high rises and remaining examples were

demolished when the ring road was built.

When the Greenbank Estates were developed (Greenbank Road forms a

western boundary to the town centre fringe) a new style of house was

designed thought to be unique to Darlington; this was the ‘back and front

Plate 12. The yards behind Archer Street in the 1930s



house’. They differed from back to backs in having both a back and front door

linked by a long passage (Cookson 2003, 90). However for many people the

standard of living improved between the beginning of Victoria’s reign and the

end with an expectation not of a family in one room, but of a two up two down

terraced house.

The term ‘jerry-built’ appears in Victorian times from 1869 and describes poor

quality housing put up too quickly, with too few materials and not built to last

examples of which in the town centre fringe have long been demolished.

The external design of the domestic terrace house relies on the relinquishing

of individual expressions of taste in return for a uniformity of window and door

styles which create pleasing lines and harmonious facades. Much of this has

been lost throughout the town centre fringe today, even though some planning

restrictions were imposed at an early stage. Just to the north of the study

area, former Allen Estates land around Albert Hill was sold with a covenant

requiring some uniformity in size, quality and use of buildings including the

use of Westmoreland slate on roofs (Cookson, 76).

The basic terraced house was a successful design which has proven its worth

many times over. For the most part it was high density housing using mostly

local materials; a possible template for today. Most houses started as two up

and two down, although most have been extended to the rear since their

original construction. A small back yard contained a privy and a coal shed.

Two doors in the back wall led to a back lane, floored with scoria blocks from

Middlesbrough. One door was for the coalman to deliver coal through from his

cart (straight from the railway depot near Northgate) and the other was so that

the night soil could be collected, also by cart. The back lane was also a

meeting place, a chance to stop and chat and a place to hang out the washing

on wash day (not the same as coal day!). Being out of sight, the back lane

was presumably also used for activities that required some discretion. It is

also from this back lane that the backs of the houses can still be observed.



Often without the ornamentation of the fronts, the backs still display tall

arched stair light windows where they were fitted, or a jumble of roof lines

where houses were extended into the rear in later years and the occasional

forgotten sash window.

Plate 13. The back views of terraces provide an eclectic mix of roof lines and extensions which display the archaeology of development

The northern end of Northgate and along High Northgate includes railway

related housing including the earliest examples at 69-81 High Northgate, and

the tightly-packed terraces on Stephenson Street. 69-81High Northgate, set

well back from the road, display architectural styles which are transitional

between late Georgian and Victorian periods with kneelers, small hand made

bricks with stone lintels over windows, 12 pane sash windows, wide doorways

and rectangular overlights with glazing bars, mostly now gone. Opposite,

humbler terraced houses were laid out before 1850 and these were street

fronted and very plain. Further along Northgate, terraces reflect the next stage

of Victorian middle class designs. Doorways are set up a flight of steps (this

allows for cellar room too) and are surrounded by ornate designs; in this case

Ionic columns or ornate consoles. The houses are set a little back from the

road with small gardens and boundaries are formed by dwarf stone walls and

railings.



A later infill at the north end of this terrace is reputedly the former location of a

railway signal, possibly a crossing point associated with the very early days of

train travel where a branch line met the main line (C. Fish pers comm.). On

the first edition map dating to 1850 there is no development here but there is

a guide post9 just to the north where McNay Street was laid out. The gap

between the houses10 is clearly discernable on the 2nd edition OS map dating

to the 1890s, but no railway line is apparent.

The status of the residents was displayed through a variety of means. An

ornate doorway and window lintels could attract a higher rent. A small patch of

garden, bounded by a dwarf wall and railings, no matter how small

distinguished these houses from straight forward street fronted properties.

Steps leading up to the front door displayed additional wealth and superiority.

The overall effect was mostly pleasing, but in some rows of terraces the levels

of ornamentation today appears rather ostentatious for the humble dwelling

behind it, for example a row of terraces

on Haughton Road. The reason for this

can be found in the way that houses

were built. Property developers were

often builders, stonemasons or joiners

who could only afford to buy a few

plots for development. Their profit

margins were tight and so they played

safe with their borrowed funds and

chose well-established and popular

forms and ordered period features often of inappropriate proportions, with little

understanding of the style they sought to imitate. However with the addition of

a couple of highly ornate door consoles, even if they did not quite fit, the

builder could attract more potential customers and a higher rent. This

9 NGR 428999 515589

10 NGR 429011 515576

Plate 14. Mid to late 19th century terraced

houses on High Northgate; the pink infill building reputedly marks the site of a former railway signal



speculative build can be seen on streets such as East Mount Road and

throughout the Bank Top area where part of the row conforms to one design,

then the ornamentation alters for a group of houses creating a new style, then

it alters again, but always based on the two storeyed terrace house of brick.

Each group represents a particular speculative enterprise by a small scale

developer.

Middle class terraces had a number of

distinguishing features that raised

them architecturally above the worker’s

housing. Park Place, Model Place

(now demolished) and Swan Street in

the Bank Top area housed skilled

manual workers such as textile factory

mechanics, a master builder and a

railway inspector in the 1871 census.

Hargreave Terrace, still under developed by 1871 housed a railway clerk, a

master stonemason and master hatter (Cookson 2003, 82). A row of terraces

along East Mount Road (dating to the opening years of the 20th century) have

fantastically ornate doorways with Corinthian columns, a stone plaque proudly

boasting the street name, glazed brick detailing and entrances set back from

the road with a few steps to the front door, just enough to create an imposing,

but nevertheless welcoming entrance for the visitor. Similar styles are also to

be found along part of Haughton Road.

Plate 16. Ostentatious doorways: East Mount Road (left and second left), Haughton Road (centre right) and Montrose Terrace (right). These doorways all display the appearance of having off-the-peg decorative additions designed to attract ‘better class’ customers by a speculative builder. Sadly few of the doors themselves are original designs and now detract from the fine surrounds

Plate 15. 101 High Northgate with a six panel door and classical style which reflects earlier Georgian fashions



Such signs of ostentation were rarely included in the lower status houses

such as those to be found along Dundee Street or Stephenson Street for

example. Here the door fronted directly on to the road, doorways and

windows were simple, but still displayed a degree of off-the-peg craftsmanship

with ornate window mullions carved with pretty designs, and brickwork which

picked out some detailing at the very least at below eaves level, but often

using coloured or glazed brick to pick out patterns which lightened the

elevations and drew the eye along the terrace.

Around Bank Top Station rows of brick terraces were constructed for workers

housing with the end terraces offering more space and privacy designed for

the foremen. Brick detailing below eaves level matched that to be found on

the railway buildings themselves bringing a coherent whole to the area.

Much of this detailing has been lost in the town centre fringe through the use

of pebble dash coating and replacement windows in a variety of styles leading

to a loss of uniformity which was key to their design. Where railings were used

in those houses which were set back even a modest distance from the street,

the metal work has now disappeared, presumably due to the war effort, but

original examples can still be found in most areas, particularly in the boundary

wall between the properties.

Plate 17. Montrose Terrace gently curves to form a crescent but it has lost its original harmony created by matching brick facades with the same brick detailing and the same window and door styles now hidden behind render and pebble-dash (colours would always have varied).

The predominant street

pattern for the terraced

houses was based on a grid which complimented the rows of terraces and

allowed a high density of buildings to be fitted into a small area and allowed



the best use of space through shared access to the rear. Some rows such as

at Hargreave Terrace and Montrose Terrace were based on a crescent, but

they were very much in a minority.

The design of the terraced house was adaptable, with many being converted

into corner shops serving the local community. In such cases, the ground floor

windows were opened up (this may have been part of the original design in

many cases) in order to create a shop front suitable for displaying wares.

Terraces could be extended to the rear or knocked together. Attics could have

dormer windows added, often with decorative barge boarding and additional

accommodation thus provided.

Railway Architecture

The character of the built form associated with the railway was of course very

different to the domestic architecture which housed its workers. The first

station, now demolished, was on two storeys as all early goods stations were

(see Liverpool Road in Manchester). This arrangement was impractical and

so the new station, designed by Thomas Storey, was built on one level. North

Road Railway Station and related infrastructure from the early 19th century

included rail sheds, workshops and bridges some of which survives today.

The stone station was designed in a neo-classical style still favoured in the

early 19th century and also apparent at Edward Pease’s house on Northgate.

This formal and expensive style was designed to reflect the station’s main

users; prosperous merchants (DBC 2006, 18). Harris designed an even more

flamboyant Goods Agent’s Offices in 1840 reflecting the continued importance

of that sector to the economic prosperity of the railway company. Like the

North Road station, it was built in stone and was ornamented with stone

ashlar pilasters at the corners and dressed stone door and window surrounds.

The pyramidal roof with central chimney stack, the openings with segmental

heads and over hanging eaves all give a slightly Italianate flavour (DBC 2006,

25).



Kitching’s Foundry has long been demolished but was designed in a later

style with point arched windows of the neo Gothic fashions. However much of

the original railway architecture is under threat from neglect or from the

difficulty of finding new uses for the old buildings. North Road railway station

is in excellent condition having the been the subject of conservation and

renovation, however the carriage works sheds associated with it are in poor

condition, while much of the railway infrastructure has been lost. The lime

cells are relatively intact, with only the timber façade having been added. The

basic layout and the evidence for how they functioned can still be discerned.

The tall archways show where the trains arrived and exited with their lime

ready to deposit it through trap doors to the floor below and inside the timbers

which supported the rails are still extant (Wimbury pers comm.).

Plate 18. The lime cells on Hopetown Lane

Clocks became an important part of the street scene once the rail network

was established. Time keeping had previously been localised with as much as

half an hour between east and west England and as long as mail coaches

were relatively slow, the driver could simply make adjustments to his time



piece as he travelled from one town to the next. From the start, some railway

companies used "London" time, while others used local time. Trains travelling

east to west appeared to be travelling slower than the return journey, west to

east, which caused many problems with timetabling. At the stations of railway

companies that used London time, the railway time could be quite different to

local time, with all sorts of problems of missed trains and connections, in

some places, there were even two minute hands on the public clocks, one

showing local, the other showing London time.11 The process of nationalising

time started in 1836 in Greenwich and between 1840 and 1848, all train

companies gradually moved towards using Greenwich time with the use of

national time not being made compulsory by law until 1880. Since 1838, the

S&DR board debated the need for a master clock and so a prominent clock

tower was designed by John Harris when extending North Road station in

1839-40 (DBC 2006, 19). Harris’s clock has long gone, but the clock tower

over the merchandise station can still be seen from considerable distances.

Darlington’s Bank Top Railway Station Tower and the Market Hall with their

clocks still form the iconic image of Darlington today, with the more recent use

of a clock on the Sure Start building next to Northgate Station very much in

this tradition. Just outside the area the clock which timed workers in and out of

the railway works has been reused on Morrison’s supermarket whose

Northgate elevation maintains the appearance of the works. (Wimbury pers

comm.).

Civic Architecture

In contrast to the small scale

domestic architecture of the

town centre fringe, the late 19th

and early 20th century saw a

number of large civic buildings

constructed. These adopted

more flamboyant styles and

imported building materials. At

11

http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/info/railway.htm [accessed 15.4.10]

Plate 19. The ‘imprisoned’ Bulmer Stone (photo courtesy of Don Whitfield)

http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/info/railway.htm



the time there was much local opposition to the building of the Technical

College at the foot of Northgate and even more opposition to the

‘imprisonment’ of the Bulmer Stone behind its railings in 1923. The college

was designed by G.G.Hoskins reflecting earlier styles from Tudor England. It

was made of local red brick with layers of Staffordshire purple brick (McNab

pers comm.) and yellow terracotta decoration. The gables were decorated

with female figures representing the arts and sciences. In 1919 the Higher

Grade School was opened on Gladstone Street with similar Tudor influences,

but without the flamboyant materials. The Darlington Temperance Institute

(designed to provide meeting rooms away from the temptations of drink) also

on Gladstone Street was in a similar style. At the opening ceremony the Earl

of Carlisle reflected what the Institute still partially provides today in terms of

townscape when he said he was glad to see before him ‘a building which will

beautify your town physically as well as morally’.

The pendulum of architectural fashion

swung once again in the early 20th

century; this time rejecting the ornate

fussiness of Victorian neo-Gothic in

favour of more delicately ornamented

1900s (such as the Temperance Hall

and numerous Parkgate buildings) and

subsequently towards the stark simplicity

of the 1930s.

Twentieth Century Architecture

In the 1920s-30s tastes reacted against

this high degree of ornamentation to

produce simpler designs again. New

styles of architecture in Darlington generally lacked local distinctiveness and

increasingly less attention to detail so that by the 1920s and 30s, the buildings

constructed could have been from anywhere in the country. While a lack of

local distinctiveness is regrettable, some of these buildings are of good quality

Plate 20. The former Technical College



and distinctive of their period and so can make a positive contribution to the

townscape. Most bungalows dating to the 1920s and 30s were located in the

leafy suburbs and these are mostly outside the study area. In 1937 the council

built 10 houses for the aged in Hilda Street and these were little bungalows

built of brick and render, set around a cul-de-sac, rather than the traditional

grid pattern of earlier housing. In Lodge Street, Dun and Dunwells purchased

land from the North of England School Furnishing Company (land which had

been in the ownership of the Brown’s, the Fry’s and John Pease before) in

order to build a row of 1930s semi detached houses with sunburst bay

windows and gardens. Their size and layout was different to what had gone

before and required more land than was generally available in areas already

developed in Victorian times, but the materials used still concentrated on brick

with the addition of pebble dashing and render to break up the façade and

railings on dwarf walls to provide a boundary.

Plate 21. Bungalows for the ‘aged’ were built by the council in 1937 on St Hilda’s Street and were part of a move away from terraced housing towards larger plots with gardens, based around a cul-de-sac. The 1930s saw semi detached houses springing up throughout the suburbs but here on Lodge Road they were used as infill amongst existing terraced development. These houses were built by Dunwell who bought a tract of land between here and East Mount for development (C. Fish pers comm.)

The 1930s also produced a style of architecture found in offices, cinemas and

industrial units throughout the study area. These brick built blocks usually had

wide shallow windows with horizontal metal glazing bars with glass doors to

match. Examples can be found along Valley Street and Haughton Road.

Darlington boasted more cinema seats per head of population in 1939 than

any other town in the country (Lloyd undated, 31). Of those, the old Regal on



Northgate (now the Odeon) reflects the styles of the 1930s and the former

Majestic (now a snooker club) on Bondgate, designed by Joshua Clayton of

Darlington in 1932, still harbours 1930s fashions beneath its 1970s facade. Its

interior, (plaster work made by Davidsons of Sunderland), is largely intact and

the façade, with the exception of the ground floor, remains beneath the 1970’s

grill including the stained glass windows with their metal frames. The cinema

is the largest and showiest Art Deco building in Darlington by far and

deserves some effort to restore the original features (I. Dougill pers comm.

(12.7.10)) including its cleverly designed interior lighting which included a

coved ceiling over the balcony with flame effect flounce lighting, the organ

grilles shown in silhouette against a gold background and concealed main

roof lighting which could alter colour and intensity (Darlington & Stockton

Times 24.12.1932).

Plate 22. The Majestic on Bondgate ready for its opening night on Boxing Day 1932

The 1930s also saw the loss of significant historic buildings such as the

cornmill on the Skerne in what is now South Park; a superb assembly of



buildings going back to medieval times and often painted by artists – perhaps

reflecting its similarity to Constable’s Mill on the Stour! (I.Dougill pers comm.

12.7.10).

Then and Now….

Plate 23. A 1930s building (Darlington Electricity in the 1930s) on Haughton Road with its typical low wide windows with horizontal metal glazing bars which contrast with earlier Edwardian and Victorian styles of tall narrow windows in timber. It retains the use of brick with stone detailing however. The old coat of arms pictured in the black and white photo remains boxed-in behind the modern sign and is a splendid piece of coloured tile or faience (I. Dougill pers comm. (12.7.10))

Inevitably the war limited the amount of development that could take place in

Darlington, although air raid shelters were constructed at the railway works

and at schools. A large concrete shelter can still be found on Weavers Yard,

off Weir Street but it has been blocked up to prevent anti-social behaviour and

is now reduced to little more than an eyesore. As a quick and cheap solution

to the post war building problem, Nissen Huts were constructed to house

services, such as cafes and shops on the market place and prefabs used for

houses. They were also used at the Borough Road Industrial Estate where

they can still be seen. It was in the 1950s that construction for housing picked

up again. The styles of housing between the 1930s and 50s did not vary much

due to the general lack of development at that time and post 1940s

development concentrated on 3,000 council houses and homes for heroes.

Nissen Huts were developed by Major Peter Norman Nissen of the 29th

Company Royal Engineers in 1916 with additional help from Lieutenant

Colonels Shelly, Sewell and McDonald, and General Liddell. They went on to



be used in both World Wars and during the post war period. The semi-circular

huts were designed to be economical and portable and one Nissen hut could

be packed in a standard Army wagon and erected by six men in four hours.12

Plate 24. Nissen Huts on the Borough Road Industrial Estate

Development within the town centre

fringe in the mid 20th century did little

to enhance its historic character and

much to divorce the area from the

historic core. The construction of the

ring road created a barrier between the town centre and the rest of Darlington.

This barrier was physical – pedestrians could not easily cross it, and also

perhaps economic and psychological in divorcing town centre and areas of

19th century growth, perhaps ultimately confirmed by the area being referred

to as ‘fringe’.

Large scale development was attracted to the ring road such as the

showrooms of Skippers, later Sanderson Ford, designed by Darlington

architects H B Richardson and completed in 1966. A plaque within the

building identified the precise location as the site of Darlington’s very first

Methodist meeting in 1753. It too has now been demolished; 20th century

architecture appears to have a faster turnover than what went before.

Most of the large scale buildings along the ring road had no design detail

which presented dull uniform facades to the outside world, while the attractive

leafy terraces of Victoria Road were demolished to make way for it. The police

station was built in 1962, the fire station 10 years later and the Royal Mail

house in 1981. A large office bock was also constructed next to the ring road

at the foot of Northgate and completed in 1975 from which date it has spent

much of its life empty. These large blocks of monotony also prevented views

12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissen_hut#History



across to the historic core so that St Cuthbert’s spire and the Market Hall

tower both of which had been visible throughout the town were now hidden

from view. The river which had flowed through the town was at worst buried

beneath concrete and a major roundabout, and at best canalised like a drain,

while the windy open spaces created by ring road, roundabouts, car parks

and large buildings heralded a new era where the car ruled and pedestrians

were channelled underground just like their river.

Then and Now…

Plate 25 Bishops Low Park 1760

Plate 26 Bishop’s Low Park 2010 (Park Lane). The large massing of 20

th century buildings

with no design detail create a physical barrier between the town centre and the town centre fringe



The new Town Hall was officially opened in 1970, designed by Williamson,

Faulkner-Brown of Newcastle upon Tyne and is typical of civic architecture of

its time. The stark simplicity of the main block (or ‘uninviting and monolithic’

(Pevsner 1990, 144)) is in contrast to the ornate Victorian styles of much of

the town centre fringe. However internally expensive materials were used in

the foyer and the council chamber was designed to be relatively luxurious.

The main block was built of grey aggregate with dark grey tinted windows,

apparently intending to compliment the church; indeed the design was a result

of consultation with the Royal Fine Art Commission (VCH 143). Instead it

overwhelms the church and blocks views to it from the south. Its large scale

massing adds to the visual barrier created by a number of mid 20th century

buildings along St Cuthbert’s Way.

It was conceived to be part of a much larger development which would have

included covered shopping malls and a multi-storey car park necessitating the

demolition of the north side of the market place, the demolition of the whole of

Bakehouse Hill and Chantry Lane with only the clock tower being left as a

gesture to the past. The plans were aborted after a change in political control

and a public inquiry call-in over local residents’ vocal concerns. Another

similar plan followed designed by the Borough Architect but these plans were

also dropped after another public inquiry and a review of the listed buildings in

the town centre. The resulting development was the Cornmill Centre where

shops were built behind the retained facades leaving the spatial identity of the

town intact (I.Dougill pers comm. 12.7.10).

The process of reversing these mistakes started in the 21st century. The

construction of street fronted housing on Victoria Road reintroduced a

domestic scale of architecture and partially shielded from view the open

spaces of Sainsbury’s car park. Developments were encouraged to be smaller

in scale along the ring road with more architectural detailing. Shop fronts

which had been lost along Northgate were replaced with support from English

Heritage, One North East and Darlington Borough Council.



Building materials

The majority of buildings in the town centre fringe were constructed of brick. It

is not clear when brick replaced stone as the main building material – Clay

Row was known as such by the 15th century, but there is little evidence of

brick buildings of that date. Bricks were apparently used for decorative

purposes in cottages in Bondgate which were reputedly 16th century (Cookson

2003, 124). By the 17th century bricks were being used on higher status

buildings and bricks from Brankin Moor were used for repairs to the Bishop’s

Palace. Late 18th century insurance policies for Darlington houses and

workshops suggest that brick had become the main building type. These

bricks were made locally – one location was the Bishop’s Low Park, another

Clay Row. Other brick production sites were just outside the town.

Tiles for roofing were also manufactured in the town at Brankin Moor in the

18th century. Stone continued to be used for high status houses and a

stonemason’s yard existed on the east side of Stone Bridge, facing St

Cuthbert’s, where the stonemason Andrew Lockie was accused of

encroaching upon the river with his stone cutting (Cookson 2003, 127-8). By

the 19th century brickworks had also been established at Bank Top,

Freeman’s Place (also a tile works), Tubwell Row, on land between Stockton

and Yarm Road, on land behind Victoria Embankment and behind St John’s

church. Indeed any major new development was accompanied by the need to

find a local source of clay for brick making which was subsequently infilled by

new development. By the 1860s Pease brick was becoming popular, a buff

coloured ceramic which was a by-product of mining elsewhere in the county,

mainly Crook, and was used for a number of buildings on Victoria Road.

As brick making became increasingly mechanised, brickworks became more

settled, especially around Bank Top, Whessoe Lane and Albert Hill and by the

1870s there were 10 brick and tile makers in the town. This number reduced

in the early 20th century as clay pits were exhausted and developed for

housing and by the mid 20th century the only brick works left were on

Haughton Road, Firth Moor, Whessoe and Harrowgate; all given a new lease



of life by the construction of the Patons and Baldwins’ factory and the

council’s ambitious housing programme.

Plate 27. Distinctive building materials in the town centre fringe: red brick for boundary walls and buildings, often with detailing, scoria blocks for back lanes and drains, and stone blocks for back lanes – all locally sourced

Another distinctive material used in the town was supplied by the Tees Scoria

Brick Co. Ltd from their office in Station Street (now demolished) at Bank Top.

Scoria Blocks have an interesting history and were distinctive to the streets of

south Durham until the car came to dominate the road. The name comes from

the Greek word skōr meaning excrement. However the shiny blue/grey bricks

are not to be sniffed at. They were a product of the creative Victorian minds

who sought to find a use for the huge amounts of waste slag generated by

iron production. One ton of iron produced one ton of slag and in Cleveland

2.5million tons of pig iron were being produced a year by the end of the 19th

century. An early attempt was made to turn it into insulating material called

slag wool. It is interesting to speculate whether it might have been a safer

alternative to asbestos? However it was a Darlington man, Joseph Woodward

who in 1872, discovered that the slag could make an extremely robust,

waterproof, chemical proof, easy to clean brick and he formed the Tees

Scoria Brick Company. The bricks were produced in moulds so they were

identical and easy to lie flat on a bed of sand and compressed. The bricks

proved so popular they were exported from Teesmouth to Canada, the West

Indies, Europe, the US, South America and Africa.13 They fell out of favour

when motor cars became faster in the 1960s and 70s; the journey was too

bumpy on the scoria brick roads and tarmac was favoured instead. However

they still line most of the back lanes and gutters where fast car travel is not

13

Lloyd Echo Memories 8.7.06



possible. In some instances they are combined with rows of large rectangular

stone slabs where they provided a less slippy surface for horse drawn traffic

(Weavers Yard, off Weir Street and the back lane to the rear of Westbrook

Villas).

The 20th century saw Darlington as the manufacturing base for metal windows

a popular style for houses in the 1930s onwards and supplying 95% of the UK

market (VCH 131). Such windows can still be seen on the 1930s Darlington

Electricity building on Haughton Road (see p54) and were used in council

housing throughout the north east at that time. They too have become a

relative rarity with many having been replaced by plastic substitutes.

The majority of building materials in the town centre fringe were therefore

produced locally – in today’s terms they had a low carbon footprint. Only

specialist decorative elements were brought in from afar such as the purple

bricks used on the Technical College built 1896-7, which came from

Staffordshire (McNab pers comm.) and gradually, as the rail network

improved, Welsh slate replaced locally produced tiles. The Victorian drive to

find a use for waste products, resulting in the invention of the scoria brick, is

an exemplar for today.



4.0 Statement of Significance – The Town Centre Fringe

The following Statement of Significance explores the different values which

the town centre fringe possesses. These values are divided according to a

series of criteria set out by English Heritage (2008) which recommends

assessing significance under historical value, aesthetic value, communal

value and evidential value (see appendix G for definitions).

‘Even now hardly a single country the wide world over is without its railway,

and wherever a railway and railway engineers push their way there is known

the historic Stockton and Darlington, and the names at least of Darlington,

Stephenson, and Edward Pease….

We must not claim too much for the Stockton and Darlington. “It was not the

first railway – it was not the first public railway – it was not the first railway

worked by locomotives. What then was it? In each of these essentials, but

nowhere all combined, had it predecessors. But it was the first public railway

on which locomotives did the haulage. It was the true germ of our present

railway systems. It was the first railway of the kind now known as railways. It

was the first complete and successful venture in which all the conditions of the

modern railway system were combined.” This was recognised by the railway

world and the country generally by the truly national way in which the Railway

Jubilee in 1875 was celebrated.’

Darlington Half Holiday Guide 1899, 154-5



4.1 Historical Value and Significance

This section addresses associations with notable individuals and events.

Associations with George Hoskins 1837-191114

George Gordon ("Gee-Gee") Hoskins was an

English architect responsible for the design of

several public buildings in the North East of

England. His works include many large and

important buildings - mansions, banks, hotels,

hospitals, libraries, and schools.

Hoskins was the eldest son of Francis Hoskins, an

army officer, and his wife Julia Brooks and was born

in Birmingham at the end of 1837. He was the

grandson of Abraham Hoskins who built the folly of Bladon Castle at Newton

Solney and was brother-in law to the brewer Michael Bass. Hoskins'

godmother was the Duchess of Gordon.

Hoskins studied Architecture in London and Paris and was a pupil of W. D.

Haskoll of Westminster. In 1864 he moved to Darlington, and his first

domestic commission that year was probably 15 and 16 Westbrook Villas (just

outside the study area). He became ARIBA on the 3rd June 1867, proposed

by P C Hardwick, A Waterhouse and J P Pritchett and was based at Russell

Street Buildings from 1867 to 1870. In 1870 on the 2nd May Hoskins became

an FRIBA proposed by T Oliver, J P Pritchett and J Ross. He made useful

contacts with Quaker families which lead to many commissions including

Quaker houses at Woodburn and Elm Ridge, for John Pease in 1867.

Extended Quaker connections outside the town led to commissions at the

Temperance Hall at Hurworth, (1864), and the Victoria Hall in Sunderland,

(1870), which was largely funded by the Backhouse family. He gained the role

14

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gordon_Hoskins [accessed 5.4.10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gordon_Hoskins



of architect to the banking house of Backhouse after designing a manager's

house added to the Backhouse Bank in 1867. Following this he designed

branches in Sunderland (1868), Bishop Auckland (1870), Middlesbrough

(1875), Thirsk (1877) and Barnard Castle (1878). His major work was the

Middlesbrough Town Hall and Municipal Buildings won in open competition in

1882. Alfred Waterhouse, R.A. acted as assessor, and the Prince and

Princess of Wales opened the building in 1889.

In Darlington, major works include the Oueen Elizabeth's Grammar School

(1875-6), Bank Top board school (1882), the Pease Public Library (1884),

rebuilding of the King's Head Hotel (1890-3), Greenbank Hospital (1885),

Poor Law Offices (1896), the Technical College (1896-7), North of England

School Furnishing Company, Blackwellgate (1897), and Rise Carr Board

School (1902). He may have also worked with William Hope of Newcastle and

G. F. Ward of Birmingham on the designs for the Civic Theatre (Cookson

p123). He was for two years successively President of the Darlington School

of Art and President of the Northern Architectural Association from 1886 to

1887. He was for some years a Conservative member of the Darlington Town

Council and was also a Justice of the Peace. He was injured when the

gumaker's shop of Joseph Smythe exploded on 9 October 1894, destroying a

substantial part of the town centre. Hoskins retired in 1907, passing the

practice to his brother Walter Hoskins. GG Hoskins was almost entirely

responsible for Victorian Darlington and his funeral was a solemn public

occasion in the town. He was buried in the town's West Cemetery.

He is widely associated with Darlington where he lived and where he

practiced, however some of his best examples of work are from outside the

study area with only the Technical College of note within the study area.

Therefore his association with Darlington as a whole is exceptional, but only

of some significance within the study area.



Associations with Alfred Waterhouse

Waterhouse (1830-1905) was based in Manchester and London, but his

Quaker connections brought his work to Darlington. The majority of his works

are outside the study area (the market hall and public offices, Blackwell

House, Backhouses Bank (Barclays), but the market hall is a prominent

landmark visible from the town centre fringe. His association with the town

centre fringe is therefore of some significance.

Associations with William Bell, Architect

William Bell was born in Darlington in 1846 and

with wife Fanny and son Robert (born in 1879)

lived in Elton Terrace. His office was in West

End Buildings, Skinnergate, outside the town

centre fringe area. He started as architect in the

North East Railway Company in 1857 and

became Chief Architect in 1877 - 1914. He was

the architect of railway buildings in Darlington

and throughout the country. In 1887 he built

Darlington Bank Top Station notable for its

majestic high arched roof with twin spans and

the pyramid-topped Italianate Clock Tower set in

a well-proportioned arcaded frontage with Dutch gables. He also added

various elements to the North Road engineering works between 1884 and

1910 (Cookson 2003, 121). Besides the prize-winning Head Office in York he

also designed the stations at Alnwick, Stockton, Hull, West Hartlepool, Whitley

Bay, Tynemouth, Thornaby and many others. A piece de resistance was the

first class refreshment room at Newcastle Central Station, designed in 1892.

In 1893 he persuaded the NER directors to clad the refreshment room in

faience from Burmantofts in Leeds which provided a durable washable

surface. In 1887 William Bell sold up his premises in Darlington. The contents,

auctioned off at Watsons were impressive and included several paintings of

the Westbrook Villas (just outside the study area) by artist Samuel Elton.



William Bell died in Whitby in 1919. His association with the town centre fringe

is exceptional.

Associations with John Green Junior

Green (1807-1868) was related to the better known Greens the architects and

was Darlington’s first professional architect. He had offices in Bondgate and

Northgate, both in the study area, between 1839-1844, but most of his best

known buildings are outside the town (Cookson 2003, 107). He carried out

projects for the North of England Railway Company including in 1840-1,

workshops, coal depots and warehouses and a coach station and repair shop

at Bank Top. As North Road station was built on its present site in 1842 it

raises the possibility that Green was the architect of that too, although no firm

evidence has been found (ibid). His association with the town centre fringe is

considerable.

Associations with Robert Borrowdale, stonemason

Robert Borrowdale was born in 1833 at Barnard Castle and died in 1908. He

was a skilled stonemason and cut the stonework for many buildings in

Darlington, such as the Cocoa Palace in Northgate (currently empty) and

Westbrook Hall (demolished) and the chapels and lodges at North Cemetery.

Westbrook Hall was a particularly ornate building constructed by Borrowdale

in 1873 and located on Northgate next to the Cocker Beck bridge. The

building had at least 25 gargoyles and carved around the tower were the

words ‘Glory to God in the highest. Peace on earth and goodwill to all men’.

The angel of nativity perched on top of the building’s dome. The building was

demolished to make way for road widening in 1951 and one can’t help but

think that Northgate is less fun without it. Borrowdale was particularly well

known for his monumental sculptures and had a sculpture and stone yard

premises at Bridge Close, Northgate. Most of his work is outside the study

area such as at Westbrook Villas, but no. 1 Leadenhall Street is a prominent if

neglected example of his work. Much of his stock (‘…costly, artistic, valuable

and current…’) appears to have been sold off when he changed his business



in 1869 and has presumably found its way into a number of buildings in the

region. His association with the town centre fringe is considerable.

Plate 28. A poster advertising the auction of Robert Borrowdale’s sculptures at Bridge Close, Northgate in 1869.



Associations with Edward Pease and the growth of the railways15

Edward Pease, the son of a wool merchant, was born

in Darlington on 31st May, 1767 and worked in the

family woollen business until he was fifty when he

retired and began to concentrate on his idea of

starting a public railway. On his travels buying and

selling wool, Pease has come to the conclusion that

there was a great need for a railroad with waggons

drawn by horses to carry coal from the collieries of

West Durham to the port of Stockton. In 1821 Pease

and a group of businessmen from the area formed the Stockton & Darlington

Railway Company.

Edward Pease – a good head for railways

“I think, sir, that I have some knowledge of craniology, and from what I see of

your head I feel sure that, if you will fairly buckle to this railway, you are the

man to carry it through.”

“ I think so too and I may observe to thee that if thou succeed in making a

good railway thou may consider thy fortune as good as made.”

An extract of the conversation as later retold between George Stephenson

and Edward Pease at their meeting in the Northgate house, quoted in the

Darlington Half Holiday Guide 1899, 158

On 19th April 1821 an Act of Parliament was passed that authorised the

company to build a horse railway that would link the collieries in West

Durham, Darlington and the River Tees at Stockton. Nicholas Wood, the

manager of Killingworth Colliery, and his enginewright, George Stephenson,

met Pease at 138-148 Northgate, and suggested that he should consider

building a locomotive railway. Stephenson told Pease that "a horse on an iron

road would draw ten tons for one ton on a common road". Stephenson added

15

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RApease.htm [accessed 5.4.10] and

(http://www.thisisstockton.co.uk/history/The_Stockton_and_Darlington_Railway.asp) [accessed

5.4.10]

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RApease.htm

http://www.thisisstockton.co.uk/history/The_Stockton_and_Darlington_Railway.asp



that the Blutcher locomotive that he had built at Killingworth was "worth fifty

horses".

That summer Pease took up Stephenson's invitation to visit Killingworth

Colliery. When Pease saw the Blutcher at work he realised George

Stephenson was right and offered him the post as the chief engineer of the

Stockton & Darlington Company. It was now necessary for Pease to apply for

a further Act of Parliament. This time a clause was added that stated that

Parliament gave permission for the company "to make and erect locomotive

or moveable engines".

In 1823 Edward Pease joined with Michael Longdridge, George Stephenson

and his son Robert Stephenson, to form a company to make the locomotives.

The Robert Stephenson & Company, at Forth Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,

became the world's first locomotive builder. Stephenson recruited Timothy

Hackworth, one of the engineers who had helped William Hedley to produce

Puffing Billy, to work for the company. The first railway locomotive,

Locomotion, was finished in September 1825.

The Stockton & Darlington Railroad was opened on 27th September, 1825.

Edward Pease missed the opening day celebrations as his son Isaac had died

the previous night. Large crowds saw George Stephenson at the controls of

the Locomotion as it pulled a series of wagons filled with sacks of coal and

flour. The train also included a purpose built railway passenger coach called

the Experiment. All told, over 500 people travelled in the train that reached

speeds of 15 mph (24 kph). This meant that for the first time in history, a

steam locomotive had hauled passengers on a public railway.

The Stockton & Darlington Railway was to grow and develop. Steam engines

were adapted and improved and the use of horse power declined, timetables

developed and methods of operation established which are still used today.

The S&DR proved a huge financial success, and paved the way for modern



rail transport. The expertise that Stephenson and his apprentice Joseph

Locke gained in railway construction and locomotive building on the S&DR

enabled them a few years later to construct the Liverpool and Manchester

Railway, the first purpose-built steam railway, and also his revolutionary

Rocket locomotive. The company also proved a successful training ground for

other engineers: in 1833 Daniel Adamson was apprenticed to Timothy

Hackworth, and later established his own successful boiler-making business

in Manchester.

The S&DR was absorbed into the North Eastern Railway in 1863, which

merged into the London and North Eastern Railway in 1922. Much but not all

of the original S&DR line is still operating today.

When Pease retired he was replaced by his son Joseph Pease. He expanded

the business and by 1830 had bought up enough local collieries to become

the largest colliery owner in the whole of the South Durham coalfield. In 1832

Pease became Britain's first Quaker MP when he was elected to represent

South Durham.

Edward Pease also made an impact on the built form of the town. A number

of buildings have been constructed of the pale cream brick known locally as

Pease’s Brick. These bricks were manufactured at Pease’s brickworks in

Crook and are a locally distinctive element to the town. They were created

from a layer of clay below the coal which had no iron in it, leaving it a pale

cream colour rather than the traditional red of other town bricks. It appears

within the town centre fringe mostly in Victoria Road.

Pease, a member of the Society of Friends, supported the Anti-Slavery

movement. He also supported Elizabeth Fry (also a Quaker) in her campaign

for prison reform. Pease lived until he was 92 and so he outlived George

Stephenson. When he attended his funeral in Chesterfield, he mused on his

‘first acquaintance with him and the resulting consequences my mind seems

almost lost in doubt as to the beneficial results – that humanity has been



benefited in the diminished use of horses and by the lessened cruelty to them,

that much ease, safety, speed and lessened expense in travelling is obtained’

(taken from Pease’s diary for Wed Aug 16 1848 and quoted in Wall 2001,

176-7) Pease died on 31st July, 1858 and is buried in a simple grave in the

Quakers’ cemetery in Darlington. In many respects he is the unsung hero of

the railways and recent attempts have been made to revive interest in him by

naming a room after him at the Head of Steam museum. His association with

the town centre fringe is exceptional.

Associations with Ignatius Bonomi16

Ignatius Bonomi (1787-1870) was an English architect and surveyor, with

Italian origins by his father, strongly associated with the north-east. He was

the son of an architect and draughtsman, Joseph Bonomi (1739-1808), who

had worked with Robert and James Adam, the famous Scottish architects,

while his brother Joseph Bonomi the Younger was a noted artist, sculptor and

Egyptologist.

Ignatius's work (he was Surveyor of Bridges for the County of Durham)

included one of the first railway bridges in the UK over the River Skerne for

the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1824 (hence he is sometimes referred

to as 'the first railway architect'). He was also responsible for a number of

church buildings (including commissions at Durham Cathedral). Other historic

buildings, in Gothic and neo-classical styles, included parts of Durham Castle,

Lambton Castle (continuing the work started by his father), Durham Prison,

Elvet Hill House (1820), Burn Hall and Eggleston Hall, all in County Durham.

In Derbyshire he designed Christ Church King Sterndale near Buxton, built in

1848/1849 for the Pickford family, founders of the Pickfords Removals

business. He and his friend John Dobson were the only professional

architects, as opposed to builder-architects between York and Edinburgh.

Between them they dominated the architectural scene in the first half of the

nineteenth century, working in all manner of styles and on all types of

16

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_Bonomi [accessed 15.4.10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_Bonomi



building.17 His associations with Darlington’s town centre fringe is restricted to

the ‘Five Pound Note’ Bridge and so he is only of some significance to the

town centre fringe.

Associations with John Middleton

Middleton was appointed as architect to the S&DR in 1840, but most of his

work was outside Darlington. He did however design Central Hall and the

National Provincial Bank on High Row (outside the study area) and St John’s

Church on Neasham Road – a prominent landmark building on an elevated

site in the fork of a road within the study area. St John’s known as the

Railwayman’s Church, was a consolatory commission after Middleton ceased

working as the GNER’s architect in 1847. It became known as the

Railwayman’s Church because it was built in response to the growing

population around the station which led to the creation of a new parish in

1853. Before the church was built, the railway company had set aside one of

their own buildings for services of worship. The foundation stone of the church

was laid by George Hudson, the ‘railway king’ when Lord Mayor of York on

September 10, 1847 (Darlington District Civic Society 1975, 65). Middleton’s

practice was taken over by his partner James Pigott Pritchett junior after

Middleton left to tour Europe. His association with the town centre fringe is of

some significance.

Associations with James Pigott Pritchett junior

Pritchett was a founder of the Northern Architectural Association in 1859 and

designed almost exclusively in the neo-Gothic style. He was renowned for his

churches and chapels in the north and in Yorkshire. He designed the

Darlington Bicentenary Memorial Congregational Chapel in Union Street in

1861-2 and its later Sunday School. His practice designed 35 buildings,

mostly houses, in Darlington and mostly outside the study area. Three of the

churches he designed were in the study area, but have been demolished: St

Paul’s in North Road, St Luke’s in Leadenhall Street and the Northlands

Wesleyan Chapel in North Road. He undertook commissions for the offices of

17

http://www.seaham.i12.com/myers/bonomi.htm [accessed 15.4.10]

http://www.seaham.i12.com/myers/bonomi.htm



the S&DR in Northgate which he enlarged in 1856 and 1863. Overall his

contribution to the town and the study area in particular is only of some

significance.

Associations with Joseph Sparkes

Sparkes (1817-1855) practiced briefly in the 1850s. His best work is the

Mechanic’s Institute on Skinnergate outside the study area, but he also

designed the extensions to North Road Station and carriage repair shops in

1853. His association with the town centre fringe is therefore of some

significance.

Associations with John Loughborough Pearson

Pearson designed St Hilda’s church on Parkgate in 1886. He was born in

Durham and was trained by Bonomi, but did little else in the town. His

association with the town centre fringe is therefore only of some significance.

Associations with John Dobbin

John Dobbin's (1815 -

1888) painting of the

opening of the first public

railway on 27 September

1825 hangs in the Head

of Steam Museum.

Dobbin was just ten

years old when the

S&DR officially opened

on September 27, 1825.

He did witness the

scenes, but it wasn’t until

the 50th anniversary celebrations that he committed them to paper – probably

referring to a sketch either he or his father had done in 1825. It is little wonder,

then, that Dobbin’s view is a highly romanticised one. He also painted Bank

Top meadows looking towards St Cuthbert’s Church (Wall 2001, 155). A

Plate 29. The Opening of the S&DR by John Dobbin, painted 50 years after it was witnessed by a ten year old Dobbin.



mosaic reredos18 by John Dobbin can be seen in St Cuthbert’s Church

(outside the study area). A small lane is named after him within the town

centre fringe area. His association with the town centre fringe is therefore of

some significance.

Associations with J M Dent, publisher

The Britannia public house in

Archer Street (within the study

area) was the birthplace of J. M.

Dent who left Darlington after

serving an apprenticeship with a

printer in the town, and went to

London where he set up the

famous Everyman Library

publishing house, now renowned

nationally. Dent’s association with

the town centre fringe is therefore of some significance.

Associations with the 1983 by-election and general election19

‘In 1983 a by-election was called in Darlington following the death of the

sitting Labour MP Ted Fletcher. It was a very high profile event that did, quite

literally, draw the eyes of the world to Darlington. The general tenor in politics

throughout the western world was a shift to the right, with Margaret Thatcher

in No 10 since 1979 and Ronald Reagan in the White House since 1981. Both

had won power from relatively left wing predecessors, and the left was going

through a painful reappraisal. Thatcher had gone to war the previous year

over the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. There were riots in London

and Liverpool, women had been camping outside Greenham Common since

1981, CND was at its height - pretty revolutionary times, all-in-all.’

18

Altarpiece 19

This information has kindly been provided by Peter Roberts of Darlington Borough Council and is

an extract of his account of the events

Plate 30. The Britannia – birthplace of J M Dent



‘The Darlington seat had been a safe Labour seat for many years, but was

going to provide a barometer of the state of the confrontation between right

and left. This was more than a matter of domestic politics; it had a global (or

at least western) context. The Labour candidate was Ossie O'Brien, a local

lad who wanted to serve his home town in Parliament. The Conservative was

Michael Fallon, a rising Tory career politician. The other bit of political spice

was that the Social Democratic Party (SDP) had been formed in 1981 by

disaffected Labour right wingers (David Owen, Shirley Williams, etc) and

since 1981 were in an alliance with the Liberals - the Liberal Democrats were

formed later out of the rubble when the Alliance imploded in 1988. They chose

a local TV journalist, Tony Cook, as their candidate - and that was also a first,

going for a high profile local figure rather than a career politician. All of this -

right v left, the SDP and its alliance with the Liberals, the high profile local TV

personality, the justification for war - was getting its first electoral run-out...in

Darlington and in particular from a building on Victoria Road in the town

centre fringe.’

‘In 1983, the white building on Victoria

Road that is now the Groundwork

office was then the Labour rooms, and

the venue every morning for about

four weeks for the Labour press

conference. Leading figures like

Dennis Healy, Peter Shore, Barbara

Castle, Michael Foot, Jack Straw,

James Callaghan and the new kid on

the block, Neil Kinnock, all took their

turn at the morning press conference.

Dennis Healey was to make the

notable remark that ‘If you can sell

anything in Darlington you can sell it

anywhere’ (I. Dougill pers comm.).

The town was heaving with journalists

Plate 31. The labour party offices on Victoria

Road in 1983, now the home of Groundwork



and TV crews from all over the world

- Japan, Scandinavia and America. It

was amazing how many times we

heard the rather patronising view

expressed (usually from the bar of

the Kings Head) that, actually,

Darlington was rather a pleasant

place, not at all what everyone had

expected. I went along to all three party press conferences each morning, with

friends from Darlington Media Group, to photograph proceedings.’

Ossie O'Brien won by a much reduced majority of 2,400 votes. Roy Hattersley

described him as the best by-election candidate of the decade.20 ‘Sadly for

Ossie, the by-election in March was followed by a general election in June,

and Fallon came back and took the seat off him with a 3,000 majority. Ossie

had been MP for just 77 days, the shortest tenancy in Parliamentary history,

and he never stood again. Instead he went on to work for Alcohol Concern

and participated in the growing debate about drugs’.

‘Being such a high profile event the by-election attracted a number of colourful

fringe candidates. Screaming Lord Such himself stood for the Monster Raving

Loony Party, there was a Yoga candidate, a Republican and a couple of angry

disaffected ex Labour Party members.’ (Roberts pers comm.). The

association of the town centre fringe with this brief political event was

exceptional at the time, but is probably only now of some significance as time

passes.

Associations with John Kendrew.

Kendrew Street is named after John Kendrew. Kendrew was a weaver who

lived in this area as a child. He adapted the Spinning Jenny for the spinning of

flax for linen and also invented a machine for polishing optical glasses (Flynn

20

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-ossie-obrien-1272607.html [accessed 20.4.10]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-ossie-obrien-1272607.html



1983, pl 54). His association with the town centre fringe is therefore of some

significance.

Associations with Quakers

The Quakers have a long association with Darlington. The arrival of the first

Quaker families in the 1700s was to have significant implications for

Darlington’s growth post 1800. They were debarred from many professions,

and so they were channelled into commerce and banking (the Backhouse

family) where they prospered and gained an influence out of all proportion to

their numbers (Flynn 1983, 1). The majority of large Quaker villas initially

established in the town or just outside in the 18th century were to be sold off

as Victorian fashions dictated that the wealthy should live in the countryside

and not cheek by jowl with their poorer neighbours. In particular the Pease

family were to become major landowners and entrepreneurs who were able to

withhold or release land for development as they saw fit. In the town centre,

Barclays Bank, originally Backhouse's Bank, was built and ran by the

Backhouse family, another of Darlington's prominent Quaker families. The

bank was designed by Alfred Waterhouse, a local Quaker architect who also

designed Darlington’s splendid covered Market and Clock Tower. Edward

Pease was the father of the railways and a founder of the Stockton and

Darlington Railway; the Stockton and Darlington Railway was known as the

Quaker Line (Wall 2001, 155). His son, Joseph Pease, the world's first Quaker

MP, was a businessman and philanthropist who supported many Darlington

and international causes including the abolition of slavery. Most Quaker

houses were outside the town centre fringe - the Backhouses lived at Polam

Hall; Joseph Pease at Feethams, close to the Market Place and inside the

study area; his son John Beaumont Pease at North Lodge and East Mount,

also inside the study area. Edward Pease lived on Northgate inside the study

area; the Quakers had a particular fondness for gardening and Pease’s

garden was renowned for its orchards and vinery and survives in name only in

Garden Street. The Quakers opened their gardens for their workers at least

on an annual basis in order to encourage their education and well-being (I.

Dougill pers comm. 12.7.10). Brinkburn, Woodburn, Elm Ridge,



Hummersknott and Mowden Hall were all built for Quakers and they went on

to be developed a suburbs, but they also owned additional properties within

the town centre fringe which were presumably rented out. The local football

club, once located in the town centre fringe, but now on the outskirts of the

town, is known as the Quakers and the Quakers feature on the club crest.

There is also a more recent Quakers Running Club and a number of local

business use the Quaker name. Their association with Darlington and the

town centre fringe is therefore exceptional.

Associations with Ralph Hodgson21

Probably Darlington’s greatest poet, he was born in 1871 in Garden Street.

His works were much admired by TS Eliot and Siegfried Sassoon. From about

1890 he worked for a number of London publications. He was a comic artist,

signing himself 'Yorick', and became art editor on C. B. Fry's Weekly

Magazine of Sports and Out-of-Door Life. His first poetry collection, The Last

Blackbird and Other Lines, appeared in 1907. In 1912 he founded a small

press, ‘At the Sign of the Flying Fame’, with the illustrator Claud Lovat Fraser

(1890–1921) and the writer and journalist Holbrook Jackson (1874–1948). It

published his collection The Mystery (1913). Hodgson received the Edmond

de Polignac Prize in 1914, for a musical setting of The Song of Honour, and

was included in the Georgian Poetry anthologies. He served in the war and in

1917 his reputation was established by Poems. He taught English at Tohuko

University in Japan and while in Japan Hodgson worked, almost

anonymously, as part of the committee that translated the great collection of

Japanese classical poetry, the Manyoshu, into English. The high quality of the

published translations is almost certainly the result of his "final revision" of the

texts and could arguably be considered Hodgson's major accomplishment as

a poet. In 1938 Hodgson left Japan, visited friends in the UK including

Siegfried Sassoon (they had met 1919) and then settled permanently with his

second wife in Minerva, Ohio. He was involved there in publishing, under the

Flying Scroll imprint, and some academic contacts. In 1954, he was awarded

the King's Gold Medal for Poetry. He died in Minerva in 1962. His privacy was

21

Information mostly from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Hodgson [accessed 22.6.10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Hodgson



important to him and he shied away from publicity; it is perhaps because of

this that he is so unrecognised and unappreciated in Darlington today,

although his works are to be found in Darlington library which has done much

to revive interest in him. His association with the town centre fringe is

therefore only of some significance.

Association with Joseph Woodward

Very little is known about Joseph Woodward, but as the founder of the Tees

Scoriae Brick Company in 1872 he was responsible for creating the distinctive

blue/grey bricks which floor the back lanes and gutters of the town and once

floored the main thoroughfares too. His bricks were exported across the

world, many of them originally being stamped with ‘Woodward patent’.22 Even

if little is known about him, his association with the town centre fringe has to

be exceptional because his invention literally lines the streets.

Historical Values: Associations with notable people

SIGNIFICANCE SUMMARY

GG Hoskins SOME Responsible for Darlington’s technical college – a landmark building and prominent skyline feature. He may also have had a hand in the design of the Civic Theatre.

Alfred Waterhouse SOME

William Bell EXCEPTIONAL Responsible for the iconic Bank Top railway tower and associated with the town’s railway architecture

John Green Junior CONSIDERABLE Darlington’s first professional architect; he had offices in Bondgate and Northgate, both in the study area, between 1839-1844, but most of his best known buildings

22

Lloyd’s Echo Memories 8.7.06



are outside the town. He carried out work for the North of England Railway Company and there is some speculation that he may have been involved in the designed North Road Station

Robert Borrowdale CONSIDERABLE Responsible for 1 Leadenhall Street and Westbrook Gardens, just outside the study area. Brought a fun and quirky style to the architecture of the town, but much has been lost

Associations with Edward Pease and the earliest days of the railways

EXCEPTIONAL Responsible with Robert Stephenson for the introduction of passenger railways to the world

Ignatius Bonomi SOME Responsible for the world’s first railway bridge and he was the world’s first railway architect

John Middleton SOME Designer of St John’s Church on Neasham Road – a prominent landmark building on an elevated site within the study area and also known as the Railwayman’s Church

James Pigott Pritchett junior

SOME Designed alterations to offices of the S&DR in Northgate which he enlarged in 1856 and 1863

John Loughborough Pearson

SOME designer of St Hilda’s church on Parkgate a prominent landmark with dramatic massing and simple ornament

Joseph Sparkes SOME Only briefly operated in Darlington – his best work is outside the study area, but he did design the Hopetown



carriage works, now of international importance

John Loughborough Pearson

SOME Designer of St Hilda’s Church in a prominent position in Parkgate

John Dobbin SOME Depicted the opening of the S&DR

J.M Dent SOME From Darlington and went on to create a national publishing house

Darlington’s by election in 1983

SOME National spotlight on Victoria Road in 1983

John Kendrew SOME Weaver and inventor

Associations with Quakers

EXCEPTIONAL A long association with the town since the 1700s; their property boundaries went on to shape the town centre fringe

Associations with Ralph Hodgson

SOME A poet, born in the town centre fringe but lived and worked away from the town and is under appreciated today. Of national and international renown.

Association with Joseph Woodward

EXCEPTIONAL Inventor of the scoria brick which lines the back lanes of Darlington

4.2 Aesthetic Value and Significance

Associations with neo-Classical architecture

Neo-Classical architecture was particularly fashionable in the 18th and early to

mid 19th centuries. As most of the town centre fringe originates after the

1820s, there is very little neo-Classical architecture in the town centre fringe

and it is therefore not particularly distinctive of the area. Two notable

exceptions are both railway related. Edward Pease’s house on Northgate

although neo-classical in design is currently in poor condition and obscured by

later early 20th century additions and late 20th century shop fronts. The original

architect’s plans have recently been acquired by the County Durham Records

Office (I. Dougill pers comm. 12.7.10) and could guide any restoration works.

(Any restoration scheme would need to be guided by a Statement of



Significance to help decide whether the 1866 alterations and 1907 additions

on one bay should be retained). The North Road railway and merchandising

station are both in a classical style reflecting their early date before the neo-

Gothic styles became associated with railway architecture. Its association with

the town centre fringe is therefore of some significance.

Then and Now…

Plate 32. North Road station in 1936

Plate 33. North Road station (Head of Steam Museum) in 2010; its role as a museum and its listed status is clearly benefitting the conservation of the building



Associations with Victorian architecture

The town centre fringe originated for

the most part in the Victorian period

(1837-1901), although the

architectural styles continued in use

up to and around 1910 and in that

respect it is Victorian architecture

which makes the area particularly

distinctive. Victorian architecture

takes a number of different forms

(see Built Form section) ranging from rows of terraced houses to the ornate

G.G. Hoskins designed Technical College. The architects and builders used

as their inspiration England’s past and so their architectural designs

incorporated Tudor, Gothic and Jacobean styles, often in the same building.

Their designs were also ornate. Even in the simplest worker’s housing, the

window mullions would have a small carved detail to lighten the effect and

perhaps some below eaves brick detailing which is widespread throughout the

town, while higher status terraces would be embellished with ornate

doorways, railings and window lintels.

Nationally, much of the Victorian housing stock has been demolished. The

larger houses proved too expensive to maintain and were sub-divided or

demolished. The plain simpler styles of the 20th century made the Victorian

ostentation look fussy and out of date and so more houses were demolished.

The back-to-backs were too tightly laid out and were associated with disease

and deprivation. Those that survived the health board clean ups were taken

out by the ring road. However what was left was of good quality, sufficiently

spacious and versatile with lively facades and colourful detailing. It is Victorian

architecture which provides the historic skyline and Victorian architecture

which is now in decline due to inappropriate management of those buildings

not protected through listing. The key to the vitality of the town centre fringe is

Plate 34. Brunswick Street Board School, built 1881



therefore in the condition and successful reuse of the Victorian architecture.

Its association with the town centre fringe is therefore exceptional.

Associations with Edwardian architecture

Victorian styles continued in use particularly for

terraced houses, but new styles of architecture

gradually appeared. The town centre fringe has a

fine collection of Edwardian buildings particularly

around Parkgate, Victoria Road and the south end

of Northgate and Gladstone Street. These buildings

tend to have terracotta tiled facades providing a

more delicate and finished façade than plain brick,

although glazed tiles were also used on shop fronts

and inns. Ball finials were popular to the gable ends as were decorated

doorways and window lintels, often in the form of draped floral arrangements.

Stained glass, also in floral styles, was also popular and survives in Parkgate

at the Greyhound Inn. Its association with the town centre fringe is therefore

considerable.

Associations with neo-

Classical architecture

SOME

Associations with

Victorian architecture

EXCEPTIONAL

Plate 35. Borough Road next to the Fire Station, built 1904



Associations with

Edwardian Architecture

CONSIDERABLE

Associations with artistic views

Significant buildings and picturesque landscapes have been the focus of the

British artist and the inspiration of poets since at least the 18th century when

the exploration and depiction of the British countryside became an alternative

to the Grand Tour in Europe. However Darlington never really met the early

criteria for picturesque landscapes as defined by the likes of Gilpin and so

was not depicted by nationally renowned artists such as Turner. However the

picturesque traditions gradually moved towards architecture and in particular

Gothic architecture and so buildings with a long history of portraying

picturesque ideals soon became the focus of attention. A trawl through

depictions of Darlington curated by the Palace Green Library and in

secondary antiquarian publications shows quite clearly that the main focus of

artistic attention in Darlington has been St Cuthbert’s church. Of forty four

prints, sketches and architects’ drawings in the Palace Green collection for

Darlington, eighteen have St Cuthbert’s as its focus. While St Cuthbert’s is

outside the town centre fringe area, views towards it remain important and the

recent demolition of the bus station has restored a much valued view of the

church from what was Feetham’s Field.

The other main subjects of artistic attention are the market place, the old town

hall, the manor house, the Deanery and the old bridge, all outside or

peripheral to the town centre fringe.

Within the town centre fringe there are depictions of Northgate’s United

Reform Church in 1861 by an unknown artist and Thomas Allom’s view of

Yarm Road dating to 1830. Allom’s painting and some of those which depict



St Cuthbert’s from a distance also show rural scenes before they were

developed as part of the town’s Victorian expansion and can show the

evolution of the town from a medieval borough to a Victorian industrial town.

Plate 36. Thomas Allom’s view of Yarm Road 1830 with the beginnings of terraced housing in the distance and St Cuthbert’s Church

Other depictions which relate to the town centre fringe include the railway as

the main theme. Prints of Locomotion No. 1 dating to 1857 by an unknown

artist and the first railway coach dating to sometime after 1825, again by an

unknown artist concentrate on the machinery, but other depictions focus on

the opening of the railway line in 1825. The depiction of the bridge designed

by Ignatius Bonomi also featured on the five pound note from 1990 to 2003 to

be replaced by Elizabeth Fry (a Quaker, prison reformer and part of the family

which founded Barclay’s Bank). The design of the banknote drew heavily on

Dobbin’s (q.v.) view for the illustration. Curiously, the Bank embellished

Bonomi’s simple bridge even further by adding a couple of decorative stone

slabs just beneath the parapet. These

slabs were only on the north side of the

bridge and disappeared when it was

widened at the turn of the last century.

However, the view on the bank note is

from the south so, once more, artistic

Plate 37. The five pound note with the Skerne bridge, Stephenson and Locomotion



licence has been taken with the bridge.

There are therefore two significant themes to artistic depictions in Darlington,

St Cuthbert’s Church and the railway.

Artistic Associations: Significance

Railway depictions EXCEPTIONAL

Views of St Cuthbert’s from the town centre fringe area CONSIDERABLE

Views of the town centre fringe before development SOME

Views of buildings within the town centre fringe MARGINAL

Historic skylines

‘The grand old spire they did admire When to my roost I flew

And I’ve kept my stand high above the land With my weather eye in view.

I’ve looked o’er my wings at wondrous things Since George the Fourth did reign.

I saw from my nest a wondrous guest They called a railway train.’ 23

Darlington has a number of iconic skyline features which can be seen from

the town centre and the town centre fringe. Many of these are important views

from residential areas and provide a visual link with the historic core of the

town, or terminate views from main streets. The view along Victoria Road to

Bank Top Station is no accident. When the North Eastern Railway opened its

new station at Bank Top in 1887, the Council went to great expense in

purchasing Feetham’s Road to enable a direct route to be made to the front of

the entrance of the station (Flynn 1983, pl102).

The Methodist New Connexion Church opened in 1884 and while it still

contributes something to the historic skyline, the loss of its spire top has given

the church a stunted appearance. If the old spire top no longer exists, a new

23

(Extract from a poem written by J Horsley, February 1873 on the view of the town from the weather

vane of St Cuthbert’s.)



lightweight one could be designed by the local community or the owners with

funding from the heritage lottery fund. The Spire of St Cuthbert’s church and

Northgate United Reform church and the market hall clock tower are

particularly significant to the character of the area. Other rooflines also make

some contribution to the historic skyline, such as the technical college with its

female figures representing Art and Science and the civic theatre’s lacy

crown. The church of St John the Evangelist has no spire – the congregation

of railway workers could not afford one (Flynn 1983, pl 121), but it occupies

such a prominent position on high ground, that its chunky tower still makes an

exceptional contribution to the skyline when seen from the Town Hall,

Parkgate and Victoria Road. The historic skyline has been incorporated into

the Borough Council’s logos and is now therefore the trademark of Darlington.

Plate 38. St Cuthbert’s church spire and the market hall tower offer an historic skyline

throughout the town centre fringe.

Historic Skyline building Significance

Bank Top Station Tower EXCEPTIONAL Inside the town centre fringe with views



throughout the town. The tower also terminates views along Victoria Road. Built 1887 and designed by William Bell ‘one of his best efforts’ (Pevsner 1990, 149). The bell no longer rings now being displayed on a station platform.

St Cuthbert’s church EXCEPTIONAL Outside the study area

United Reformed

Church, Northgate

EXCEPTIONAL Within the study area, prominent spire in dark stone built 1861-2 and designed by J.P.Pritchett and Son.

Market Hall clock tower EXCEPTIONAL A prominent tower and clock visible as an equal partner to St Cuthbert’s spire throughout the town centre fringe.

Technical College SOME The top of the technical college offers a modest contribution to the historic skyline only seen from parts of Valley Street, East Mount and Borough Road.

Civic Theatre SOME The lacy crown of the roof can be seen from Brunswick Street, Parkgate and Park Lane.

Church on Victoria Road SOME Tower has lost its top in the past and so it presents a decapitated head rather than the lantern it once supported.

Clock Tower, North

Road Merchandising

Station

SOME The tower has lost its clock, but can still be discerned from parts of the Valley Street area on the approach to the Five Pound Note Bridge.

St John’s Church, EXCEPTIONAL Designed by John Middleton, the church



Neasham Road has no spire but a large square tower. Because the building sits on an elevated position, it can be seen in many places throughout the town centre fringe, although the site itself is immediately outside the study area boundary.

Bellcote, Brunswick

Street school

SOME Add interest to Borough Road and terminates views from Middleton Street.

Kings Head Hotel MARGINAL The top of the hotel is visible over the Cornmill multi-storey car park and JJB Sports; it is an interesting roofline which would benefit from being seen from further afield



Figure 5.Location of buildings which are prominent historic skyline features in views from or within the town centre fringe



Associations with early railway architecture

Darlington’s collection of railway related buildings around the Head of Steam

Museum has been described as the world’s most important group of surviving

early railway buildings. Since the 1830s it has been known as North Road and

was developed by the S&DR as its base in Darlington. The focus of the

railway heritage is located around the stations in a triangle of land between

what was the S&DR main line (now the

railway to Bishop Auckland to

Darlington), the former branch line to

the S&DR coal yard in Darlington (now

a road liking Hopetown Lane to Station

Road) and the main road north from

Darlington to Durham. All the key

buildings on the site were from the first

generation of the railway age, when the

form and function of railway buildings

was still being developed by trial and

error. When the S&DR first opened in

1825 it owned no station buildings – the

concept of a railway station had not

been invented yet. The first station was

a converted warehouse to which were

added a booking office and waiting

room in 1833. North Road Station

replaced these in 1842 and was

extended to meet he needs of growing traffic (Dean 1984, pl 48). After 1853,

the S&DR replaced two elements of the site with larger facilities elsewhere

because there was insufficient space at North Road. In 1863 the S&DR

merged with the North Eastern Railway and North Road became a minor

satellite site for a large railway company rather than the hub of a small railway

company. This shift of the main functions off-site may well have been

responsible for the preservation of the North Road buildings as they were no

Plate 39. When this postcard was produced in 1912, they knew that the town’s connections with the railway were worth promoting (picture from Flynn 1994, pl 140)



longer adapted to meet new needs, or indeed demolished to make way for

larger buildings. Kitching’s foundry which moved here in 1831 from the town

centre in order to build locomotives is now demolished. The Goods Station,

the Goods Agent’s Offices, North Road Station, the Lime Cells and Hopetown

Carriage works all survive. In addition there are remnant remains of the first

station, the coal drops and the branch line. Collectively this group represents

great diversity of form and function with only the locomotive works now absent

(DBC 2006, 56).

Beyond this collection of North Road buildings there are other railway related

buildings – Edward Pease’s house on Northgate, The Railway Inn, the

Ignatius Bonomi Bridge, the viaduct and more ephemeral evidence such as

street names. Worker’s housing also abounds, and outside the study area

there is one of a very few original cow tunnels which passed through the first

S&DR line. Collectively, these structures represent the birth of the railway

network which was to change the face of the world and are therefore of

exceptional significance and internationally important.

The international importance of Darlington and the birth of the railways was

recognised in 1925 when railway companies sent representatives to the

centenary celebrations and an International Railway Congress was held at

Faverdale. At the presentations, Alipo Chiarugi, the leader of the Italian

delegation, spoke of the admiration felt by all Italian railwaymen for George

Stephenson, the ‘first railwayman of the world’ and reminded his audience

that Italy’s first railway line had been constructed under the supervision of

George’s son, Robert Stephenson. (Flynn 1994, pls 58-9)

Remnant remains

The world’s first railway station consisted of a large warehouse building which

initially at least, had a waiting room, offices and a shop, suggesting even at

the outset, waiting for a train involved perusing in a shop! The rooms were

rented by Mary Simpson at £5 p.a. in return for which she was to ‘keep the

coach office clean and afford every necessary accommodation to coach



passengers’ (Fawcett 2001, 18). Her duties appear to have consisted of

keeping a fire burning in the waiting room. Parts of the building were under-

used and were gradually converted into cottages. After its replacement by a

new passenger station in 1842, part of the station was used as offices for the

companies for the lime trade, but its position very close to the railway line

became an obstruction and demolition was ordered in 1864 (ibid). There are

remains of a large stone wall along the railway embankment to the east of

High Northgate which represent the lower walls of the back of the station

building. It is astonishing that these remnant remains of the world’s first

railway station are unprotected from demolition.

Plate 40. The 1827 S&DR warehouse which was used as a passenger station from 1833 with the ticket office on the upper floor – access was from the level crossing, but this picture was drawn after 1856/7 when the bridge over North Road was built (picture from Fawcett 2001, 18). This now survives as a large piece of retaining wall against the rail embankment and carries no form of statutory protection.

Hopetown Carriage Works

The buildings were designed by the local architect Joseph Sparkes (1817-

1855). The original design may have been more elaborate but there was no

need to impress customers and so the design was stripped of some of

Sparkes’ ornamental features and overall supervision of the project placed in

the hands of Thomas McNay. The building materials are of poor quality and



the workmanship is not much better. Originally the building may have been

covered with a lime based rough cast render.

‘Darlington and its Friends have set in motion a vast motive power, and what

shall the end be?

“From what small causes do great matters spring!”’

Longstaffe 1909, 374, originally published in 1854

These former carriage works are Grade II listed and therefore nationally

important. It is still used by two locomotive preservation trusts for the building

and restoration of locomotives, reputedly the oldest such association in the

world giving it international significance. It is the oldest purpose built railway

carriage manufactory to survive in the British Isles, and perhaps the second

oldest in the world. It contains an early example of a travelling crane. It was

explicitly designed to handle the short, four-wheeled carriages that made up

the first generation of railway rolling stock and became obsolete when

carriages increased in length (DBC 2006, 56). Its design is radically different

to later railway carriage manufactories and it is one of a handful of world

survivors able to show how the first generation of railway carriages were built

and handled. In that respect, the design features that brought about its early

obsolescence – critically, the central, transverse, access using turntables

rather than gable end doors – come into prominence and support arguments

about its importance in the evolution of the railway building design. The

carriage works are therefore of exceptional significance.

About 1848, Mr Heslegrave, land surveyor, Darlington, patented a very

superior spring for railway carriages which was soon in constant operation on

the Stockton and Darlington line. In 1848 also, Mr W. Froude, of Darlington,

obtained a patent for a valve to cover the longitudinal opening of an

atmospheric railway tube. Mr. Stephen Carlton, coachmaker, Northgate, is

proprietor of a very simple and comfortable carriage-spring, which is

registered.’

Longstaffe 1909, 336



Good’s Agents Offices

Plate 41. The Goods Agent’s Offices on McNay Street

These are located on McNay

Street and visible from the

station. They are important

because they are an unusual

survival of an ancillary office

block on a multi-use site

developed by a single owner and are one of a very few from the early years of

the railway age. They must be seen alongside the Goods Station which was

contemporary and its function intertwined (DBC 2006, 25). McNay Street is

one of the earliest streets in the area having been laid out as the access to

the station presumably in the 1830s. This building is of exceptional

significance.

North Road Station and Goods Station

The Goods Station or Merchandising Station was the first major building to be

erected by the S&DR on what later became a very extensive railway site to

the west of North Road. It was built in 1832/3 and designed by Thomas Storey

and was considerably extended in 1839/40 under the direction of John Harris

(Fawcett 2001, 19). The Goods Station is highly significant in terms of design.

Other railway goods sheds were on two levels, and this was probably the first

in the world to be built with the single-level arrangement that became, and

remained, the norm for railway

goods handling until the move to

containers in the 20th century (DBC

2006, 57).

Plate 42. The Goods/Merchandising Station with clock tower. Some of the arched openings were lost when it was used as a fire station (Fawcett 2001, 20)



Although the buildings have been extended five times and modified internally

on an almost constant basis from the 1840s to the 1920s, the design

approach by John Harris in 1842 was always maintained. As such, their

Italianate form belongs to a period before railway companies had established

the fully blown High Victorian styles which were associated with later railway

architecture. The survival of the North Road buildings in substantially the

original form is exceptionally significant. Today, North Road Station has one

of only two timber trainshed roofs to survive from the first generation of the

railway age. The good survival of the buildings at North Road is largely

because Bank Top became the principal station for Darlington and so it was

Bank Top which had to absorb the changes required with improving train

technology. Although North Road Station is not the only station building of the

period in existence, it is probably the most complete, with a station building

and train shed of the same date (DBC 2006, 46). They are therefore of

exceptional significance.

The Lime Cells

The lime cells represent a once common but now rare building type designed

for the bulk unloading of materials from rail to road. They are intact with only a

shaky set of timber doors having been added to the structure. They were built

between 1840 and 1855, but probably around 1840 when urban expansion

offered a ready market for the lime. Their significance is also because of their

association with the rest of the group of S&DR buildings at North Road and

because of their association with the expansion of Darlington. They are also

one of a small number of well-preserved examples of a once significant and

very distinctive regional building type associated with the railways (DBC 2006,

53-4). They fell out of use as lime cells by about 1870 and since then have

found alternative uses that have left the structure relatively intact. They are

currently empty and for sale. They are listed buildings grade II. They are

therefore of exceptional significance.



Plate 43. The Skerne Bridge, also known as the five pound note bridge. The setting of this scheduled monument has been marred by the gas pipes, railings and poor access which limits the experience of the bridge

The Skerne bridge (Five pound note bridge)

This is the only architect designed bridge on the Stockton Darlington Railway

and featured on the five pound note between 07-06-1990 and 21-11-2003.

George Stephenson had designed the first iron railway bridge, which crossed

the Gaunless River, and it was his proposal to build an iron bridge on brick

piers over the Skerne. The nature of the ground on the river bank made this a

difficult proposition. Delays by Stephenson in deciding on the basis of the

structure resulted in the Railway Committee approaching the eminent

architect, Ignatius Bonomi. The foundation stone was laid by Francis Newburn

on 6th July, 1824. The Company wanted it to be made of stone and be

impressive, which it was.24 It is now a scheduled ancient monument and

therefore considered to be nationally important. The bridge terminates the

north end of the study area and footpath access to it from the north has

recently been improved. It featured in John Dobbin’s painting of the opening

24

http://www.railcentre.co.uk/stockton/opening2.htm



of the railway and now in the Pease room of the Head of Steam Museum. It

also features in another painting by an unknown artist of the ‘inaugural train

crossing Skerne Bridge, Darlington’ (Wall 2001, 116-7). It is of exceptional

significance.

"There is at present a great probability that locomotive carriages will speedily

be brought to run on rail-roads for public accommodation. Should this be the

case, and should the advantages of such a mode of conveyance be as great

as described, they must supersede common roads, and all vehicles moved by

animal power. The changes this will effect in the face of the country, and in

the moral relations of its inhabitants, seem likely to be very extensive. Places

will be brought nearer to each other, and communication between them will be

more rapid and frequent. Nobody will consent, we presume, to be jolted along

a rough road, 10 or 12 miles an hour, when he can be whirled along a smooth

and pleasant one with twice the velocity."

The Observer 25th April 1830

Viaduct

The viaduct over North Road was built in 1856 for the Stockton and Darlington

Railway and was altered in 1935, although plans for the bridge were

underway by the 1840s. Before 1856 the railway crossed the road by means

of a level crossing. Early photographs show that it had a plaque with the date

MDCCCLVI on the side. It has solid iron parapets which flank the track,

supported by a pair of rusticated piers with cornices and rounded low caps.

The abutments have become banked up with earth but were probably

originally exposed. The viaduct is listed Grade II* because of its association

with the S&DR (DCMS 1977) and is therefore nationally important and of

exceptional significance.



Then and Now…

Plate 44. The Viaduct in High Northgate and the northern boundary of the town centre fringe. Date unknown, but possibly 1930s?

Plate 45. The viaduct in 2010



First railway inn

Nos. 6 to 16 High Northgate includes The Railway Tavern, built by John

Carter in 1827 who was the Stockton & Darlington Railway’s first architect-

cum-builder. It was apparently built by the Quakers, as a place for the carters

to wait for trains, ready to load their wagons from the lime cells and was also

used by passengers up until 1833. The Tavern was originally owned by the

Stockton and Darlington Railway and was called ‘The Blue Bell Inn’ (first

mentioned in 1791), but this was presumably an earlier version of the building

on the same site. With the arrival of the railways the inn was renamed and

provided accommodation and hospitality for rail travellers. The inn remained

in railway ownership until 1870 when it was put up for auction (HER 7301). It

is reputed to be the first ever inn built specifically for a railway in the world.

The ground floor windows have been enlarged, but the distinctive glazing of

the upper lights is also found in the door fanlights of the company’s relatively

unaltered Stockton tavern (Fawcett 2001, 10). Its association with the S&DR

makes it exceptionally significant and if it is indeed the earliest railway inn in

the world, then it is internationally important. It is also worthy of listing given its

national significance.

Edward Pease’s house, 138- 148 Northgate

Edward Pease’s house on Northgate is where Pease met with Robert

Stephenson to discuss the formation of a railway and agreed to use steam

locomotion. Although the town centre fringe as a whole represents the birth

place of the railways, it is in this house that the plan appears to have been

fleshed out and made real. Its setting has altered dramatically. At the time of

the meeting it was a large street fronted classical villa with a long garden

extending down to the river. The street elevation is now divided up so that the

façade has lost its uniformity. Research currently being carried out by Charles

McNab of the Darlington Historical Society has uncovered the original ground

plans of the house as it was when the meeting took place between

Stephenson and Pease in his kitchen. He has also uncovered plans showing

the house being subdivided into four properties in 1866 (it consisted of the

main residence plus an additional apartment to the south even in 1825) and



further plans showing proposals to add the classical cladding to one bay in

1909, designed by the architect G. Walesby Davis. The main significance of

the building is its association with Edward Pease and the birth of the railways,

but the classical façade added in 1909 is now somewhat of a rarity. The

house is therefore of exceptional significance because of its association with

the birth of the railways and its wealth of documentary evidence and of some

significance because of its 1909 partial cladding which includes a

commemorative plaque referring to the house’s role in the birth of the

railways.

Engine Shed, Haughton Road

This engine shed was built in the

1840s and is the oldest engine shed in

the country; it is a listed building grade

II and is therefore nationally important.

It was probably designed for the

Newcastle & Darlington Junction

Railway by George Townsend

Andrews (Fawcett undated.25), who

was particularly noted for his railway work for George Hudson between 1839

and 1849. This is based on the shed’s appearance which looks like a typical

GT Andrews’ two-road shed with brick walls which rise from a stone plinth and

on the side walls, the windows are recessed into shallow panels, allowing a

small reduction in the volume of brick required, with no loss of strength. This

feature, with the stone window cill carried right across the panel, occurs in a

number of Andrews’ buildings, but is apparently less common among his

engine sheds (ibid). However, there is also documentary support which

suggests that this may be a building of his design. The NDJ Board on 16

August 1844 instructed Andrews to plan workshops at Gateshead, an engine

shed at Brockley Whins, and an engine shed and two cottages at Darlington.

It is of exceptional significance because of its listed status, its association with

25

Darlington’s ‘GNE Shed’ available from http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/m.h.ellison/nera/gneshed.pdf

[accessed 16.7.10]

Plate 46. The Engine Shed

http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/m.h.ellison/nera/gneshed.pdf



G.T. Andrews and its relative rarity. There are few engine sheds of this date

left in the country (ibid).

The Railwayman’s Church (outside the study area)

The parish of St John the Evangelist was formed in July 1845 and the church

designed by John Middleton built in 1847. The foundation stone was laid by

George Hudson, the Lord Mayor of York; ‘The Railway King’ who also partly

funded its construction (Wall 2001, 156). The directors and shareholders of

the railway company had provided a warehouse for use as a church before

the building was completed (Flynn 1983, pl 120). The church is also known as

the Railwayman’s Church because its congregation was mainly railway

workers, however they were not appreciative of its peal of six bells especially

if on a nightshift (Wall 2001, 156). Its significance in terms of railway heritage

is some.

Cow Tunnel (outside the study area)

Plate 47. The cow tunnel today is encapsulated in a modern tunnel (left) but the join where it becomes the original S&DR cow tunnel can still be seen inside (right)

This represents one of the only concessions to local farmers when the S&DR

line was put through farming land in 1825 (Wimbury pers comm.). The road

above it has since been widened so the original cow tunnel has become

encased within a larger tunnel. However it can still clearly be seen from inside

the tunnel. Its significance is therefore considerable.



Morrison’s Clock (outside the study area)

This is a clock rescued from the railway works now demolished and is close to

its original location but no longer in situ. It is outside the study area, but adds

to the general collection of railway related assets. Its significance in terms of

railway related architecture is some.

The importance, magnitude and impact of the birth of the Stockton &

Darlington Railway on the transport systems of the world cannot be

measured.26

Bank Top

This station was designed by William Bell for

the North Eastern Railway Company and

opened in 1887. It replaced ‘a mean shed’

which had been used since the 1840s (Flynn

1994, pl 8) and which had left Queen Victoria

distinctly unamused when she alighted the

train in 1849. She pointed out that for the main

line station of the very place in which the

railway had been born to look so down-at-heel

was just not good enough (Emett 2007, 22).

The development of this station triggered the

growth of the wider area, creating a railway

colony. The station is largely unaltered since its construction. Its two

immensely high and wide arches were designed to permit the passage of

carriages of the wealthiest first class passengers, with their coachmen sitting

aloft. These arches opened into a porte cochere, four bays deep and large

enough to enable carriages to enter by one arch, swing round and depart by

another. The vestibule is protected by the train shed style roof, in imitation of

those above the station proper. On either side of the arches are two smaller

arches for foot passengers. In between a soaring Italianate clock tower over

27m high which is Bank Top’s crowning glory. It can be seen from every part

26

http://www.railcentre.co.uk/

Plate 48. Bank Top’s clock tower



of town with its windows and galleries opening to Victoria Road surmounted

by a pyramidal roof with a round window in each gable and crowned by a

gilded fleche. Historically the clock was set to run five minutes fast to ensure

passengers always caught their trains. The main down line is one third of a

mile long and is one of the longest in Britain. The train shed roofs are

supported on parallel rows of 80 massive cast iron Corinthian columns. Each

spandrel of the arches is decorated with painted and gilded shields of arms

amounting to 158 spandrels in total containing 948 coats of arms (Wall 2001,

157-9). Its association with the railway heritage and the town centre fringe is

exceptional.

‘In the incomparable railway enterprise, Darlington was then, and therefore will

always remain – FIRST IN THE WORLD’. Wall 2001, 177

North Eastern Hotel, Victoria Road

This was built in the early 1880s on land which had been part of the Bishop’s

High Park. Its name was derived from the North Eastern Railway who had

built Bank Top Station next door. The hotel, whose registered address was

‘Comfort, Darlington’, had twenty six bedrooms, public rooms and lavatories

‘of the most improved description’. There were sufficient stables to house

twenty-five to thirty horses and a large lock up coach house (Flynn 1983,

pl104). It contributed towards a positive first impression for the late Victorian

visitor and its association with the railway heritage is therefore considerable.



Plate 49. The North Eastern Hotel in 1880

Housing

The main residential building type throughout the town centre fringe is the

terraced house. Many of these were built for railway workers or workers in

railway related industries. The earliest terraces to be built close to North Road

station were built in the 1820s and are now in the Conservation Area.

However many more terraces are outside the town centre fringe around Albert

Hill. Longstaffe in 1854 saw Bank Top as a new town ‘gradually arising on the

east of the Skerne’. Initially it was a railway colony, its church first established

in a converted railway warehouse. As the town expanded to the north towards

North Road Station and to the east to Bank Top station, it was the terraced

house that was constructed, often interspersed with non conformist places of

worship. The distinctive railway terraces around the stations were not

constructed by the railway companies however, but by speculators for rent

and profit. By 1849 the Stockton and Darlington Railway owned only 19

cottages and one public house (Wall 2001, 155). Terraced housing is of

exceptional significance to the character of the town centre fringe, and while it

is less directly connected to the railway heritage, it has, especially around

Bank Top, strong railway connections. The significance of terraced housing in

relation to the railway heritage is therefore considerable.

Railway influence on decorative elements in landscaping



The railway heritage features in some design details in buildings and street

furniture in Darlington. In the town centre, the old Town Hall designed by

Waterhouse and paid for by Joseph Pease, has balconies and a clock tower

embellished with reproductions of railway engine plug wheels. The design has

been copied on the walls of the Dolphin Centre (opened in 1983) and on bus

shelters (Wall 2001, 176). Rails have been set into the entrance of the market

place. However these features and their significance is easily missed and they

are outside the study area. Seating which has used the locomotive wheel has

been replaced as part of the recent town centre landscaping along High Row

but it can still be found on the Market Place. The large roundabout on Victoria

Road (within the study area) has a floral display based on the railway, but no

other indicators of the importance of the railway heritage were identified. The

railway heritage was used as a design reference in the late 19th century where

the spandrels of Bank Top Station were decorated with references to

Locomotion and Locomotion was featured on the town coat of arms and

appears on civic buildings and railway bridges. However the international

importance of the town centre fringe (and the town) is easily missed. The

significance of the railway heritage in the landscaping and street furniture of

the modern day town centre fringe is therefore marginal.

‘Thus Darlington has had much to associate it with that wondrous system

which threatens to annihilate time and space.’ (Longstaffe 1909, 376 originally

published in 1854)

Street names

A number of the streets take their names from railway pioneers and figure

heads (Stephenson Street, McNay Street) or relate to the railway (Station

Street). A relatively recent lane in the town centre fringe is named after John

Dobbin who painted the opening of the S&DR. Their association with the town

centre fringe is therefore of some significance. Street names around Bank

Top are more associated with royalty such as Victoria Road, Albert Street,

Adelaide Street, King William Street and Princes Street (Wall 2001, 156) and



other street names in the area reflect landowners and property developers of

the 19th century.

Overall associations with early railway

architecture and technology

EXCEPTIONAL

4.3 Communal Values and Significance

Local History and Railway Heritage:

The history, civic pride and built heritage of Darlington are important to a

significant number of people within the town and region. In particular the

Darlington Historical Society has a wide membership to whom the heritage of

the area has both personal and family meaning, as well as longer term

cultural significance.

In addition to community interest in the broad history of Darlington, the area is

of exceptional importance to the community of those interested in railway

heritage. This is in effect an international community, but specific note needs

to be made of the Friends of The Head of Steam Museum, the A1 Steam

Locomotive Trust and the North East Locomotive Preservation Society, all

based in and around the historic heart of the S&DR and whose presence

makes the area more than just a heritage site, especially with the recent

successful new build of the A1 pacific class locomotive Tornado. The

communal value of the railway heritage to the town centre fringe is therefore

exceptional.



Plate 50. Tornado. Newly built A1 Pacific Class locomotive, constructed at the former Hopetown Lane carriage works by the A1 Preservation Trust, and emblematic of the railway community passion and interest in the area.

Local myths and legends:

Bulmer stone

The Bulmer Stone is a boulder of red granite, carried down from Shap Fell, in

Westmorland, during the Ice Age. This stood in Northgate, marking what was

once the northern boundary of the town. It was located opposite the old

cobblestone cottages which were known collectively as Darlington House.

These cottages were demolished to make way for the technical college. For

centuries the boulder was a significant local landmark, occupying a prominent

position on Northgate's pavement in close proximity to the road. In the

nineteenth century Willy Bulmer, Darlington's unofficial town crier, read the

London news standing on the boulder and it is probably from him that it

derives its name. It is also said that George Stephenson and Nicholas Wood

(a colliery manager from Northumberland) sat on the stone to re-tie their

boots, having walked from Stockton to Darlington to see Edward Pease and to

convince him of the benefits of steam locomotives. An alternative and more

likely explanation is that both Stephenson and Wood had to remove their

muddy boots having walked from Stockton, to replace them with clean shoes



ready for their important visit (McNab pers comm.). It was as a result of this

meeting that Pease chose to appoint Stephenson as the Chief Engineer of the

Stockton and Darlington Railway.

Local legend states that when the boulder hears the clock strike twelve the

Bulmer Stone turns around nine times. The stone remained in position until

1923 when it was removed and placed behind the college railings, where it

still stands. This might explain why no-one has seen it move since.

Plate 51. The Bulmer Stone on Northgate before it was moved behind railings

The significance of the Bulmer Stone is therefore exceptional, it having

several associations from the ice age to the birth of the railways and its

associations with myth and legend. There are few such features in the town

centre fringe and it therefore has added rarity value.

Other local myths and legends

Part of the Skerne, or possibly the Cocker Beck, off Northgate was used as a

ducking pond. Records from the 17th century recount a number of legal cases

where women accused of ‘scolding’ were ducked as punishment. These

traditions are not well known now and have little local resonance. Their

significance is therefore some.



The area has a few associations with ghosts including Lady Jarratt who once

stalked the Bishop’s Palace where she had an arm cruelly cut off during a

robbery in the Civil War. She apparently continued to make an appearance in

the Palace when it was turned into a workhouse and the silky swish off her

skirts has been heard along the corridors of the Town Hall which sits on the

site of the Palace (Lloyd undated, 108). The ghost of North Road Station has

at least managed to retain his haunting ground. A porter named Winter

committed suicide in the cellars below the station in the 19th century and he

has reputedly been seen walking along the platform with his black dog since

the 1850s (ibid). The dog has mysteriously turned white in the museum’s most

recent display of the cellars, but is undoubtedly a star attraction nevertheless.

COMMUNAL VALUES Significance

Community Interest in heritage of Darlington CONSIDERABLE

Railway Heritage EXCEPTIONAL

The Bulmer Stone EXCEPTIONAL

Local myths and legends SOME

4.4 Evidential Value and Significance

Archaeological potential of below ground

Existing records on the buried archaeology of the town centre fringe are

sparse. Early settlements are often to be found at the junction of a tributary

stream with its main river course. Evidence has been found of Mesolithic27

occupation along the river terrace which is now occupied by High Row and

this conforms to that pattern. The original route of the Skerne can be partly

discerned at Russell Street via Valley Street where a semi-circular brick

tunnel was built in 1900 to accommodate the river. This was smashed through

a few years ago by a utility company in Valley Street (I.Dougill pers comm.

27

10,000 years ago



12.7.10), but it marks the route of the river and therefore the river terraces

nearby which are in effect the areas of highest archaeological potential.

To the east of the river there is a potential for post medieval archaeological

deposits to survive along Parkgate and Freeman’s Place, and also along St.

Cuthbert’s Way between these two streets, although construction of St.

Cuthbert’s Way is likely to have severely truncated deposits in this latter area.

Elsewhere on this side of the river, the archaeological potential is low (ASUD

2009, 1).

An Anglian cemetery has been found at Greenbank, suggesting a settlement

of the 6th century AD not far away, which could be uncovered in any

development works in that area. Those areas with the highest potential are

nearest the medieval core around Houndgate, the Town Hall, Feethams and

Bondgate. However these areas have also been through considerable

redevelopment and archaeological work previously carried out has often been

disappointing because of the damage done to the ground by cellars,

especially in the 18th century, and by modern development. In Bondgate the

highest potential is likely to be in the areas of the medieval property

boundaries running back from Bondgate, but these areas are often just as

damaged and developed often resulting in a limited picture of earlier

occupation consisting of hearths and post holes, but dating evidence is often

too disturbed to be useful. Garden Street has already produced ‘an ancient

bridge’ of unknown date, found in 1903 and a Roman coin, found in 1904. The

former route of the river and the land to either side of it may be of some

archaeological potential particularly at crossing points. Perhaps of more

interest in this area is the potential for the mid 19th century layout of Edward

Pease’s renowned gardens to be preserved below the Garden Street car

park.

The railway heritage is an area of higher potential. Early maps such as the 1st

edition OS map dating to the 1850s show a number of buildings such as the

Railway Worsted Mill in the town centre fringe which are no longer in



existence but for which there might be below ground evidence. Further the

layout of the earliest buildings at the top of Northgate and their relationship to

early branch lines is not clearly understood. The excavation of buried railway

deposits has the potential to throw additional light on these exciting times

between the 1820s and the 1890s. Overall, there is therefore some potential

in the area for below ground archaeological remains.

Potential of buildings to contain archaeological information

The majority of buildings in the town centre fringe post date 1825. Earlier

buildings have long since been demolished. The potential for the buildings to

contain evidence relating to earlier buildings is therefore limited. Those

buildings at the top of High Northgate and south of the viaduct are most likely

to incorporate evidence relating to the earliest station.

Other buildings containing archaeological evidence include all the railway

buildings such as the lime cells and the carriage works which will help us to

understand the evolution of the railway and the growth of the town. Evidence

can be sparse and fragmentary. The coal drops to the rear of Westbrook

Villas along with the tallyman’s house are easily overlooked being along a

back lane and their function is not understood. For example what was the

purpose of the now blocked neo-Gothic arch in the coal drops? Could it be

part of Westbrook Cottage shown on the 1st edition OS map? Other coal

drops off Northgate are evidenced only in walling behind houses facing the

Cocker Beck (HER 7302) and coal drops on John Street are in perilous

condition requiring urgent recording.

At the foot of Northgate behind Edward Pease’s house is the only remaining

Weavers Cottage which merits recording so that a record exists for this

building type now so nearly extinct. The rest of the row was demolished

possibly to make way for the Lily Laundry, also now demolished and much of

Garden Street was demolished in the 1960s (I.Dougill pers comm. 12.7.10).



Edward Pease’s house has been through a number of alterations but plans

exist showing how it looked in 1825 and how it was altered in 1903, although

it is not always clear what alterations were actually made. Any future

alterations to this building should be accompanied by additional recording

enforced through listed building consent so that further light on the form and

evolution of the building can help to make decisions regarding its future uses.

The origins of the Railway Tavern are confused. Was the Blue Bell Inn an

earlier building on the same site which was renamed when the S&DR decided

to use it for carters and passengers, or was the old Blue Bell demolished and

a new railway tavern built? The answers may lie in the fabric of the building.

The shop at 112 High Northgate may contain evidence of the early 19th

century shop and the Skerne Bridge is likely to contain evidence relating to

the first railway bridges and the engineering solutions that were used at that

time. The tannery buildings off Parkgate on Tannery Row also represent a

near extinct building type and recording could expose information relating to

these small scale industries.

Buildings dating to WW2 are now rare and so a record should be made of the

air raid shelter on Weir Street. Air raid shelters took a number of forms but this

example appears to be a one-off, possibly a commission for a local works.

This information could perhaps be supplemented by oral history accounts and

wartime records in the local studies library.

Structures are also associated with the management of the Skerne. The weir

at Russell Street has evidence of a sluice system and the arch which carried

the mill race across to what is now Crown Street and down to Pease’s Mill.

The effective management of the river was critical to the success of

Darlington given the poor water supply that it was renowned for. Through this

management sufficient power was obtained to run a number of water powered

mills (I. Dougill pers comm. 12.7.10).



The role of urban archaeology in understanding settlement and urbanism has

been flagged up in the region’s Research Agenda and Strategy (Petts and

Gerrard 2006, 205-7). Of particular relevance is the need to routinely record

urban industrial structures (SU 19), the targeting of back plots which has

relevance around Pease’s house and adjacent buildings which pre-date the

expansion associated with increasing industrialisation (SU18). Collectively the

potential of the buildings in the town centre fringe to contain valuable

archaeological information is limited by the date range, but significant

because it can contribute towards our understanding of the railway heritage

(exceptional) and the 19th century development of the town (some). Proposals

to alter or demolish buildings which pre-date the 1930s should be

accompanied by a Statement of Significance so that it is clear to the decision

makes what will be preserved reused or lost that is of significance.

Educational value of railway heritage through extant remains

The town centre fringe area is already an educational resource based on the

growth of the railways. In addition to the more obvious resources such as the

Head of Steam Museum where the station and historic engines and railway

displays can be explored (free for educational visits), free teachers packs are

available including walks to Bank Top Station and railway related buildings

such as Edward Pease’s house and the Railway Tavern on Northgate, railway

buildings on McNay Street, the identification of railway names and the use of

the locomotion wheel in the design of seating in the town centre and the use

of rails in floorscaping in the market place. The majority of the schools using

the museum teacher’s packs are local; indeed no schools are using either

from the wider area. The post of Learning Officer in the Museum was only

established in September 2006 having been unfilled for a while and since then

educational use of the museum has grown from 2203 to 3326. However a

pattern of growth is not yet possible to identify as the museum has also been

closed for refurbishment. Consultation with teachers and the museum would

suggest that Darlington is less attractive to use as an educational resource

because of its environment. School teachers have little desire to walk children

passed a sex shop on the way to Bank Top or to peer at the world’s earliest



railway bridge through razor wire fencing. It would take considerable

imagination to see passed the pizza and kebab shops to imagine Edward

Pease meeting George Stephenson in his kitchen on Northgate (one suspects

that they might picture Pease tucking into a kebab!)

Looking at the wider educational value of the museum, statistics on the Head

of Steam’s visitor numbers suggest in the region of 25 to 28, 000 visitors per

year, of which between a third and a half are non-paying visitors.28 Again, it is

too soon after the museum’s recent refurbishment and new reduced winter

opening hours to have an accurate picture of the likely future trend. Much of

the site is under used; there is no public access to the Merchandising Station

and the land around it is surrounded by Darlington’s distinctive security

fencing. Further there is ironically no access to the museum from North Road

station; instead anyone alighting a train here has to walk a considerable

distance to access the museum or simply peer through more security fencing.

Overall the potential of the area to provide an educational resource through its

extant railway remains is exceptional, but it is currently only of some

significance due to a lack of positive management of the railway heritage

beyond the museum and due to the under-use of the museum site as a whole.

Evidential Value Summary Significance

Potential of the town centre fringe for below

ground remains

SOME

Potential for the town centre fringe for buildings

to contain archaeological information relating to

the railway heritage

EXCEPTIONAL

Potential for the town centre fringe for buildings

to contain archaeological information relating to

other building types

SOME

Potential educational value of railway heritage

through extant remains

EXCEPTIONAL

28

With thanks to Sarah Goldsborough from the Head of Steam Museum for these statistics which I

have summarised here



5.0 Statement of Significance Conclusion

The town centre fringe has much that is of significance; however it is an area

that hides its heritage assets well. Historic bowed windows peer out from

behind freezers, ornate rooftops are obscured by modern buildings, houses of

international significance sit shyly behind a kebab shop, the towns much loved

Bulmer stone sits trapped behind railings and renowned poets are long

forgotten. It is time that the town centre fringe celebrated its distinctive

heritage and its worthy residents past and present.

It is the railway heritage that consistently appears as the exceptional

contributor to local distinctiveness and as Darlington’s unique selling point.

The architecture is exceptionally significant because of the contribution that it

makes towards our understanding of the birth and early years of a mode of

transport that was to change the face of the world. Its educational value is

already exploited via the Head of Steam museum and has the potential to

provide more. The railway heritage also has considerable potential to draw

visitors to Darlington from across the world. However its condition and

management would have to match that of the Head of Steam Museum before

it was worth crossing continents for.

Decisions regarding the future management of the town will want to be guided

by the existing historic building stock and the predominantly 19th century

street pattern. It will need to consider the contribution that traditional building

materials, such as red brick and the beautiful scoria blocks, will make to the

Darlington of the future. New developments and the adaptation of existing

development will need to recognise the importance of designed and fortuitous

views towards significant skyline features and the restoration of more general

views which have been blighted by 20th century development. It will also need

to recognise the recent loss of important physical links with the town centre



and the river and important existing links to green spaces such as South Park.

Throughout all of the important future management decisions, we must ask, is

this proposal good enough for an area of town of international importance

because of its association with the birth of the railways?

‘The historic environment provides a tangible link with our past and

contributes to our sense of national, local and community identity. It also

provides the character and distinctiveness that is so important to a positive

sense of place. It can support the regeneration and sustainable economic and

social development of our communities. It can assist in the delivery of

housing, education and community cohesion aims. It is a key part of

England’s tourism offer. Through all this it enhances the quality of our daily

lives.’

PPS5 Historic Environment Planning Practice Guide 2010, Para 5

The management guidance which follows arises from a set of issues identified

through historic research and consultation with the local community. It covers

the whole of the town centre fringe first, before making more specific

management recommendations for each character area. These are broad

based recommendations; some are relatively easy to implement and are quick

fixes. Others are aspirational and longer term. Turning around the decline that

has set into parts of the town centre fringe cannot happen quickly and will be

hindered by the current economic decline, but short term solutions are not

always appropriate for the longer term benefit of the town centre fringe.


Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Darlington Borough Council

117

The Management Plan

CONTENTS

VOLUME II

Introduction 119

Issues and Management Recommendations 122

Loss of River 123

Streets dominated by cars 131

Car parking 135

Skyline features 138

Multiple occupancy as an indicator of decline 139

Inappropriate maintenance of historic buildings 144

Reuse of historic buildings stock 162

The design of new build 169

The protection of historic buildings 170

The railway heritage 174

Facilities for younger people 185

Local production of materials 186

Zones by Character Areas 188

Zone one:

S&DR 191

The Left Bank 195

Eastmount 197

Bondgate and Gladstone 199

The Lost Valley 202

Zones two and three:

The Bishop's Park 206

Borough Road 210

Zone four:

Bank Top 213

Zone Five:

Feethams 216

Bibliography 221

Appendix A The evolution of the town centre fringe 223

Appendix B Historic Street names in the town centre fringe 225

Appendix C Negative Features in the town centre fringe 227

Appendix D Conservation Areas in the town centre fringe 228

Appendix E Listed Buildings in the town centre fringe 229



118

Appendix F Local List of Buildings in the town centre fringe - Recommendations 230

Appendix G Statement of Significance - our approach 251



119

‘The historic environment can also be a positive force for change. Some of the

most successful regeneration schemes have used the historic environment as

a key inspiration for the delivery of dramatic physical and economic

transformation.’ Department for Communities and Local Government (2010)

Planning Practice Guide PPS5 Para 7

Introduction

This Conservation Management Plan is part of a suite of background reports

which will inform a number of forthcoming planning policy documents being

prepared by Darlington Borough Council. Of particular relevance is the Town

Centre Fringe Area Action Plan which will ensure that development and

regeneration in the area takes place in a way that maximises its contribution

to the prosperity and quality of life of the Borough. This will cover issues such

as land use, designations, local distinctiveness and design all of which are

covered in this report. It will also cover the promotion and enhancement of

the tourism and cultural heritage sector and what new and existing sites

should be retained for culture and tourism.

The recommendations in this management plan fall out of the first two parts of

the Conservation Management Plan, namely the Understanding the Town

Centre Fringe section and the Statement of Significance, both in volume I.

This management section looks at Management Issues, Conservation

Policies and cascades general town centre fringe wide advice down to

individual character areas. These policies and recommendations have been

devised as part of a programme of consultation and the views of consultees

are flagged up throughout the report.

Arising out of this report and the consultation process is a vision for the town

centre fringe which the Borough Council may wish to adopt:



120

The Vision

By 2025, two hundred years after the birth of the railway, Darlington’s Town

Centre Fringe will be transformed into a vibrant urban area with well-

maintained historic buildings, exciting small scale modern development, a

thriving tourism industry based on the railway heritage and a healthy

accessible river cherished by the local community.

In order to achieve this, the Borough Council in partnership with local

residents and businesses, will revitalise the Town Centre Fringe through

sustainable imaginative regeneration which recognises the historical value

and embodied energy of existing pre 1919 building stock.

The Council will also recognise the international importance of the Town

Centre Fringe’s railway heritage through conservation, restoration and

celebration of its role in the birth of the railways.



121

Figure 1. Darlington’s Town Centre Fringe outlined in green



122

Issues

The following issues were identified in the process of carrying out research

into the development of the town centre fringe, the Statement of Significance

and the public consultation. These issues are addressed below as policies

which will guide future decision making in the town centre fringe and in a

series of management recommendations either for the whole area or for

specific character areas. The following table summarises the issues identified

and cross references the related policy and management recommendation(s).

Issue (in no particular order) TCF

Policy

TCF Management

Recommendation

Loss of river HE1 a-h

Townscape dominated by cars, safety

railings and security fencing

HE2b HE2 a-c

Car Parking HE3 a-c

Loss of key views HE4 a-b HE4 a-b

Multiple occupancy as indicator of decline

and anti social behaviour

HE5 a-f

Inappropriate maintenance techniques on

historic buildings

HE6 a 1 HE6 a 1 and b-e

Re-use of historic building stock and their

adaptability for change

HE7 a-e HE 7a-f

The design of modern buildings and new

development

HE 8 a-b

Protecting historic buildings HE9 b

and d

HE 9 a-e

The railway heritage – an under

appreciated heritage asset

HE10 a-p

Lack of (inexpensive) facilities for younger HE 11



123

people See HE 10.10 and

HE7

Local production of materials HE 12a HE 12 a

Issues and Management Recommendations (whole area)

The following issues which could be addressed through future regeneration

works have been raised as a result of historic research carried out in

preparation for this Plan. However, most importantly, they have also been

raised through public consultation. Management recommendations follow on

from each issue. In some instances these recommendations are in the form of

a change or clarification of policy and where this occurs it has been shaded in

grey in the tables.

Issue HE 1. Loss of river

The river has been through many

guises in the town and each period

has brought its own advantages and

disadvantages. The ‘Peaceful Valley’

between Pease’s house and East

Mount with its rustic bridge and

orchards has long gone, to be

replaced by Edwardian warehouses,

empty car showrooms, unattractive

modern buildings and ruler straight

roads laid out in 1900; only a few

islands of architectural sanity remain

along the banks of the Skerne. The

river has been entirely culverted

below the ring road at Feethams and Victoria Road and is canalised along St

Cuthbert’s Way where it is overshadowed by massive modern sheds housing

shops and multi-storey car parks.

Plate 1. Floods at Haughton Road in 1963



124

When Daniel Defoe passed through in 1727 he recorded that Darlington had

‘a high stone bridge over little or no water’. At this time it was a broad shallow

stream with a tendency to rise rapidly after heavy rain. The river and its mill

races required regular scouring, a responsibility much avoided, but part of the

tenancy agreements of the bond holders of Bondgate (Cookson 2003, 48) and

this suggests that even in the 17th and 18th centuries it was not very fast

flowing. Yet in 1810 along its 13 miles of banks through Darlington it provided

enough energy for 12 mills. It has also been a source of reeds which were

used in local cottage industries to provide resources for basket weaving and

presumably also thatching.

The river was prone to bursting its banks and flooding low lying homes. In the

19th century this flooding could even extend to the town centre and Haughton

Road was particularly badly affected. In 1872 works to the river started to

address this problem and additional embankment works have eliminated the

flooding problem entirely. However in the course of taming the river, the river

has been lost from its central position in the town centre fringe and an

important wildlife habitat and amenity has been removed in the process.

‘The Skerne is a fertile source of disease, improved though it may be….when

at the town what small descent it had has been for centuries nullified by the

damming requisite for ancient mills, no wonder if in summer its surface should

be green and its smell offensive.’ Longstaffe 1909, 332 quoting Mr Ranger

reporting to the General Board of Health in 1849

The implications of climate change are not yet well understood but it is likely

to increase the risk of flooding and with one in six homes in England at risk

(Environment Agency), the removal of the defences which have tamed the

Skerne should not be undertaken lightly. However there may be a better

balance which combines the potential amenity value of the river, its natural

energy resource and its value as a wildlife habitat, but which still protects the

area from flooding?



125

There are two particular problems. One is the lack of water feeding into the

Cocker Beck. This needs to be remedied by the Environment Agency who

control the water flow from the Baydale Beck. Some additional flow will help to

scour the banks and oxygenate the river which will help to keep it clean and

improve its wildlife value. This is particularly important for the water vole

population along the Cocker Beck (I.Dougill pers comm. 12.7.10).

The second problem is the lack of access to the river resulting in its loss as an

amenity and a subsequent tendency for it to be used to dump rubbish from

the lanes off Chesnut Street and from Northgate into the Cocker Beck.

Loss of River - Management

Recommendation HE 1

The approach to returning the river

back to the inhabitants of Darlington

will be a piecemeal one. Access

already exists at a number of places

and these are marked on figure 2 in

green.

a) Access from Northgate to the

Cocker Beck was provided in

Victorian times by a small gate

(opposite the Bridge Inn and next to

the monument sculpturer’s) and this

Figure 2. Red temples indicate features, buildings or streets which enhance or have the potential to enhance historic character and should therefore be retained with new uses identified where appropriate. Green paths indicate where existing access to the Skerne can be obtained and blue lines are where access could be negotiated in the short term.



126

still exists, but is overgrown and neglected. The beck is now overlooked by an

RSJ supported garden which partially covers the beck and reduces the flow.

While this arrangement of building over part of the beck may have been

legitimate, there is scope to reopen the gateway and bring this access back

into use, without impinging on the garden. This small stretch of beck leads

upstream to another gate and on to Westbrook where the river has a greater

role to play in the amenity of local residents, flowing as it does through what

was once Henry’s Folly or Westbrook Gardens. The gateway requires some

repair work and the beck bank promoted as an attractive place to sit away

from the traffic.

Plate 2. A forgotten gate into the Cocker Beck from Northgate

b) Opposite this gate is the Bridge

Inn on Northgate. This has a

small beer garden on its north

side. Beyond the high wooden

fence which forms the boundary

of the beer garden is the Cocker Beck, enclosed between the beer garden

and the adjacent historic building which is much neglected. If the beer garden

fence was replaced with iron railings at a lower height it would bring the beck

into the beer garden and create a more attractive area than the one which

exists at present. There is a risk that some drinkers might throw rubbish into

the beck, but as part of the package the pub tenants would need to agree to

collect any rubbish from their stretch.



127

c) Buildings which front on to

Valley Street also back on to the

Skerne. Originally these buildings left

a strip of land about 3-5m wide

between the property boundaries and

the river/weir. This has been

encroached upon by sheds, probably without planning permission (it may not

have been required for such small structures). With the agreement of the

landowners, this strip could be restored in order to improve access to the river

bank on the east side between Valley Street and Chesnut Street.

d) Additional access will have to be long term based on opportunity. As

buildings are vacated or planning permission applied for, an access path

needs to be part of any enabling development. Some can and should be

negotiated quickly, for example access to the river and the Skerne Bridge

along the side of Magnet off John Street. While the roadway is used for lorries

loading, there is sufficient room for a pavement which, if agreed by the

owners, would link up to the footpath which currently runs to the Skerne

Bridge from the north side. The pavement may require some railings for

health and safety reasons in order to protect users from reversing lorries. This

bridge is a nationally important scheduled ancient monument and of

international significance and deserves better than the current distant views of

it from behind razor wire at Magnets showroom. Further this particular access

Figure 3. Deeds map of c1895 showing a public footpath running between Russell Street and Chesnut Street before the area was developed c1900. Only a small section of this survives but the potential exists to create a near-riverside walk along Weir Street’s back lanes as part of the area’s regeneration (map courtesy of Chris Fish). The buildings shown just above the word ‘footpath’ still exists, probably the oldest building in this part of the TCF.



128

will provide an alternative quieter route towards North Road station and the

Head of Steam museum and so provides the impetus for a railway heritage

walk within the town. This would require an additional linking path across what

is currently waste ground between the Skerne Bridge and Northgate. This

exists as a permissive path at the moment but is not signed and there is

nothing to encourage walkers to use it.

Once riverside areas are accessible and well –used, the opportunities for anti-

social behaviour will hopefully diminish in time.

‘We are pleased to see that the document contains proposals for restoring the

river and improving access to it - healthy rivers can increase property values,

boost recreational opportunities, attract tourists, reduce water pollution, and

protect people and property from flooding.

Culverts, dams, and other man-made structures disrupt the natural functions

of rivers, leaving many of them lifeless or cut off from their communities. We

therefore welcome the proposals in the document, which show others how

quickly a river can heal and how local businesses and property owners, as

well as fish and wildlife, thrive when rivers are restored.’

Sophie Evans, Planning Officer, Environment Agency. 9.7.10

e) Maps dating to c.1895 (figure 3) show that there was a public footpath

running along roughly what is now Weir Street before that area was

developed. The path is in fact the old course of the Skerne before it was

canalised (I. Dougill pers comm. 12.7.10). There is an existing riverside

access along the Skerne from Russell Street to Weir Street, but as the area is

hopefully developed (see HE7 and the ‘Left Bank’ section) creating an

attractive near riverside environment should be part of the overall vision for

the ‘Left Bank’.

f) The riverbank between Russell Street and the ring road is under used,

with steep banks which discourage access while making any use of the banks



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hazardous because of the steep slope downwards. The placing of the storage

and waste area of the former MFI store and the existing Halfords, means that

youths have access to rubbish which they acquire and throw into the river.

This stretch of riverbank needs to be linked through better landscaping with

the rest of the riverbank with matching crossings on the ring road. When the

MFI site is redeveloped, consideration should be given to acquiring more land

as a riverside walkway. The capping stone from one of the piers of the listed

bridge made by Pease and Fry in 1881 has been toppled off. It was visible for

some time in the river (I. Dougill pers comm.) but has since disappeared. A

new one needs to be made or the original found downstream and refitted.

Plate 3. The 19

th century Pease and Fry bridge and the river are not shown at their best

being encased in vandalised concrete with safety barriers necessitated by the angle of slope. Additional land acquired from MFI (possibly as part of enabling development?) could improve riverside access here.

g) The river has been culverted below the ring road and Victoria Road

and makes a reappearance along Victoria Embankment. As part of a wider

scheme to reduce the visual impact of the ring road, consideration needs to



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be given to returning the river to the surface as a townscape feature and an

amenity asset.

h) The listed bridge near South Park on Victoria Embankment is suffering

from vandalism and has temporary boarding up to protect it. It needs repair

work as part of a package to improve pedestrian and cycle links between

Victoria Embankment, South Park and Feethams (see HE9 and Bank Top

character area and Zone 5 management recommendation, all below).

Summary of management

recommendations HE1 – loss of river

Timetable

a) Restore Cocker Beck access from Northgate to Westbrook

1-3 years1

b) negotiate visual access to beck and its management (litter collection) from the Bridge Inn beer garden

1-3 years

c) Move sheds back 3-5m from the east bank of the Skerne between Russell Street and Chesnut Street

gradual over 10 years

d) Negotiate access from the side of Magnets on John Street to the Skerne Bridge then improve path facilities from the bridge to Northgate with signage to the museum

1-3 years

e) Recreate attractive footpath walks along Weir Street as part of a wider redevelopment package which will link existing riverside access beside the printing Works and Edward Pease’s House.

1-15 years and as opportunities arise through the planning process

f) Ensure redevelopment of MFI site improves and enhances access to the river bank.

1-5 years

Redesign road crossing to link the river across the road.

1-15 years

Repair missing cap from listed bridge pier. 1-3 years

g) Bring the river back to the surface in the vicinity of St Cuthbert’s Way and Victoria Road as part of wider landscaping scheme to reduce the visual impact of the ring road

within 15 years

h) Enhance the scoria block back lane between Victoria Embankment and

within 7 years

1 Subsequent consultation has suggested that local residents would like to see this actioned sooner



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Feethams through the redevelopment of Feethams to create a safer walking/cycling environment and as part of this scheme, repair the listed bridge across the Skerne.

Issue HE 2. Streets dominated by cars

Plans were discussed for a Darlington ring road soon after WW2 and were

approved in 1952. The development, completed a stage at a time, involved a

huge amount of demolition, and the new road scythed through houses,

offices, shops and pubs as it swept around Victoria Road, Bondgate,

Northgate and Valley Street. The final section which would have completed

the circle around the historic town centre, involved demolition of properties in

Larchfield Street and in 1990 the decision was made not to go ahead. There

are a few lonely survivors stranded by the roadside such as the Cricketers

pub, St Hilda’s Church and the Britannia pub.

‘Darlington may be considered an ideal cycling centre either for the lover of

nature or the maker of road records; as the scenes to which it gives ready

access are of more than ordinary variety and interest, and the roads are

generally of good condition.’

Darlington Half Holiday Guide 1899, 233

The arguments for building the ring road seemed sound. The traffic through

the town was busy and noisy and by getting the traffic moving and providing

car parks close to the town centre, local business would thrive as access to

the shops improved. But there were other consequences and other factors

have created a different set of priorities today.

Since then the outer ring road has been built and this has taken some of the

pressure off Darlington as through traffic can now use the A1 or the A66. The

inner ring road is therefore serving Darlington residents helping them get from

A to B within Darlington and beyond. The stretch between Northgate and

Bondgate has become less essential as the road only leads to Bondgate



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where the traffic has to slow down in order to travel along conventional town

centre roads.

Then and Now…

Plate 4. Parkgate roundabout before the ring road

Plate 5. It is no longer possible to obtain the same view due to demolition and the presence of safety fencing which restricts access to pedestrians along the dual carriageway

Further research has since been carried out which suggests that building new

roads only creates additional traffic, although this argument was first aired in a



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report as far back as 1963. Critics of the approach of adding capacity have

compared it to "fighting obesity by letting out your belt" (inducing demand that

did not exist before).2 Whether the ring road achieved what it set out to

achieve is beyond the remit of this report, but what it did do was create a

physical and psychological barrier between the town centre and the town

centre fringe and it resulted in the demolition of many historic buildings with a

resulting loss of historic character.

Before the ring road, shoppers had been able to walk along Northgate and

continue onwards to what has since become the town centre fringe and the

eye was drawn onwards to the shops below Edward Pease’s house, the

technical college and the United Reform Church spire. The ring road has

divided Northgate into one half with a successful shopping environment and

(presumably) high rateable values and a second half of less accessible shops

with (presumably) low ratable values and a collection of shops dominated by

take aways and empty buildings.

Cars are given the priority over pedestrians. Pedestrians are forced under

ground into subways while cars can speed ahead to the next roundabout and

a bottle neck. The adjacent car parks should be well used by shoppers, but

they are not especially busy on Kendrew, Garden and Gladstone Streets

where shoppers have to use subways to get back to the main shopping area.

Meanwhile illegal car parking on yellow lines around Garden Street and other

lanes is not tackled and the landscaping in the car parks is poor, enforcing a

sense of decay and neglect.

The physical nature of the ring road barriers has been exacerbated by

permitting the development of very large unattractive buildings around its

perimeter which as well as destroying historic character also block views to

historic roof lines, spires and towers in the town centre. This wall of monotony

also encourages careless driving. There is no sense that this is a road

through a community. Instead the dual carriageway, central barriers, restricted

2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_congestion#Supply_and_demand [accessed 16.5.10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_congestion#Supply_and_demand



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pedestrian use and buildings which stare blankly into nothingness, create the

impression of a traffic corridor, no matter how many flowers are planted on the

roundabout.

Streets dominated by cars - Management Recommendations HE2

a) After so much investment is it realistic to revisit the role of the ring

road? Some difficult questions should be asked. For example, do we really

need St Augustine’s Way to be a dual carriageway? The expanse of the ring

road needs to be reduced, if not physically, then visually. This can be done by

creating road fronted development of a different design standard than has

been allowed in the past half century. The existing development alongside St

Cuthbert’s Way and St Augustine’s Way lacks design detail and looks no

better than huge empty boxes. By introducing road fronted development

which has interesting design features facing the ring road and Parkgate, we

create the feeling of a narrower corridor more sympathetic to the original

street patterns of the town. New development needs to create varied roof

lines, and designed gaps affording views to the town centre and St Cuthbert’s

in particular. By doing this we can convey to passing traffic that this is a

vibrant town where pedestrians and cyclists can be expected to have equal or

greater access to the streets than cars.

b) The presence of the subway which cuts Northgate in two and channels

many shoppers away from Northgate puts pedestrians underground while

giving cars the right of way. It has bisected the historic north road of the town

creating an area where large retailers are prepared to invest in the south side,

but the north side displays evidence of decline. It is beyond the remit of this

report to come up with solutions to this problem and solutions have been

sought in other historic cities to put right similar townscape mistakes of the

60s and 70s, but they are prohibitively expensive. However, it should be a

policy decision within the town centre fringe that traffic management should

give pedestrians and cyclists priority and that subways and dual carriageways

are detrimental to historic character and are therefore not appropriate in the

town centre fringe.



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c) The consultation process flagged up a desire for a park and ride scheme

which would reduce the traffic in the town and along the ring road.

Summary of Management Recommendations HE2 – Streets dominated by cars

Timetable

a)Create design briefs for the ring road area to encourage street fronted development with varied roof lines and detailed designed elevations facing the ring road and Parkgate (where appropriate), with gaps to create vistas towards the town centre and St. Cuthbert’s spire in particular. There are plots currently available for redevelopment plus proposals to move the fire station and police station away from the ring road and so this policy should be implemented immediately.

Immediate

b)Traffic management should give priority to pedestrians and cyclists and prevent the construction of further subways or dual carriageways within the town centre fringe.

Immediate

c) the Council to explore a park and ride scheme

Issue HE 3. Car parking

There is a curious, if sometimes coincidental, link between the growth of car

parks and the loss of historic assets. The Bishop’s Palace (demolished 1870)

is under the Town Hall car park; Beaumont Street and Houndgate sit atop the

site of part of medieval Darlington; Pease’s garden and Weavers Cottages are

under Garden Street car park; old properties were demolished to make way

for Kendrew Street and some of the earliest development in the town centre

fringe was demolished to make way for the Commercial Street car parks.

These car parks lack landscaping and make a negative contribution towards

townscape, but many lie empty, presumably because they are too expensive,

in the wrong place or illegal parking elsewhere is not being enforced. A

strategic review of car parking is now underway which needs to consider the

following:

Car Parking – HE3 Management Recommendations



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a) Beaumont Street, Houndgate and Feethams car parks sit within the

medieval townscape but are currently historic character vacuums. They would

be better filled with high density mixed use development, street fronted with

varied roof lines, yards and alleys as streetscape. Design briefs should reflect

this and look for buildings of no more than three storeys, with a

preponderance of brick with below eaves detailing and the use of further

detailing, windows and doors to create interesting facades. As with all new

development, vistas should be affording glimpses towards skyline features

such as the market hall clock tower and St Cuthbert’s, but also views into the

medieval street pattern of the town centre and the back of Central Hall and

such open spaces could still accommodate some car parking behind the new

properties. The use of hanging shop signs and design details reflecting the

town’s railway heritage can also contribute towards historic character.

b) Garden Street car park is under-used and access to it is along narrow back

lanes. It is the former site of Edward Pease’s gardens which extended down

to the river and is therefore the setting of Pease’s house, a listed building. The

last remaining weaver’s cottage behind Pease’s house has also been

included in this report as a recommendation for inclusion in the local list of

historic buildings. The area of the car park could be put to better use more in

keeping with the historic importance of the area. This report has made a

number of recommendations regarding the railway heritage (see HE10) and

the redevelopment of this car park should be part of this process. The wider

Weir Street area, extending from Russell Street to John Street should be the

focus of mixed use development with an emphasis on residential development

consisting of existing Victorian housing stock and conversions of warehouses.

The car park itself presents a number of options and a design brief would help

point potential developers in the right direction:

1. the simplest and easiest is to restore the Weavers Yard from the

remaining Weavers cottage down through the centre of the car park,

down the side of the world war air raid shelter(where original sandstone

and scoriae block surfacing survives) and terminating at a T-junction in



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front of the Skerne Printing Works conversions. This would then

release land on either side of it for mixed use development, or a

mixture of car parking and developments.

2. The car park could be partly developed (restoring the Weavers Yard)

and a garden or allotment area created for residents of the area as it is

developed. This would be in keeping with its former use as a garden.

c) The car parks at Kendrew Street and King Street provide parking for town

centre users, but they are open windy expanses devoid of character. A

combination of landscaping and some limited street fronted development

would reduce their negative impact.

The loss of these car parks in full or in part may be keenly felt by current

users and so alternative car parking needs to be found. Sainsbury’s make a

significant contribution with free parking for two hours within walking distance

of the town centre. This should be recognised for the contribution it makes

towards the economy of Sainsbury’s and the town. The site of MFI, now

closed, also offers some unofficial car parking and this could be formalised in

any new development of the site. New residential developments should also

be encouraged to consider below ground parking as has already happened on

Victoria Road adjacent to Sainsbury’s, although the archaeological

implications of this will need to be tested before any plans are drawn up in

detail. Finally, future street fronted development along the ring road should

include small areas of car parking within the development suitable for people

wishing to use the town centre shops. As part of this car parking strategy, the

maintenance of the car parks needs to be agreed. Garden Street has had

broken walls and barriers for some time and this adds to the air of neglect

surrounding the car parks.

Summary of Management Recommendations HE3 – Car parking

Timetable

Car parking strategy to consider the following:



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a) Beaumont Street, Houndgate and Feethams to be redeveloped as mixed use development with a design brief to reflect varied roof lines, vistas to town centre and historic skyline features, yards and alleys


b) Garden Street to be redeveloped with mixed use, restore Weavers Yard, re-instate ‘Edward Pease’s garden’ in part or allotment element – design brief required


c) Kendrew Street and King Street car parks reduced through landscaping and possibly street fronted development

up to 10 years

Issue HE 4. Loss of key views to historic skyline buildings

The Statement of Significance (figure 5 volume I) has shown the importance

of views towards historic skyline features as a contributor to historic character.

The most important skyline features are Bank Top Station clock tower, St

Cuthbert’s spire, the Northgate United Reform Church, St John’s Church and

the Market Hall clock tower.

Loss of historic skyline features – HE4 management recommendation

a) Before granting planning permission for new development the impact on

these views needs to be considered and developers are to be encouraged to

incorporate vistas towards any of these features, or other historic skyline

features, in their development.

Summary of Management Recommendations HE4 – Skyline features (New policy is shaded)

Timetable

a) New developments should seek to incorporate views towards historic skyline features


b) Planning applications will be assessed against the impact of the proposal against skyline features.




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Issue HE 5. Multiple occupancy and anti-social behaviour as an indicator of

decline

When Victorian houses were built, over 90% of them were rented (Yorke

2007, 15) with the remaining few owned as freehold. This figure has altered in

favour of home ownership, but some areas such as Northgate have a high

multiple occupancy rate consisting of bedsits and older properties sub-divided

into many flats. These have been identified as being associated with anti-

social behaviour and badly maintained historic buildings by residents and the

local police. The division of a historic property into bedsits is not the best

management regime for large houses as they become over-divided leading to

a loss of understanding regarding how space was originally used and many

traditional features are removed and sold on in the process of conversion.

Multiple Occupancy and anti-social behaviour HE5 Management

Recommendation.

a) The Borough Council have recognised the spiral of decline associated with

multiple occupancy and no more planning permissions will be granted for

such accommodation in the town centre fringe. For those properties already

in multiple occupancy or with absentee landlords who do not adequately

maintain their proprieties, provision already exists to enforce higher standards

of care under the under Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act

1990 (as amended by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991) and has

been used to some effect in Hastings3 where visible improvements have been

made in areas with high absentee landlord ownership. However this requires

investment in enforcement action and this is an area that the consultation

process has suggested that Darlington Borough Council could improve (see

HE 5b below).

b) The consultation process has suggested that residents would like to see

more enforcement of planning regulations, even where it is the council who

3 Judith Warren pers comm. (1.6.2010), Conservation & Design Team, Hastings Borough Council



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are the developers; a higher standard of enforcement is sought for breached

planning regulations which result in a loss of historic character.

‘So many of our historic buildings have been lost, ignored or destroyed that if

this [enforcement] policy does not change we will lose our unique appeal as a

Quaker & railway town and any advantage in aid of a boost to tourism. As I

undertake guided historical walks on a regular basis feedback from the public

suggests that they want to know the history of the town and are proud of it’.

Jean Kirkland B.A. Local historian.

c) A better response rate from the council to complaints outside normal office

hours is required (although there were some very complimentary comments

on existing response rates from some council departments). The ability of the

council to respond to complaints (and whether they are the right people to

complain to) needs to be reviewed.

d) There were mixed comments on the council’s and police’s response to

complaints regarding dog fouling and fly-tipping and suggestions that the

response was not fast enough to catch anti-social dog owners. Fly-tipping is a

particular problem, but when local residents ask the council to remove illegally

dumped objects, they are told that they will have to pay to have it removed. A

better policy for removing fly-tipping is required that does not penalise the

residents who care about their environment.

Plate 6. Litter gathers at the end of Pensbury Street

e) Litter was also identified as

being ‘one of the most negative

aspects of the area’ and

suggestions that wardens and

notices of fines and community



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vigilance would help. There are already a number of local heroes who collect

litter, bottles and spent syringes from the area, but a more formal wardening

service to support these people with additional local voluntary support, could

in time, help to prevent further littering. A model for a wardening service

already exists in Middlesbrough and offers a service 365 days a year from

about 10.20am until 11.30pm. These wardens collect rubbish but also tackle

anti-social behaviour on the ground, such as fly tipping and dog fouling.

Other suggestions include creating ‘Street Champions’ to report

environmental problems to the council. However such unofficial champions

already exist and they complain that the council’s opening hours and

response times are not fit for purpose. The council, in addition to considering

if they can better respond to complaints regarding littering, fly-tipping and dog

fouling, might also want to consider naming and shaming offenders.

f) The back lanes tend to be a focus for illegal dumping, but surprisingly this

was not raised in the consultation process.4 Other local authorities have

carried out ‘back lane blitzes’ where back lanes are cleaned up and residents

have notices put through their doors reminding them that it is illegal to dump

rubbish in the lanes. However this can alienate the upstanding citizens and

has to be followed up by public prosecutions and fines of repeat offenders

under the Environmental Protection Act. If offenders are in rented

accommodation, then the landlord has to carry some responsibility for the

tenant’s behaviour. The extent of dumping along back lanes was not

especially bad in Darlington, with the worse areas being in the back lanes of

Roslyn Street.

4 However when the draft report was circulated publicly for comment, there was some agreement that

this was an issue and that back lanes could be perceived to be threatening places.



142

Plate 7. Some limited dumping in the back lane behind Roslyn Street

Plate 8. A back lane make-over in North Ormesby.



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The back lanes tend to be perceived as being the focus of anti-social

behaviour, because the activities within them cannot be monitored from the

houses due to the high back walls. There have been attempts to renovate

back lanes in other terraced housing areas of the north east. These ‘make-

overs’ consist of gating the back lanes and residents are encouraged to

create planters and hanging baskets. Household rubbish is also collected in

larger bins which are shared rather than a wheelie bin for every house. The

result has been a reduction in arson incidents and fly-tipping, the creation of a

healthier environment for residents and a greater sense of community. A

similar scheme could be trialled in parts of the TCF, but the back lanes would

have to be carefully chosen. Many have had garage doors inserted of different

sizes and shapes which detract from the original lines of red brick walls, with

two small wooden openings. The design of the gates would need to be

carefully chosen to reflect the Victorian style of housing, to be robust enough

to deter damage and have some transparency to allow light into the lane.

They should not add to the sense of fear already created by wall tops with

sherds of glass or razor wire. Areas for consideration could include Borough

Road, Russell Street, Haughton Road, Sun Street, Gladstone Street or

Pensbury Street.

In the end, it will be the fact that people are living and are being active in the

area that will prevent littering and fly-tipping and so the reuse of empty

buildings and high density housing in currently derelict areas will all help to

make litter dropping less possible without being caught.

Summary management recommendations: Multiple Occupancy as indicator of decline

Timetable

a) The council has already decided to put a moratorium on multiple occupancy planning permissions and so no action is required

underway

b) Enforcement needs to be improved where loss of historic character is threatened

Immediate

c) The Council need to consider how best to respond to resident’s

Immediate



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complaints regarding anti-social behaviour of its own tenants or breaches of local bye-laws

d) The police and the council need to consider if dog fouling and fly-tipping can be targeted for a rapid response when complaints are made and the council needs to reconsider charging honest residents for the acts of dishonest ones.

Immediate

e) The council and local communities to join together to create a wardening service collecting litter until such time as the area regenerates and litter dropping becomes more difficult

Immediate

f) Consult with the local community to see if there is a demand to trial gated and landscaped back lanes.

1-5 years

Issue 6. Inappropriate maintenance techniques on historic buildings

The techniques used to build and maintain buildings in Victorian times and

indeed until as recently as the 1950s were different to those used today. This

has created problems in the health of the housing stock because modern

materials such as concrete, plastic air tight windows and damp proofing can

be damaging to pre 1919 buildings. The use of replacement windows and

doors, usually in plastic and usually of all different shapes and sizes has

resulted in a loss of design detail such as the harmonious facades created by

the terraced house when they were first built. There are also issues of

sustainability with plastic windows which use considerable non-renewable

resources in their production, which fail to degrade once in landfill and which

cannot last as long as a well-maintained timber window.

Repointing, pebbledash, render and cladding

Most houses in the town centre fringe were built before 1919 and the walls

were held together by lime mortar cement. Increasingly from the middle of the

19th century Portland cement came into use which was harder. When

carrying out repairs it is important to use the same materials as those

originally used. The finished pointing was in all cases either flush with the



145

brickwork or slightly recessed. Lime mortar is porous so when the brickwork

becomes wet, the rainwater drains through the porous pointing and allows the

brick to dry out. Modern cements are impervious and so do not allow the

water to drain out through the pointing. It has to find a way out through the

brickwork or stone and this causes the bricks to flake away. It is therefore

important that when brickwork is re-pointed that careful consideration is given

to the appropriate mortar which should be recessed back from the brick’s

face. Changing the mortar mix from lime mortar to a modern cement can alter

the way the building breathes and lead to damp and condensation.

Lime mortar is self-healing. This means that slight movement caused by

subsidence or settling and thermal movement can generally be

accommodated. Cement mortars do not have any of these healing properties

and will fracture and fail and encourage moisture to enter the walls. Over time

this will accelerate the decay of the brickwork. Similarly spray or paint on

sealants should not be used on brick without considerable thought.

Some residents have however chosen to dispense with repointing altogether

and have opted for a range of claddings ranging from hard cement render to

stone effect cladding. These create similar problems for the house as using

hard cement in repointing, but the problem is exacerbated because there is no

escape route for moisture and so it collects behind the cement barrier. This

leads to damp problems, the fracturing of the brick and any soluble salts in the

water (from road gritting) form powdery deposits on the wall face causing

more damage. Cement is applied densely is also inflexible. Buildings move

slightly with temperature and moisture levels, but a cement coating will not be

able to move with the building and cracks will appear. Water can be trapped in

those cracks and exacerbates them and the masonry behind the render starts

to deteriorate rapidly. This leads to a build up of moisture in the walls and

damp (Historic Scotland 2001, 8).

However external render can be made of a lime based mortar in which case

the visual effect is the same, but the building can still breathe and the render



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is flexible enough to accommodate slight movement. The lime has the added

benefit of being a mild fungicide which if maintained, prevents moss from

growing on the walls. In general terms however, no render should be applied

to brick buildings which were designed to retain their brick facades because

these facades normally contain design details which are lost when coatings

are applied.

The same principle of care applies as choosing repointing techniques; if the

house was built with a lime wash, continue to use a lime wash. If it was not

rendered, do not add render to it as you will upset the house’s long

established natural balance. Similarly, if it was originally rendered, removing

the render and exposing stonework or brickwork to the elements for the first

time, will alter the building’s established breathability with unpredictable

consequences.

A combination of lime based renders and stone can be found in the town

centre fringe (North Road Station), but it is not predominant.

Plate 9. Cement renders damage the brickwork beneath, reduce thermal performance, cause condensation and damp and create a negative visual impact.

The lack of breathability of cement renders and pointing also affects the

thermal performance of a building (Historic Scotland 2007). The process of

moisture movement in a building with lime mortar allows a degree of control

over condensation within a building. This creates a better thermal

performance than a building which is repaired with cement mortar or renders,

as these walls are likely to remain damp. In direct contrast, the use of cement

mixes for pointing repairs and the application of hard cement renders



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dramatically reduces the passage of moisture, slowing the drying out times

considerably and increasing the risk of condensation problems.

As a response to damp problems, owners are inclined (and are indeed

required, if they want a mortgage) to have a damp proof course inserted. This

will not cure the damp if it is being caused by using hard cements. Indeed

there is considerable research showing that damp proofing old properties is of

no use whatsoever and can in fact cause damp.

Old properties need to breathe. The insertion of a damp proof course, cement

renders, cement repointing and cladding will all restrict the building’s ability to

breathe. Other causes of damp in old properties can be as simple as using

rubber backed carpets, which again restrict breathability. The blocking off of

air movement in older properties (and indeed in new ones) can also cause

woodbeetle infestation, dry rot and wet rot as a result of increased moisture

levels (Historic Scotland 2007).

Windows

Most windows in the town centre fringe were originally wooden sashes of

several small panes (pre mid 19th century) or wooden sashes of four panes

(post mid 19th century). Such windows have a life span of about 100 years if

maintained and can in fact last much longer. Very early examples of Yorkshire

sliding sashes, or

casement windows

are no longer

extant. One shop in

High Northgate has

a mid 19th century

example of a bowed

window with lead

dome above.

Plate 10. Two window types in the town centre fringe. On the left is a multi-pane sash window as seen in properties pre-dating the mid 19

th

century. On the right is a four pane sash which would have been in most terraced houses.



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Nearly all examples of these windows have been lost and replaced with more

recent windows which are mostly made of uPVC. But research by English

Heritage has shown that it is much cheaper to repair old windows than it is to

install plastic substitutes (English Heritage 1994). These modern windows can

be made to look and open like sash windows, but in most cases, no attempt

has been made to copy the original design. The use of plastic instead of a

sustainable resource such as wood is questionable in any case, but it also

restricts the breathability of the house and can lead to damp. Victorian houses

were also originally built with fireplaces which changed the air throughout the

house, but many of these chimneys have been blocked up creating an

environment where air does not move throughout the house and this can lead

to the creation of mould and an increase in allergens (Centre for Research on

Indoor Climate and Health 2007 and Historic Scotland 2007). To compensate

for this, new wooden windows are required to have trickle vents inserted, but

in fact this is wholly unnecessary if the building is managed in a traditional

way with lime mortar, wooden windows and open chimneys fitted with a

ventilated chimney cap where it is no longer in use (ibid).

Plate 11. Local variations on traditional sash windows can be found throughout the town centre fringe. These local differences create distinctive character areas and should be retained. Starting from the left: three pane sash windows can be found on Borough Road towards Haughton Road, but towards Parkgate and on Middleton Street these distinctive arched sashes can be found. The houses on Greenbank road were designed with these bay windows to the main ground floor reception room and the main bedroom above. It was thought that using small panes of glass on the top would restrict light and protect furnishings. Arched stairlight windows can be found to the rear of some properties especially along McNay Street/ Station Road, although the survival of stained glass as seen here is very rare in the town centre fringe



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Windows are perceived to be a source of

heat loss and in times when energy

efficiency has become important, the

childhood recollections of rattling sash

windows have driven people towards uPVC

double glazing. However there are

alternatives. In listed buildings traditional sash windows have to be used if that

is what was originally used, but for any sash window draught stripping can be

fitted cheaply and unobtrusively to a timber sash and case windows.

However for other older properties, there are real alternatives to uPVC in

addition to draught stripping. Wooden sashes can be made with double

glazing if new windows are required. Secondary double glazing can be

installed to existing sash windows. Sash windows which rattle or where the

wood has rotted can be repaired indefinitely providing that they are cared for.

They will outlive plastic windows and once removed the glass can be recycled

and the timber burnt or reused. They need never appear in landfill. The

energy efficiency of an existing 19th century sash window can be made to

equate to a double glazed unit simply through the addition of heavy curtains,

blinds and/or shutters (Baker 2008). If shutters and blinds are added to well

maintained windows, they will reduce heat loss by 58% - this is what our

ancestors did and we need to relearn from the past how to make our homes

not just energy efficient, but healthy.

Doors

Traditional doors in the town centre fringe have gone the same way as

windows with many fine ornamented doorways being ruined by the insertion

Plate 12. These two terraced houses on Middleton Street were built to look the same. No. 10 on the left has retained its traditional sash windows and four panelled door. It has also avoided cladding and so the brick detailing can be seen. The house next door has been pebble- dashed and has had mid to late 20

th century windows and door inserted and now

does a good impersonation of a house built in the 1970s.The pebble dashed exterior will be damaging the brickwork beneath.



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of a narrow plastic door from a do-it-yourself chain. The issue of breathability,

the lack of a sustainable resource and the inability of the product to

biodegrade once it has been consigned to landfill, is the same as for windows.

They create additional problems in that it is difficult to attach door bells or

house numbers to plastic doors and so these features gradually disappear

from use. Traditionally doors were made of wood and often had a door light

above. Most door lights in the town centre fringe would have been rectangular

possibly with the house name painted in gold and some Edwardian examples

will have made use of stained glass which would have cast colourful patterns

into the hallway. These door lights allowed light into the entrance hall and

made door lights unnecessary. Victorian doors were mostly four panelled

doors, but the earliest properties of the early 19th century probably had 6

panelled doors. There were however local variations. On Greenbank Road

and Victoria Embankment houses were built with three panelled doors and a

circular design detail that is still used on a number of houses, creating an

individual Greenbank/Embankment style. Poorer houses, outbuildings and

entrances to yards used simple batten and ledged doors. Generally, doors are

responsible for 10% of the heat loss from a home (as opposed to 35% from

the walls and 25% from the roof). Traditionally, insulation would be provided

by a heavy curtain behind the door and this continues to be an effective and

cheap way to reduce heat loss. Victorian door furniture also favoured

unassertive styles, usually in black or the same colour as the door, but never

in shiny brass. Fittings would be attached to the structural members of the

door, never into the panels.



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Plate 13. Traditional door styles from the town centre fringe. Starting from the left: the Greenbank/Victoria Embankment doors, then six panelled doors favoured in the Georgian period, a batten and ledged door for a side entrance into a school near Winston Street.

Inappropriate maintenance techniques on historic buildings – HE 6

management recommendations

a) Stopping the decline

Home owners can change their windows and doors without planning

permission. It is a requirement to conform to building regulations, but these

regulations have been drawn up for modern properties and are not

appropriate for houses built pre 1919. With no requirement for planning

permission it is difficult to control what replacement windows should be used.

There are a number of options:

1. Shop windows do require planning permission and so it should only be

granted where traditional designs and preferably materials are to be

used in pre 1919 buildings.

2. Conservation Areas can have permitted development rights withdrawn

so that permission must be obtained to replace windows, doors,

boundary details or roofing materials. This has already been done for

Northgate Conservation Area and should be extended to Victoria

Embankment. The proposed Parkgate Conservation Area should also

have permitted development rights withdrawn when it is designated

and a further conservation area (with permitted development rights

withdrawn) should be created along Victoria Road and Hargreave

Terrace. This will create three key zones with a good geographical

spread within the town centre fringe where the process of decline will



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be halted and gradually reversed. In time, the quality of the buildings in

the Conservation Areas will infect the maintenance decisions in other

areas of the town centre fringe.

Policy HE4 of the Planning Policy Statement on the Historic Environment

(PPS5) against which all planning decisions must be assessed reads as

follows:

‘Local planning authorities should consider whether the exercise of permitted

development rights would undermine the aims for the historic environment. If

it would, local planning authorities should consider the use of an article 4

direction to ensure any development is given due consideration.’

3. The consultation process has raised the concern that the Borough

Council has a poor track record for enforcement action relating to

historic buildings. Enforcement of Article 4 directions, listed building

consents and planning conditions are key to the regeneration of the

area and are a core function of the council. It should not be selective.

The council’s needs to revisit its enforcement procedure.

4. Buildings regulations officers for Darlington Borough should attend

courses run by the Traditional Skills Initiative in order to learn about

how older properties function and so feel more confident about relaxing

the regulations for historic buildings (this facility to relax building

regulations already exists, but officers are reluctant to use it). This is in

line with government advice in their Planning Practice Guide on

implementing PPS5 which encourages local planning authorities to

keep abreast of up-to-date information on the efficiency and

sustainability of historic buildings and the best means of improving their

performance (DCLG 2010, Para 23)

5. In order to help home owners make informed decisions regarding their

home maintenance the council should make a series of leaflets and/or

DVDs freely available covering everyday maintenance, energy

efficiency in older buildings, windows, doors, roofing, domestic

chimneys and flues, damp, cast iron rainwater goods, painting and



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repointing. Funding may be available for this through the Heritage

Lottery Fund which has the revival of traditional skills as a funding

priority. This is in line with government advice outlined in their practice

guide for PPS5 (DCLG 2010, Para 24.1)

6. The local enterprise agency can help home and shop owners source

craftspeople with traditional skills (such as working with lime, making

railings, stone masonry and joinery) by creating a traditional skills web

site for local and regional businesses. This may also be eligible for

funding through HLF and could be part of a wider package to include

item 4.

7. Townscape Heritage Initiative funding should be applied for covering all

conservation areas, so that additional grant aid can be brought into the

area and council funds better targeted towards conservation led

regeneration. This will benefit local business such as the iron works on

East Mount Road which can produce replacement railings (and finials)

to templates which already exist on East Mount, Lodge Street, Portland

Place, Victoria Embankment and Northgate.

Townscape Heritage Initiative funding

There are a number of criteria for being awarded this funding. The highest

priority is given to areas of social and economic deprivation where

investment in historic buildings could prompt the beginnings of urban

revival and in this respect the town centre fringe should have no difficulty

in qualifying. There are other considerations too:

1) Priority is given to bringing back life into derelict and under-used

buildings (this could include the railway carriage works, the lime cells,

empty buildings on Weir Street, empty terraces and shops on

Northgate and around Bank Top)

2) Priority is given to projects which will raise the standards of repair and

set a precedent to encourage good practice amongst property owners

(identify key buildings and infrastructure where impact will be greatest,

such as corner properties, skyline features, elevated properties)



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3) Continued viability of projects has to be shown (ensure where there is

change of use in target areas that it is sustainable, for example greater

residential use around Weir Street and along the Skerne)

4) Priority is given to projects which show a good overall regeneration

strategy and not a focus on individual buildings (the council’s town

centre fringe regeneration scheme already exists and so this criterion

has been met.

5) Priority is given to projects with good community involvement,

education benefits and long term community enhancement (this can be

shown through the existing Talking About…. series, and through the

existing provision for educational visits by the Head of Steam Museum.

The Conservation Areas

Northgate

Much of Northgate is already a conservation area and has benefitted from a

Historic Environment Regeneration Scheme and the withdrawal of permitted

development rights. This has made inroads into the decline by providing new

shop fronts and the restoration of traditional features to a number of early 19th

century terraced houses on High Northgate, although the enforcement of the

article 4 direction has been poor. Additional work could prioritise the

enhancement of the mixed street fronted property boundaries to no.s 69-81

High Northgate with a uniform design and the targeted enhancement of corner

properties which currently form negative features.

Victoria Embankment

Another conservation area exists at Victoria Embankment. This has not had

any grant supported scheme, nor have permitted development rights been

withdrawn. This means that many houses have inappropriate windows and

some houses have had their brickwork cladded over. South Terrace on the

other side of the river has a similar leafy character and the conservation area

could be extended to include this street. Tree management here (and

throughout the town) is patchy with views spoiled by a lack of pruning at

pedestrian level (see plates 14 and 15). If the canopy of trees, whether self



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seeded or not, is restricted to above head height, it also ensures that trees do

not become cover for anti-social behaviour.

Then and Now…

Plate 14. Victoria Embankment in the 1890s

Plate 15. Victoria Embankment in 2010. From South Park, the street is bearing up quite well, but some tree management along the river bank might better expose views of the river and of St Cuthbert’s in the distance.



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Parkgate

A further conservation area has already been proposed by the Borough

Council at Parkgate. The Parkgate area has a distinctive character with

predominantly very early 20th century architecture which introduced glazed

decorative tiles and stained glass windows. The work carried out as part of

this Conservation Management Plan would support the proposal to make

Parkgate a conservation area, however the quality of architecture along the

east side of Hargreave Terrace and the good survival of railings and some

sash windows could be recognised in its inclusion in the proposed Parkgate

conservation area. This would also link with the proposed conservation area

centred on Victoria Road and so create a corridor of well-managed historic

houses.

Victoria Road

The research carried out in the production of the Conservation Management

Plan would suggest that there would be considerable benefit to the historic

environment and therefore to the local economy in creating an additional

conservation area based around Victoria Road.

Plate 16. The top of Victoria Road in 1909. The house with three gables on the left and the two storey house beyond it are both boarded up now. These buildings with Bank Top formed



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a coherent group, all being in red brick with stone detailing. The use of railings on stone dwarf walls also helped to bring them together behind a harmonious façade.

Victoria Road as the name suggests is a product of Victorian times, although

much of the housing in adjacent streets was built soon after the queen’s death

in 1901. The now listed Bank Top Station (1887) was the trigger for the

growth of this area, although it replaced an earlier set of ‘mean sheds’ built in

the 1840s. The Victorians took some pride in their stations, although in

Darlington it took a while for the railway company to invest in one and a sharp

comment from Queen Victoria that the old station which preceded Bank Top

was not worthy of the town where trains were born, seems to have fallen on

deaf ears for a while.

Throughout the land, landscaping was carried out near stations in order to

provide an appropriate entrance to each town or village newly blessed with

the arrival of the railway. In rural areas and in towns, roadsides were planted

with trees forming avenues between station and attractions creating a positive

first impression for visitors arriving by rail. Not only was the station at Bank

Top of superb quality and visible throughout the town, but quality buildings

were constructed near the top of the hill. A fine hotel with 26 bedrooms was

built in the 1880s, quality red brick buildings with stone detailing, cascaded

down the hill, and the Methodist New Connexion Church built in 1884 adding

to the quality skyline.

Plate 17. How not to treat an historic building….

Despite buildings towards the

top of Bank Top being boarded

up they remain fine townscape

features, but as the hill declines

down towards the roundabout,

the poor quality shop fronts take

over and create a shabby impression. Many of these terraces were built in the

local Pease’s brick, but some have had rather cruel 1970s treatment. In



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amongst these poorly maintained buildings are some eye catchingly attractive

ones. Rachel Coads School of Dance incongruously placed next door to a sex

shop has fine brown glazed tiles, stone dentiled cornicing, a hanging shop

sign, all suggesting a turn of the century date. But it also has a rather

unattractive shop front, made even less so by the shuttering and a few

inappropriate chunky plastic windows in the dormers.

The bottom of Victoria Road links with an existing conservation area at

Victoria Embankment. Then there is a rather difficult urban roundabout which

is to all intents and purposes is an historic character black hole. Left

somewhat stranded are a row of terraced houses which once represented the

continuation of Victoria Road, but which sit isolated on the north side of a dual

carriageway. This is unfortunate, because here we have some of the finest

intact examples of Victorian middle class niceties, with beautiful moulded door

surrounds, sash windows, original railings and a splash of neo-Gothic.

Conservation Area status for Victoria Road could achieve a number of aims:

1. Return a sense of civic pride to the area and create a positive first

impression to visitors arriving by train (this is especially important if we

are to look at celebrating the bicentenary of train travel in 2025).

2. Help the quality architecture and shop fronts around Bank Top return to

its intended potential

3. It will create another zone of quality architecture which will infect

properties in the surrounding streets; collectively there will therefore be

three zones of historic building management which spread across the

town centre fringe, offering exemplary designs and standards for others

to follow.



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Then and Now…

Plate 18. Victoria Road in 1905

Plate 19. Victoria Road in 2010 – loss of character has resulted from the safety railings, highways signs, poor quality shop fronts and facades and the loss of the top of the New Connexions Methodist Church.



160

Figure 4. Left: The purple shaded areas are existing Conservation Areas. The darker area around Parkgate is an area already proposed as a Conservation Area by the Borough Council. Right: map showing additional areas worthy of conservation area status in green – this in fact will link up existing conservation areas (town centre and Parkgate) and could create one larger conservation area

The creation of this conservation area may be best achieved by enlarging the

existing Victoria Embankment Conservation Area. Victoria Embankment is a

distinctive character area, but it is quite normal for conservation areas to have

a number of different character areas. It is desirable to include the terraced

houses opposite Sainsbury’s, but this would mean including negative features

such as the roundabout and some less well cared for terraces. However

Conservation Areas status would allow these zones to be included in any

future THI application and bring in much needed resources which could help

to reverse some of the past management decisions. It is also quite normal for

conservation areas to include negative areas, but the planning process need

only concern itself with the impact on positive areas and the desirability of



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enhancing negative areas. If alterations are made to the landscaping around

the roundabout as are recommended in HE1, then in time, this area will

complement, not detract from the proposed conservation area. An alternative

would be to include this particular row in the Town Centre Conservation Area

which is very nearby and exclude the roundabout from both conservation

areas.

Summary management recommendations HE6: Inappropriate maintenance of historic buildings (new Policy is shaded)

Timetable

6a.1 Planning permission to replace shop windows on properties pre-dating 1919 should only be granted for traditional window types in consultation with the Conservation Officer

Immediate

6a.2 Permitted development rights should be withdrawn in Victoria Embankment Conservation Area (they are already withdrawn in Northgate Conservation Area) and should be withdrawn in any future Conservation Areas that are created.

1-5 years

6a.3 The council needs to improve its enforcement procedure for Article 4 directions, listed building consents and planning conditions relating to historic buildings

Immediate

6a.4 Building regulation staff should attend a course run by Heritage Skills Initiative on the breathability of pre-1919 houses so that they can make informed decisions regarding the application of the regulations on historic buildings

1-3 years

6a.5 The council should provide free written or oral advice on home maintenance as leaflets, web pages or DVDs covering everyday maintenance, energy efficiency in older buildings, windows, doors, roofing, domestic chimneys and flues, damp, cast iron rainwater goods, painting and repointing.

1-5 years

6a.6 Create a traditional skills web site, possibly in partnership with Durham County Council and Tees Valley for home owners to source the skills necessary to properly maintain their historic buildings

1-5 years

6a.7 The council should apply for Townscape Heritage Initiative Funding for all conservation areas (once Parkgate and any others have been designated)

1-5 years

6bThe council should formally create a conservation area based on Parkgate and possibly include the east side of Hargreave Terrace. A conservation area appraisal and management plan will then be required in consultation with the residents

1-5 years

c) The council should create a conservation area based on Victoria Road, to be followed by a conservation area appraisals and management plan

1-7 years

d) The town centre conservation area should be extended to include Victoria Road west of South Arden Street (and possibly with a little less justification land east of South Arden Street).



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e) The Victoria Embankment conservation area could be extended to include South Terrace

Issue 7. Reuse of historic building stock

The consultation process has highlighted people’s desire to see historic

buildings reused rather than demolished. This is in line with government policy

which is quoted below in full from the Planning Practice Guide which

accompanies Planning Policy Statement 5 on the Historic Environment (Para

22):

‘By taking a narrow and rigid view of what makes a building or development

sustainable, opportunities may well be missed to adapt and enhance what is

already there. In considering development proposals, local authorities will find

it useful to take into account the embodied energy within existing buildings

and the whole-life costs of any new scheme or proposed alterations. The

creative adaptation of heritage assets can dramatically reduce the whole-life

energy costs and waste impacts that would result from demolition and

replacement, even where the proposed development would in itself be of an

acceptable standard in terms of energy performance. The adaptation of

heritage assets need not be more expensive or difficult than replacement. It is

quite possible that the recycling of existing buildings at a site may cut the

overall financial cost of development and even save time.’

Throughout the TCF there are gaps where demolition of historic properties

has taken place but nothing of value has yet been constructed in its place.

Some have planning permission and await a better economic climate, but

others have no permissions at all. Such gaps create a townscape reminiscent

of post war Britain. They encourage anti-social behaviour such as fly-tipping

and so they are surrounded by security fencing which is all too predominant in

the TCF. There is also a risk that buildings are deliberately allowed to decay

so that planning permission might be more easily obtained for their demolition.

This is contrary to government policy which reads:



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‘Where there is evidence of deliberate neglect or of damage to a heritage

asset in the hope of obtaining consent, the resultant deteriorated state of the

heritage asset should not be a factor taken into account in any decision’

HE7.6 of Planning Policy Statement 5 on the Historic Environment

Empty buildings add to the air of neglect, but the consultation process has

also raised that empty buildings and wasteland are used for alcohol and drug

abuse, but have the potential to provide facilities and houses which reduce

the ‘dark corners’ of the area and create much needed facilities for younger

people (see issue HE11). There are also houses which have been

condemned because of their poor condition and are now awaiting demolition.

However it is not clear why the properties were allowed to fall into such a

state of neglect over such a long time, that demolition was the only practical

outcome. In the meantime streets such as Borough Road are blighted by the

regular appearance of houses with boarded up windows.

The Weir Street area and the lanes which lead off it has a number of under-

used or empty buildings which are worth cherishing and which can lead the

way in terms of use and design for the future. For the most part these are

early 20th century buildings of red brick, often with below the eaves detailing.

They represent a variety of uses (or no use), but could be adapted to other

uses, in particular residential use, small scale offices, craft, art and

independent shops, small workshops, bars and cafes – all activities suggested

in the consultation process. ‘Viable uses will fund future maintenance’ (DCLG

2010, PPG for PPS5 Para 89)

Plate 20. Existing housing stock is becoming run down and warehouses await conversion around Weir Street and Garden Street

The river bank is not best

served by large scale

development such as that which



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appears alongside St Cuthbert’s Way and many of these businesses such as

carpet and furniture showrooms have now moved out of the area. This is an

opportunity to reinvent the character of the area and find a more appropriate

use for a riverbank area close to the town centre. The regeneration of the

Weir Street area should concentrate on the conversion of existing building

stock into housing or mixed use development, retain or create new scoria

block pathways and riverside walkways or views, create physical and visual

links with the town centre, reuse old boundaries and pathways (the Weavers

Yards) and the gradual demolition of large unattractive buildings such as

Philips in the middle of the area that once consisted of Pease’s gardens.

Positive signs of change have already taken place, but there has been

insufficient encouragement from the Borough Council planning department to

build on these successes. The conversion of the Skerne Printing Works and

Hanratty’s scarp yard into quality studio apartments has retained the qualities

of the buildings constructed in 1900 and reintroduced residential uses which

places caring residents into an area otherwise neglected. The conversion of a

warehouse into an apartment along Weir Street won national awards including

Winner of the Best Conversion in Build It magazine in 2004, and a short list

for the Daily Telegraphs Home Building and Renovation magazine in 2003. It

has featured in several magazines and in TVs Location, Location, Location

(N. Massie pers comm. 12.7.10).

It is important that even TCF areas designated as being of commercial or

employment use in strategic development plans, that this use is mixed with

residential development. The residential development brings in greater

capacity for profit which funds conversions and also places people in the town

centre fringe after opening hours where they police the area and ensure that it

does not fall victim to anti-social behaviour after hours.



165

Then and Now…

Plate 21. The Skerne Printing Works derelict and partially used as a scrap yard in 1992

Plate 22. The Skerne Printing Works redeveloped as housing by 2010 and a source of inspiration for future conversions of historic buildings in the area

Empty properties also exist above shops on Northgate and some attempt has

been made in the recent Historic Environment Scheme to bring these spaces

above the shop into active use. The current Urban Capacity Study tends to

see these as difficult places to house people because of the practical



166

problems of storing wheelie bins. However we cannot allow the recent use of

wheelie bins to condemn buildings which have existed for over a hundred

years and it is clear that most urban areas have managed to cope with flats

over shops and waste collection.

Reuse of historic buildings stock – HE7 Management Recommendations

With so many empty historic properties the message from the public

consultation was clear. That no new housing estates should be developed

until existing historic building stock is used and brown field sites have been

filled with appropriate high density development in keeping with the historic

character of the town centre fringe.

a) In order to prevent further decline of historic character, no planning

permission or conservation area consent should be granted for the demolition

of any property in the TCF unless it is accompanied by a full planning

application for its replacement, or where health and safety issues over-ride all

other considerations.

b) There should be a presumption against the demolition of any pre 1919

buildings because of the positive contribution they make towards the

distinctive character of the TCF.

c) The planning policy in the local development framework should actively

encourage the reuse of historic buildings, although a statement of significance

should be carried out first by the developer identifying those features which

should be retained in any conversion or recorded during construction works.

d) Areas preparing for redevelopment should have a design brief prepared

(many already have them) and developers should submit a design statement

with their proposals to include the following:

Explain the design principles and design concept.

Explain how the design relates to its wider context

(through a full context appraisal where appropriate).



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The written design statement should be illustrated, as

appropriate, by:

Plans and elevations.

Photographs of the site and its surroundings.

Other illustrations, such as perspectives.

Other supporting material

For example, retail, environmental or transport

assessments.

There should also be a presumption in favour of mixed use development so

that there is a residential component in all areas and no places are vacated

entirely outside office hours.

e) There should be a presumption against the covering over or removal of

scoria block paving, but where this does happen, the blocks should be

retained in a depot by the council and used for repair or the reconstruction of

new lanes.

f) Some areas are crying out for redevelopment and being relatively close to

the town centre offer superb facilities within walking distance. In particular the

‘Left Bank’ of the Skerne offers an exciting quarter with a good mix of old

buildings and empty spaces for innovative new design that could create an

exciting mixed use area. The east side of Valley Street has a different

character based around light industry and car sales, however it is an area of

change and also offers mixed use opportunities, such as small scale craft

industries that complement the needs for heritage skills, a more attractive link

with housing in East Mount and Haughton College and better riverside

access.

g) The level of decline around Borough Road is also considerable, and the

terraced house format here and possibly along Pensbury Street, could inspire

a 21st century equivalent of the terraced house or a remodelling of existing

housing stock, along the lines of the innovative schemes in Salford by Urban

Splash.



168

Plate 23. Redesigned terraced houses in Salford by Urban Splash keep the terraced house format, but remodels the layout and use of the back lanes to better reflect the needs of modern society – similar schemes could be devised for some of the more run down areas of terraced housing around parts of Borough Road and Pensbury Street

h) The Council also need to exert their repair and compulsory powers more

quickly before buildings can only be demolished, or a poorer design solution is

forced upon the council.

Vast areas of open wasteland between John’s Street and the Skerne Bridge

are also creating a negative contribution to townscape, but have the potential

to create a safer more attractive setting to the scheduled Skerne Bridge. It is

also of some archaeological potential as some early works associated with

the railway may have been located here.

Development opportunities may arise on the site of the Cattle Market on Park

Road in the future. This will take the form of new development, presumably

residential, but there is also scope to retain the round auction mart building

and incorporate it into the development.

Summary management recommendations HE7: Reuse of historic buildings stock (new Policy is shaded)

Timetable

a) No new large scale development should take place outside the town until existing historic buildings are used and brownfield sites are developed within the TCF

immediate

b) No demolition of properties should be agreed without a full planning application showing what will replace it

immediate

c) There should be a presumption against planning permission for the demolition of any property built before 1919

immediate

d) The local development framework should actively encourage the reuse of historic buildings and the need for a Statement of Significance to guide conversions.

immediate



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The council should favour mixed use development so that there is a residential element to all areas providing the necessary profits in redevelopment and ensuring that the area does not empty outside office hours

e) The Council also need to exert their repair and compulsory powers quickly before decline in buildings is too advanced

immediate

f) Design briefs should be prepared for the following TCF areas (where they have not already been carried out): ‘Left Bank’ of the Skerne between Russell Street and John Street Borough Road Waste ground in front of Skerne Bridge Land between Valley Street and East Mount up to Haughton College Cattle Market

Immediate Immediate TBC 1-5 years TBC

Issue HE 8. The design of modern buildings and new development

Development within the TCF from the mid 20th century detracted from the

historic environment and was responsible for some particularly unattractive

buildings which have now been identified as negative features within the

townscape. This has left many residents short on confidence in new build.

There is ample guidance on new build within historic areas published by

English Heritage and CABE and potential developers need to be encouraged

towards such publications if we are not to repeat the mistakes of the 20th

century.5 The conservation of the historic environment does not need to stifle

modern development but should inform it.

Management Recommendation HE8 the design of modern buildings and new

development

Much of the building stock which is pre 1919 is of a high standard with

attention to detail creating interesting facades. It is high density development

based on grid patterns and is predominantly of red brick. New development

needs to conform to some principles if it is to fit in with, or enhance, the

existing historic character of the TCF and in that respect, it is expected that

much of it will be street fronted and high density. However the influence of

past design does not mean that new build should create poor pastiches. New

development needs to consider the existing street pattern and how the new

5 Building in Context: new Development in Historic Areas (2001); Guidance on Tall Buildings (2007)

and the Building in Context Toolkit (2006)



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development will work with this. New build does not have to use traditional

building materials, but it does need to consider whether the materials used will

compare or contrast with existing materials in the wider area. New build does

not have to be two storeys; it can be higher, but how will that affect views of

skyline features and will it contribute towards an interesting skyline, or

obscure views of significant features? In essence new build needs to be of a

high quality and show thoughtfulness in design and meet its needs and uses

in an elegant way. The Building in Context Toolkit can help with this process.6

This approach was supported in the consultation process with suggestions

such as ‘no more new build unless it’s exciting and really innovative in design

(e.g. like the Sage in Gateshead)’

Summary Management Recommendations HE8– the design of new build

Timetable

a) Developers should be discouraged from creating pastiches of old build, but instead use historic buildings to inform exciting new designs of high quality. Developers will be expected to outline how their build will fit into the historic environment in their design statement which must accompany their planning application.

immediate

b) Where a development does not conform to council prepared design briefs, the developer will be encouraged to discuss their designs with the conservation officer at an early stage in the application process

immediate

Issue HE 9.Protecting historic buildings

A message often repeated in the consultation process was the need to protect

historic buildings, although there was less agreement about how to do this,

varying from converting them and reusing them so that their viability will fund

their upkeep, to the preparation of a local list. The government is encouraging

local authorities to prepare local lists, but there are also a number of buildings

in the TCF which are worthy of listing, namely the Railway Tavern on

Northgate and 1-5 Victoria Road.

‘In addition to national and statutory designations, local authorities may

6 Available from http://www.building-in-context.org/_documents/sheets.pdf [accessed 27.5.10]

http://www.building-in-context.org/_documents/sheets.pdf



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formally identify heritage assets that are important to the area, for example

through local listing as part of the plan-making process…Though lacking the

statutory protection of other designations, formal identification by the local

authority through these processes is material in planning decisions.’

(PPG for PPS5 Para 15)

What is a local list?

This is a list of buildings, structures, parks and gardens (including cemeteries

and open spaces) that have special local architectural or historic interest and

which local communities feel are an important part of their local heritage. They

are different from, and do not include, legally protected Listed Buildings and

Registered Parks and Gardens, which are already recognised as being of

importance and have protection. Buildings and parks on the Local List may

not be as important as those on the national list, but they are special to the

town centre fringe

Why have a Local List?

The Conservation Management Plan has identified a number of buildings and

types of buildings which are distinctive and deserve care and attention for

their contribution to the unique qualities of the area. These include buildings

reflecting the area’s industrial heritage in the birth of the railways and the

growth of the town as well as the social legacy seen in institutes, chapels,

memorials and housing, and the little things often overlooked until they have

gone such as old fashioned street signs and railings.

What does being on the Local List Mean?

Unlike Listed Buildings or Registered Parks and Gardens, being included on

the Local List will not provide any additional planning controls or costs to

owners. It will however recognise the importance of any identified buildings

and value to local communities and encourage future care and consideration.

It can be a material consideration in the planning process if it is adopted by

the Borough Council.



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Management Recommendation HE 9. Protecting historic buildings.

The Local List

A recommended local list was put out for community consultation and this

now forms appendix F. No additional buildings were added by consultees,

although some were not convinced by the proposed inclusion of the Nissen

Huts on Borough Road nor the shop at 112 High Northgate which they

thought was ugly. The shop does have an unattractive appearance because

of the shutters, but it may be that these very shutters are also the reason that

the shop front has survived. The storage of white goods outside the shop also

hides the attractive windows. Nissan Huts are perhaps not the most beautiful

historic buildings but they are increasingly rare and for that reason were

included.

Other buildings on the list vary in condition. Some are fine buildings marred by

poor quality shop fronts; others offer a terminus to views which make a

positive contribution to the townscape. The inclusion on the list does not mean

that they are in excellent condition, but that they are of particular value.

Terraced houses which retain their traditional features

The Statement of Significance would suggest that all pre 1919 buildings make

a positive contribution to the townscape and historic character and so should

also be protected. Indeed there is a case for including at least those terraces

which still retain their traditional sash windows and doors, however the

inclusion of every example from every street in a local list is beyond the remit

of this report and could be carried out at a later date.

It is therefore recommended that each example of a terraced house which

retains its traditional sash windows and doors be added to the local list and

that the local list be adopted and becomes a material consideration in the

planning process.

Identifying significance



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Historic buildings and places, whether listed or not, are best protected by

understanding what is significant about them before making decisions

regarding their future use and management. This is recognised in Planning

Policy Statement 5 on the Historic Environment which requires local

authorities to base their planning decisions on significance. A key tool in doing

this successfully is to ensure that heritage assets each have a Statement of

Significance. This need not be long and complex, but does need to lay out

what is significant about an asset (it might be its townscape value, position

within a view, traditional railings, ornate plasterwork, staircase etc) and then

seek to incorporate those elements in any development proposal. The level of

detail of a Statement of Significance will depend on the asset’s importance.

For example a listed building will require a more detailed Statement than an

unlisted dwelling. The Borough Council should therefore ensure that it has a

Statement of Significance for each asset in its ownership, and that planning

applications or listed building consent applications include a Statement of

Significance as part of the application procedure. It is important that these are

provided pre-determination as they are key in ensuring that informed

decisions are made. If they are required as part of a planning condition, the

information they may flag up will be too late to inform the process.

The process of creating a general Statement of Significance for this

Conservation Management Plan has suggested that the Railway Tavern on

Northgate and 1-5 Victoria Road are worthy of listing.

Summary Management Recommendations HE9 – the protection of historic buildings

Timetable

a) Include terrace houses with traditional windows and doors in the local list

1-2 years

b) Have the local list adopted as a material consideration in the planning process

1-2 years

c) The Borough Council should ensure that they have a Statement of Significance for each heritage asset in their care

1-7 years

d) Each planning application or listed building consent application should be accompanied by a Statement of Significance

ongoing

e) Submit the Railway Tavern and 1-5 Victoria Road for immediate



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listing to English Heritage

Issue HE 10.The railway heritage – an under appreciated heritage asset

One of the loudest and strongest outcomes of the Conservation Management

Plan is the international importance of the railway heritage and its apparent

neglect by the council, owners and the tourist industry. Where other towns

struggle to find something unique that will draw visitors to the area, Darlington

has the sort of unique selling point that could draw visitors in from around the

world. With the notable and proud exception of the Head of Steam Museum,

the condition of the buildings and spaces associated with the railway heritage

and its lack of care in the planning process is shocking. To selectively recap

on the TCF’s importance to the railway heritage:

The Skerne Bridge is the oldest surviving railway bridge still

in use in the world and was designed by the world’s first

railway architect

The Railway Tavern is the oldest railway associated pub in

the world

138-148 Northgate is where Pease and Stephenson

discussed and agreed to use locomotives instead of horse

power and iron rails instead of tram lines (shortly before

Stephenson and his friend Nicholas Wood, the colliery

manager from Killimgworth, put on clean shoes at the Bulmer

Stone) and in doing so changed the face of the world;

The remains of the world’s first railway station stand

unprotected just off High Northgate

The use of the Hopetown carriage works by railway

preservation trusts is the oldest such association in the

world;

The Hopetown carriage works are the oldest purpose built

railway carriage manufactory to survive in the British Isles,

and perhaps the second oldest in the world;



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The Goods Agent’s Office on McNay Street is one of a very

few from the early years of the railway age;

The Goods Station was probably the first in the world to be

built with the single-level arrangement that became, and

remained, the norm for railway goods handling until the move

to containers in the 20th century;

The North Road Station (Head of Steam Museum) is

probably the most intact station building of its kind from the

early days of the railway

The lime cells represent a once common but now rare

building type associated with the growth of Darlington post

railway;

The viaduct was built in 1856 for the Stockton and Darlington

Railway and is a listed building and of national importance

The engine shed on Haughton Road was built c.1841 and is

the oldest engine shed in the country;

The listed Bank Top railway station is largely unaltered since

its construction and was designed, along with the North

Eastern Hotel, to create a positive first impression to visitors

coming to the place where railways were born.

The importance of the railway heritage can also be discerned

in street names and in artistic views.

“The railway heritage is seminal to the rebranding of the town”

Richard Wimbury, Friends of the Head of Steam Railway Museum.

Management Recommendations HE 10. The Railway Heritage – an under

appreciated asset

The consultation event drew opinions from railway enthusiasts from as far

afield as San Francisco and Toronto and the overwhelming view was that

people would cross continents to see this heritage but that it was currently in a

shabby state and is a source of some embarrassment. In addition to

improving the physical appearance of the structures such as the carriage



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works and Pease’s house, there were demands for the setting of the Skerne

Bridge to be improved, and for railway walks to be created along parts of the

S&DR route and around the TCF where railway heritage can be seen.

Recommendations which have arisen from the Statement of Significance and

the community consultation are as follows:

a) The tourism potential of the town needs to be realised in the local

development framework and the railway heritage recognised in the AAP and

Accommodation Growth DPD as part of the Vibrant Cultural and Tourism

Offer.

‘Stop thinking England and start thinking the world!’

Sally Taylor, San Francisco

b) Create a railway heritage walk through the town linking the museum,

carriage works, lime cells, McNay Street, the remains of the first station,

Skerne bridge, the Railway Tavern, Pease’s House and the Bulmer Stone;

c) Work with Durham County Council to link the local rail walk with the

proposed South West Durham Heritage Corridor which in due course may

include circular walks which take in Gaunless, Brusselton, Etherley and the

National Rail Museum at Shildon, which all had a role to play in the opening of

the S&DR. This then works towards Darlington being part of a regional railway

tourism offer.

d) the consultation process flagged up that people were interested in walks

along the S&DR route (where it is safe to do so) and parts of this could be

opened up gradually as resources and safety permit;

e) Work with East Coast trains to create a welcoming display or sign in Bank

Top Station which proclaims Darlington as the birth of the railways;



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f) East Coast mainline to consider the longer term removal of ticket barriers at

Bank Top which prevent people visiting who are not travelling;

"There are huge long-term benefits to preserving these abandoned railway

lines to become hiking/biking trails. Communities along the way eventually

discover there is an influx of new customers for local businesses such as

b&b's, restaurants, pubs, bike shops, etc. SDR has an exceptional attraction

as the first passenger railway in the world and this will give area tourism a

huge marketing advantage in world marketing, especially with railfans. Our

country has virtually exploded with new rail trails and corporations as well as

local, provincial and federal governments have all responded favourably to

funding requests (a bit of a slowdown during this recession, but it will pick as

the it recedes). All provinces now have rail trails and there are links to the

Trans Canada Trail (TCT) which is one of the longest hiking/biking trail in the

world. Quebec is one of the leaders in establishing rail trails with over 4,000

km of trails throughout the province. One of the major ones is the ex-CPR rail

trail which runs from Mont-Laurier in the Laurentians to St-Jerome, just north

of Montreal for a distance of 180 km. The top half of the trail is stone-dust

surface and the bottom half is paved."

Iain NcNab,Toronto, Canada

g) Nominate Darlington’s town centre fringe and additional outlying buildings

for World Heritage Site Status, initially by inclusion on the Tentative List. This

should be based on Darlington’s role in changing the face of the world through

the establishment of a rail network – the town where the railways were born.

The relevant criteria for nomination are as follows, with those in bold

considered to be most pertinent to Darlington. At least one of these criteria

must be met (Darlington meets three):

i. to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;

ii. to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of

time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in



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architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or

landscape design;

iii. to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition

or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;

iv. to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or

technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant

stage(s) in human history;

v. to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-

use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or

human interaction with the environment especially when it has become

vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;

vi. to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with

ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding

universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion

should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);

The protection, management, authenticity and integrity of properties are also

important considerations. It is therefore important that the process of bringing

the railway heritage of the area into better management starts immediately so

that the process of nomination is seen as part of a long term strategy of

appreciating and cherishing the town’s internationally important heritage

assets.

There is now some urgency to this recommendation. Manchester has

submitted a bid for World Heritage Site Status on the basis of being the

Birthplace of the Railway Age. Darlington and some of the surrounding areas

such as Shildon and Stockton must have a greater claim to this title than

Manchester, but the lack of progress in this area could result in a missed

opportunity. The Department of Culture Media and Sport need to take a more

pro-active role in ensuring that multiple claims do not arise from different

towns all claiming to be the birthplace of the railway – some co-ordination is

required.



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‘People worldwide would be interested in what this town has to offer. Railway

heritage is our unique selling point. No-one will come to Darlington to see a

new department store or a revamped town centre, but they will come from

thousands of miles to see our railway heritage.’

Richard Wimbury, Friends of the Head of Steam Railway Museum

h) The scheduling for the S&DR is confusing and inconsistent. It should be

revisited by English Heritage and should consider the remnant remains of the

first railway station and additional lengths of rail track. The Railway Tavern

should be listed.

i) The carriage works are in poor condition and give the wider area a

neglected feel. There is no indication of their international importance from the

outside. If the council cannot afford to look after their own listed buildings it is

difficult for them to enforce listed building regulations on private owners.

Funding has to be found to carry out works to this building. It can be difficult

for local authorities to obtain HLF support for maintenance, but the local rail

preservation trusts with the Friends of the Head of Steam and the support of

the Council, may be able to attract funding, especially if it was part of a larger

package covering the railway heritage. This would require all the separate

groups to work together for the greater good. If they are unable to do this,

then the condition of the buildings will in due course prevent their use. This

could also be a target for THI funding (see HE 6.7)

j) The Engine Shed on Haughton Road is close to Haughton College. It is

derelict but its open spaces, high ceiling, good distance from housing and

easy access to a main road mean that it is adaptable for possible new uses.

The consultation process flagged up a number of possible uses for this

building:

Haughton College might like to acquire it and use it for

student parties, discos etc;

It would make a good centre for extreme sports such as rock

climbing for beginners, ice skating, racket sports



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It is sufficiently adaptable to do all of the above

Funding to help with such a conversion could perhaps come from Sport

England and the HLF with additional support from local charities such as

Northern Rock. The building is listed and would require careful design and

consent.

k) The Head of Steam Museum has recently been refurbished and is looking

fresh, bright and exciting. Having only recently had an investment of funds, it

is not likely to be a high priority for the council for additional capital works, but

there are a few areas which need to be considered longer term. Much of the

site is simply under-used and brings in little income. The Goods Station is not

accessible to the public without special arrangements and it sits within a large

yard which is not accessible and is surrounded by security fencing. There is

no access to the café without paying the entrance fee to the museum, but it

surely has more chance of success if people can use the café on its own? As

a comparison, last year the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle which allows

café use without paying museum access, had 15,000 non paying visitors to

the café (as compared to 90,000 visitors who had paid for museum entry) with

an average spend of £4.50 per head, however no figures have been collated

to show how many people translated this into a later museum visit.

Anecdotally, staff at the museum know that people do hear about the café and

come, and then decide to convert to paying visitors.7

Longer term plans should be devised to make at least the exterior of the

Goods Station accessible to museum visitors (this does not preclude the

current railway preservation group from using it, although other uses could be

considered) and the removal of the security fencing between the museum and

the goods station. This could also be a target for THI funding (see HE 6.7)

7 Matt Leng, Head of Business & Operations, Bowes Museum pers comm



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l) North Road station also needs improved landscaping and better visual links

with the museum so that it better reflects the importance of the site. This

might include at least, the replacement of the security fencing with iron rails

more in keeping with the Victorian architecture and the provision of a new

platform shelter which is designed to celebrate the town where railways were

born. If the rooms are reorganised in the museum to allow café access

without museum access, then a lockable gate between the museum and

North Road station would allow passengers direct access to the museum or

café having arrived by train and provide a refreshments facility for rail users.

This would be a key attraction for visitors to the area especially given that this

train service links Bishop Auckland and Shildon to Darlington, all of which

have important rail attractions. This could also be a target for THI funding (see

HE 6.7) and could link in with projects being developed by Durham County

Council along the South West Durham Heritage Corridor and Heritage Lottery

Funding.

m) Identify a suitable gateway site at one end of Northgate (either near North

Road Station, possibly the junction with Albert Road or near Pease’s House)

which signals the start of the railway heritage area. This should proclaim

visually in some way, the start of an area of international importance. Ideas to

consider range from the traditional – a bronze statue of Edward Pease, for

example (he himself was not keen on this idea however), or a sculpture based

on the chimney of locomotion with its distinctive shape, or turn the glass office

block next to the former technical college on Northgate from a negative to a

positive asset by adding a tint to the windows creating a glass engraving of

locomotion across one elevation.

n) With the owner’s permission and any necessary consents, add a small

ceramic plaque possibly modelled on the original S&DR plaque to each

building associated with the early days of the railway. This will complement

any walk routes that are devised in the meantime and gradually instill a sense

of pride in the heritage of the town. Such plaques could be designed by



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elements of the local community and funds are available to do this as part of a

wider heritage awareness project eligible for HLF support.

Plate 24. Watercolour of Skerne Bridge by local resident Ian Dougill. The caption reads ‘ This bridge was on the back of the £5 note for some years, yet its setting & condition leave much to be desired’.

o) The setting of Skerne Bridge is in very poor condition and access

restricted. The Borough Council have recently opened up an existing footpath

on its north side, but it currently peters out in rather threatening wasteland.

This wasteland affords a link to Northgate along a permissive path, which in

turn links to the museum and other S&DR buildings. There is also potential to

link the path down the side of Magnet so that it can create a link towards the

town centre and Edward Pease’s house and the river. The creation of such

footpaths and the pulling down of security fencing and razor wires will do

much to enhance the setting of the bridge. The bridge is also encumbered

with a number of gas pipes – longer term, the gas board should seek to find

an alternative way of crossing the Skerne that does not deface the monument.

As part of establishing new footpath links across the TCF, a study of desire



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lines created by the presence of students at the new Haughton Road campus

wanting to reach the town centre, might suggest additional routes which could

also take in railway related features. ‘This is a new and frequent movement of

people which almost certainly needs consideration beyond the provision of the

new [proposed] bridge.’ (I. Dougill pers comm. 12.7.10)

p) 2025 will mark the 200th anniversary of the opening of the S&DR. This is a

target date for considerable achievement in the TCF. By this date the

appreciation of the railway heritage should be transformed and Darlington will

be ready to welcome visitors from around the world and have a year of

festivals, parties and conferences to celebrate the bicentenary. It will create

considerable economic input into the area and opportunities for local

businesses.

Plate 25.Celebrating the railway heritage in 1875 –can we prepare for the same in 2025?



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The railway heritage – HE10 Management Recommendations

Timetable

a) The tourism potential of the railway heritage needs to be realised in the local development framework and TCF AAP

immediate

b) Create a heritage walk through the TCF (se also 10.3, 10.4, 10.14 and 10.15)

1-5 years

c) Work with DCC to link any rail walks with the TCF S&DR area by 2025

d) Open up stretches of the original S&DR route as recreational trails

by 2025

e) Create welcoming display at Bank Top station – the towns where trains were born

by 2025

f) Seek the removal of ticket barriers at Bank Top or the return of free platform passes for visitors

1-5 years

g) Nominate Darlington’s Town Centre Fringe and additional outlying buildings for World Heritage Site Status, initially by inclusion on the Tentative List. There is some increasing urgency to this as other town’s seek the title of the ‘birth of the railways’

1-10 years (WHS status by 2025)

h) Conduct a review of scheduling of the S&DR line and associated features in Co. Durham

1-5 years

i) The railway preservation groups, the Friends of the Head of Steam and the Borough Council to work together to seek HLF support in finding sustainable uses and conservation works at the carriage works and goods station. This may be better achieved as part of implementing HE 10.7 and HE 10.10

1-3 years

j) Actively seek partners such as Haughton College to take over Engine Shed no.2 to be used for recreational purposes for college students or for sports facilities.

1-3 years

k) Explore ways of making the Goods Station part of the museum experience (this may be achieved through HE10.9 above), the removal of security fencing from between the museum and the goods station and permitting access to the café without paying an entrance fee.

by 2025

l) North Road station requires better landscaping and design to reflect its importance. It should aim to remove the security fencing between the museum and the station and replace with gated iron railings which better reflect Victorian styles and where the gate can be unlocked for targeted train services. A new platform shelter could better reflect the heritage of the site.

by 2025

m) One end of Northgate would benefit from some sort of gateway feature to mark the start of the railway heritage area

by 2025

n) Attach small S&DR type plaques to buildings marking them as railway heritage features

1-5 years

o) Improve the setting of Skerne bridge and access to it preferably as part of a heritage trail and riverside walk – instigate a study of desire lines from Haughton Road college to town centre in order to inform location of additional footpaths

1-5 years

p) Aim to have the railway heritage in a much improved more accessible condition by 2025 and prepare to celebrate

by 2025



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Issue HE 11. Lack of (inexpensive) facilities for younger people

This was raised as part of the community consultation event. The area does

have a cinema, the museum a gym and a boxing academy and easy access

to the town centre, however young people often just need somewhere to hang

out or kick a ball. North Lodge Park (just outside the study area) fulfils this

function during the day, but at night they move towards better lit areas such

as car parks (a recent bid for £7,000 to pay for night time lighting in the park

failed). Once in the car parks, the noise of children tends to annoy the

residents. Borough Road has an excellent conversion of an old Victorian

School which is now the Forum where younger people can meet, drink,

socialise and rehearse to be rock

stars.

Plate 26. The Brunswick Board School of 1881 is now the Forum - a place for young people to hang out and conduct band practice. While not advocating breeze blocks as a suitable means of blocking windows, this is a good example of an historic buildings being adapted to meet modern needs

It was also raised in the consultation that young people and adults would like

access to sports facilities cheaper than Bannatynes and wider ranging than

that offered by the Dolphin Centre. Some empty buildings near Weir Street

are being unofficially used as a boxing academy for children, but there are no

facilities, consequently children are to be found using the surrounding area as

a toilet. Another former warehouse next to the river is being used as a gym,

but the building is in poor condition and planning permission was recently

refused to convert it into housing. Anecdotal evidence presented at the

consultation event would suggest that there is a demand for sports related

facilities for children in the area.



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Lack of (inexpensive) facilities for younger people HE 11. Management

Recommendations

This issue can be resolved by finding alternative uses for Engine Shed no.2

off Haughton Road and by encouraging applications for conversions of

buildings around Weir Street for sports facilities and housing (see HE 10.10).

Facilities for younger people – HE11. Summary Management Recommendations

Timetable

See HE 10.10 and HE 7

Issue HE 12. Local production of materials

In the past Darlington has made its own bricks for building, gathered its own

reeds for thatching, was a centre of woollen manufacture, and made its own

tiles for roofing. Before an area of town was developed, it was first emptied of

any resource, so clay pits were excavated, the clay removed to make bricks

and the area subsequently developed for housing. In the 19th and first half of

the 20th century, Darlington provided the world with trains and carriages. The

blue marbled bricks of the back lanes and streets was manufactured from a

local waste product with its offices in Darlington. In the 1930s if you bought a

new fashionable set of metal windows in the UK, they probably came from

Darlington.

Management Recommendations HE 12 Local production of materials

Realistically manufacturing is not going to return to Darlington to any greater

extent, and like much of Britain, the economy will be based on services and

tourism. However the consultation event flagged up that the town centre fringe

is an ideal place, not for large industry, but for smaller scale light industry that

can sit cheek by jowl with housing. In particular people are hoping that it can

be a place of culture, crafts and arts and also a place for green technology. In

addition suggestions have been made to incorporate the use of the Engine

Shed No.2 by students at Haughton College into a course on engineering to

help restore the lost skills once so prevalent in this railway town. Further it

was suggested that Darlington could run apprenticeships into the restoration

of steam engines and railways which is needed to maintain historical railway



187

lines (J. Kirkland pers comm. 5.7.10). They hope that the expansion of the

University of Teesside into Darlington might generate more science based or

green industries or research establishments into the town and this might

mean the gradual creation of some small enterprises which could be housed

in older buildings, or innovative new buildings in the TCF. Is it possible with

the expansion of research facilities that Darlington might lead the way in new

forms of travel, or making older homes more energy efficient without a loss of

character.

Summary Management Recommendations HE 12 Local production of materials

Timetable

a) Encourage through strategic planning the housing of small scale science or green based businesses or research establishments within the TCF

Immediate policy creation- implementation opportunity driven



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The Character Areas

As part of the wider town centre fringe consultation process, the area has

been divided into smaller zones; these zones are depicted on figure 4 and in

themselves have no particular meaning. In some instances, the significance of

a particular area within a zone or its local character is sufficiently different for

it to be a character area within a zone and in these instances the

management of that character area may be different to the rest of the zone.

Such character areas have been defined on the basis of the character mainly

of the built form, but also contemporary land use and open spaces.

Thus far, management recommendations have covered the whole town centre

fringe area, but the approach to long term management will vary between

areas of different character. Therefore a brief exploration of the significance of

each character area follows along with management recommendations.



189

Figure 5. The Town Centre Fringe split into management zones. Where appropriate these have been further divided into character areas.



190

Figure 6. Town Centre Fringe Character Areas. There is some overlap between areas as character gradually shifts from one area to another



191

ZONE ONE

This covers North Road Station, High Northgate, Northgate extending east to

Haughton Road and west to Bondgate. There are five character areas within

this zone.

The S&DR Character Area

This character area is significant for its railway related heritage such as the

Head of Steam Museum, the goods sheds, carriage works, coal drops and

lime cells and some of the earliest railway housing in nearby streets. A

number of the streets take their names from railway pioneers (Stephenson

Street) or relate to the railway (Station Street). It includes the only architect

designed bridge on the Stockton Darlington Railway and it also has the

world’s first railway associated inn. Northgate is also the location of Edward

Peases house where he met with George Stephenson to discuss the

formation of a railway and coal drops associated with the early railway. To the

east is an early engine shed opposite Haughton College. A large part of the

character area extending much of the length of Northgate is a Conservation

Area and could form the heart of a World Heritage Site.

Plate 27. Hidden assets

The S&DR character area hides its heritage assets well. A drive through is

dominated by a few quality landmark buildings, such as the United Reformed

Church and the Technical College, but the poor quality shop fronts tend to

catch the eye, as they were intended to, and the attractive terraced houses

are easily passed un-noticed. Yet the terraced houses can have beautifully

ornate doorways, elegant railings, and pretty brickwork detailing, but in order

to make an impact, large groups of them need to be restored. Many properties



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are empty and these enhance an air of neglect. Even landmark buildings such

as the Coco Rooms are empty, and their otherwise prominent position is

dwarfed by the petrol station. The Skerne Bridge, also known as the Five

Pound Note Bridge, can only be viewed from within the town centre fringe

area through razor wire, dumped rubbish and security fencing. However

recent clearance works on the north side of the bridge had restored a

delightful footpath to the bridge, even if it is currently terminates in threatening

waste ground. Edward Pease’s house has become shabby and its façade

divided up into unattractive little shops advertising kebabs and pizzas. The

plaques which bear his name are barely noticeable to shoppers or drivers.

Pease’s garden, once renowned for its fruit trees, has long gone. An under

used car park and a modern building devoid of any architectural merits takes

its place. Its condition is an international embarrassment.

Yet there is much of interest, such as Borrowdale’s

house at no.1 Leadenhall Street, or a tiny shop

with bowed windows at 112 High Northgate. Even

those terraces which appear to have been

‘improved’ beyond recognition, still carry

inscriptions or fragments of the past for anyone

who cares to take the time to look. For example

the empty property on High Northgate which once housed Clacher’s the

Plumbers bears an inscription below the window sill; barely legible and much

weathered –‘1857 FAITH HOUSE’ and even a sash window, but its overall

appearance is a house that has been so modified it has lost its historic

character. There is no hint that this land close to the world’s first railway

station, was once given to the Darlington Christian Workmen’s Mutual

Improvement Society in 1857 to build a reading room by John Pease and that

the building went on to be a mortuary caretaker’s cottage. Recent

Conservation Area work has also started to reverse the trend of decline.

Some of the earliest terraced houses built in the 1820s have had their railings,

windows and doors restored; shops have had new traditional frontages to help

Plate 28. A Borrowdale sculpture



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combat economic decline and even Edward Pease’s house has had a little

tender loving care, although much more is needed.



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The ‘Left Bank’ Character Area

Sandwiched between the town centre and

Northgate this riverside patchwork of

buildings, old and new, some empty,

some converted and some just waiting,

ought to be an area of vibrant urban living

with riverside access. It has a long way to

go. It has a good stock of under-used

buildings waiting to find a new purpose

and when they do, the area will come

alive again. The area is significant for its

riverside location with the potential for

improved access and its warehouse

buildings; their utility did not prevent their

original builders from adding detail such

as patterned window lintels. The network of scoria blocked lanes are

particularly distinctive and offer the potential of gentle walking away from the

traffic of Northgate and in due course, they should offer a potential route to

the river. It has historic significance as having been the location of Edward

Pease’s renowned garden of orchards and vineries and there is considerable

historic documentation relating to Pease’s time there in the Local Studies

Library. It is also significant for having the last remaining Weaver’s Cottage,

tucked in behind Pease’s house.

The public consultation sees this as an area of mixed use with old buildings

adapted for modern uses and new buildings conforming to innovative exciting

designs. In the ‘Left Bank’ of the future there will be no room for some of the

less attractive buildings in the area and its high density urban lifestyle will

have little use for a large, poorly maintained car park. However an element of

garden or allotment on the site of the car park would remind visitors and

residents of the fine gardens that once ran from Pease’s house to the river

before crossing a rustic bridge towards East Mount.

Plate 29. Red brick warehouse style buildings predominate in this area



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Eastmount Character Area

This character area is significant for its location on high ground (the East

Mount) which was the location of John Pease’s home in the 19th century.

Edward Pease would walk across the valley to visit his family here. The land

was sold off c.1895 and development started at the turn of the century. The

front street, East Mount Road, was designed to have superb views across

Darlington. Consequently the houses were set a little back from the street with

low walls and railings. Steps up to the front door were another indication of

prosperity and the doors had ornate surrounds. Bay windows flooded the

main reception room with light and ensured a promising view from their

elevated position. The streets behind, all with Scottish names, were of a lower

social status. Here the houses opened straight on to the street, but

nevertheless they still had some ornate detailing to doors and string courses

picked out in alternatively coloured bricks. Below the eaves, bricks were set at

angles to create another design detail. All of the terraces had back lanes,

floored with scoria blocks, where the walls were pierced with two wooden

doors, one for the coal and one for the night soil.

The area has the potential to be much ‘sought after’ with its high quality

houses on East Mount Road but this is dependent on no additional

thoughtless development such has already taken place on the west side of

the road and tree management (mainly self-seeded sycamores) to return

views from the mount over the town centre fringe. The consultation process

has also flagged up that the area could also be better linked by improved

landscaping of the open space along Haughton Road with an extension of its

green space so that it provides a green linking corridor for pedestrians

between Haughton College and the town centre. This should tie into the

recommendation HE10.o above).



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Bondgate and Gladstone Character Area

This is a distinctive part of zone one having its origins in medieval times rather

than in Victorian times. Bondgate is the site of a horse fair until 1914 and

associated with the buying and selling of horses (True North Books, 1998,

76). Its significance is derived from its street pattern which is based on

medieval burgage plots facing a central wide market place or green, although

much of this is outside the town centre fringe. The street pattern however

continues westwards where it joins the town centre fringe area. The medieval

street pattern at its heart is intimate in character and consequently places little

reliance on views in or out of it. There are however some important views in

the Victorian streets surrounding the older part of Bondgate including the view

down Portland Street towards the telephone exchange which terminates the

views with an attractive red brick neo-Gothic building. Views in Bondgate itself

towards the town centre currently have the statue of Joseph Pease with the

Kings Head as the terminus, however the broad street based on the medieval

green allows the eye to drift rather than focusing it on the end view.

Plate 30. A mix of traditional shop fronts with plastic eyesores on Bondgate



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The building stock in Bondgate is also significant for including a high density

of listed buildings; many of the buildings are much earlier than in the Victorian

areas with extant buildings looking 17-18th century in origin and with Victorian

and later additions. As a result of the protected status of these buildings, they

are in better condition than other buildings in the TCF, but amongst the

attractive traditional shop fronts is a sprinkling of gawdy plastic ones and a

loss of traditional windows to first floor levels. Just behind Bondgate where the

streets are dominated by terraced housing, the quality of the buildings

declines with boarded or plastic windows and pebble dashing all conspiring to

hide the historic origins of the area. Sun Street seems to suffer from empty

properties in particular. There are also a few negative features, such as the

boxing academy on Portland Place and some ill considered attachments to

buildings and back lane encroachment on Sun Street, Gladstone Street and

four Riggs. This may therefore be an area which would benefit from innovative

remodelling of terraced housing stock (see HE 7) or gated back lanes. There

are also a large number of car parks in this character area which would

benefit from some landscaping or street fronted development to reduce the

prairieland effect. Greenbank (east side) however is significant for its relatively

high survival of traditional features in the terraced houses. These houses, set

back slightly from the road and with bay windows, display a particular series

of features which draws them together as having been the product of one

speculative builder. Front doors are of a distinctive type which was also used

in Victoria Embankment and a good number survive.

Plate 31. Greenbank forms a small character area in its own right with distinctive doors and windows, terraces set back from the street, bay windows, dormers and some relic railings



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The Lost Valley

This area is significant for its early use as gardens linking Edward Pease’s

house on Northgate with John Pease’s house on East Mount. It also contains

the original course of the Skerne, long since cut off and culverted in 1900

below Valley Street. Freeman’s Place was developed first, sometime before

1826, but this has since been demolished and is now under the car park at

MFI, then Russell Street in the 1850s-60s, terraced houses between John

Street and East Mount were built in the 1870s. Around 1900 Valley Street was

laid out as a ruler straight road with Chesnut Street (started in 1864)

extended across east west – the name again possibly referring to the earlier

gardens. Lodge Street, named after the lodge associated with East Mount

House was not developed until after the 1900s. Additional infill was created

along Lodge Street in the 1930s introducing semi-detached houses into the

area for the first time.

The present day character could not be further removed from the Quaker

gardens. The terraced and semi-detached houses of Lodge Street remain.

The pretty terraced houses with hood moulding with floral stops have survived

on Russell Street when so much around them has been demolished. The iron

bridges built over the Skerne by Pease and Fry in 1881 also survive, but the

cap is missing from a pier. There are one or two attractive early 20th century

brick buildings which retain their below eaves detailing around Valley Street,

but some vey non-traditional colours have been use to paint the in bright blue

or green. The terraced houses along East Mount Road towards John Street

have suffered from a loss of historic character, although those on the north

side retain their timber porches over their doors and windows. The coal drops

on John Street sit within unsightly waste ground and a distinctive red brick

stone wall with detailing is spoiled by large hand painted letters warning that

the wasteland beyond is private.

A number of the larger business are moving out of his area. It is perhaps

better that they relocate to the A66 where there is more space and better



203

communications, but there is still scope for smaller business to remain close

to the population centre. This is an area where its character has faltered and it

is ready to find a new character to suit Darlington’s present day needs. New

uses will wish to conserve the older properties (see figure 2), consider the

views across this area from East Mount, consider that it is an area which can

improve links between East Mount, Haughton and Northgate and the town

centre and might also include improved access along the riverside.



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Then and Now…

Plate 32. The Peaceful Valley in the 1850s (1

st ed

OS map)

Plate 33. Valley Street in 2010 (taken from Google Earth)



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ZONE TWO and THREE

This zone has three main roads running through it. St Cuthbert’s Way, the

modern dual carriageway, runs into Haughton Road. Running parallel to it is

Borough Road, predominantly residential with side streets off, but gradually

becoming industrialised in the centre before joining the commercial and

cultural area of Parkgate.

The Bishop’s Park Character Area

This character area is significant for its early 20th century buildings stock. The

Civic Theatre, built in 1907, sets the tone for Parkgate with its prominent

corner position and modern extension, flamboyant façade and recently added

torches and replacement iron canopy. This area must have been a hive of

activity in the opening years of the 20th century with the opening of the theatre

and the Greyhound Inn opposite. It is also significant for its survival of the

tannery buildings already on maps by the 1850s. These are the remains of a

once common industry usually placed on the edge of the town because of the

anti-social smells which originated there. The buildings and the lane may be

much older than the 1850s and excavation of such sites elsewhere has often

uncovered tanning pits and leather offcuts from the 17th century. There are no

bad smells there today, just an attractive lane with scoria blocks and

sandstone slabs and smoke houses. Any re-use should be accompanied by a

statement of significance first in order to inform what should be retained.

Landmark buildings which contribute to the historic skyline and provide high

quality features at the edges of the character area are also significant. St

Hilda’s occupies an important prominent position in the area providing a

terminus to Parkgate and a welcome from the busy ring road. It was built in

1887 and its height and long narrow windows were dictated by the wish of the

architect, J.L. Pearson, for natural lighting and by the fact that it was hemmed

in by tall buildings (Flynn 1983, pl116). However today the church is

surrounded by vacant plots which have the potential to enhance or detract

from the church’s architecture and fine railings depending on what is built



207

there. St Cuthbert’s also draws the eye down Parkgate and so the origins of

this road as a main route into the historic town long before the town centre

fringe was created, is apparent. At the other end of Parkgate, St John’s on its

elevated position overlooks the character area while the railway bridge brings

the character area to an end.

The area has a wealth of glazed tiles and stained glass, from the rich red

terracottas of the theatre and the Greyhound Inn, the Fire Station and St

Hilda’s clergy house to the deep greens of the Black Swan and the Cricketers.

However their local distinctiveness to Darlington has not always been

recognised with the loss of the Co-op premises with its superb glazed tiles

(I.Dougill pers comm. 12.7.10). Damage has occurred to the glazed tiles of

the Black Swan and repairs are urgently required. The Victorian Society have

published guidance on repairing glazed tiles (1992).

‘The Bishop’s Park was on the east side of the Skerne; it is now divided into

fields, chiefly held by lease under the see. Depressions have been filled up

with bark and rubbish, and on this decaying substructure streets have been

built, the perpetual abode of fever and disease.’

Longstaffe 1909, 339, but originally published in 1854

The views into Parkgate are also attractive from the vacant plot next to the

Cricketers. Here the jumble of roof lines and the tannery buildings creates a

view buzzing with historic character. The views along Park Lane are less

attractive. Too much has been demolished here and the quality of the new

build does little to enhance the area. When the police, fire and royal mail

move or seek to redevelop, there will be an opportunity to restore the open

spaces with some of the high density and high quality development that will

create an environment more suited to living and working in and reduce the

motorway – like feel of the ring road.

Hargreave Terrace offers other opportunities. Here the quality of housing,

developed from the 1870s, is still high with rusticated stone detailing, some



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sash windows and original railings. These houses being set back from the

road a little with steps up to the front door and the potential in places for views

across to the town centre, offer inspiration for future building stock in the area

and an opportunity to extend the proposed Parkgate conservation area to

include at least the east side of this street.

Modern local authority housing on Hargreave Terrace fails to live up to these

standards. The properties turn their backs on to the main road and so the best

elevations face a courtyard to the detriment of the townscape. Other new

development next to the New Connexions church uses a mix of brick and

stone and is street fronted and so manages to be in keeping with the styles in

the street. It is able to get away with being tall because of its proximity to the

church and its varied roofline.



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Borough Road Character Area

This area is significant for its terraced housing which dates to the late 19th and

early 20th centuries. However much of it is suffering from a loss of historic

character with a number of properties boarded up or derelict. The back lanes

have high walls topped with broken glass and razor wire suggesting that anti-

social behaviour is a problem here. However the condition of the properties on

the side streets is better and there are a few quality civic buildings such as the

former Brunswick School and the quality of architecture increases towards

Parkgate. Too much demolition has left Brunswick Street devoid of historic

interest (with the exception of the school) and the predominance of poor

quality buildings and security fencing with open views to the ring road and

some singularly unattractive modern buildings opposite has left this area

looking neglected. Terraced houses on Haughton Road (east side) have

highly ornate doorways, but even the simpler houses of Borough Road once

had nicely turned window mullions and below eaves detailing. The spilling out

of small scale industrial buildings from the industrial estate, the use of

advertising bill boards on Haughton Road do little to enhance historic

character.



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Then and Now…

Plate 34. The loss of the cooling towers is not regrettable, but the loss of the terraced houses has also resulted in a loss of community

Plate 35. Where large scale demolition is proposed, it should be to make way for higher quality of development. Clearly that was not the case at Brunswick Street



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ZONE FOUR

Bank Top Character Area

The area is significant because of its fine listed railway station which is also

an important skyline feature in the town. It is also significant as representing

the largest group of late 19th and early 20th century terraced houses in the

TCF area. It is possible, through subtle shifts in the detailing to identify which

groups of housing belong to which phase of speculative build. While there is

an overall loss of historic character in this area through the replacement of

traditional windows and doors with plastic inserts and through the use of

cladding and pebble dash which obscures the original design dentils, the area

is generally in good condition with its street pattern intact. Bedford Street,

Chatsworth Terrace and Victoria Embankment have views southwards to

South Park and Leafield Road has views westward, down to the greenery of

Victoria Embankment and the cricket ground beyond.

Victoria Embankment, now a conservation area, was designed in the 1870s

as a leafy riverside approach to South Park. Trees were planted on both sides

of the road, but those on the east side were subsequently removed when

residents complained that they were blocking too much light. A lack of tree

management on the remaining row of trees has blocked views towards St

Cuthbert’s and has reduced views of the river. The posts and chains which

ran along the bank were acquired from High Row where they were installed to

keep cattle off the pavement on market days. They were re-erected on the

Embankment in the 1890s (Flynn 1983, pl 105).

The cattle market at Bank Top was opened by the council in May 1864,

although horses continued to be bought and sold in Bondgate. This replaced

the earlier tradition of selling beasts in the town centre (True North Books

1998, 124). If the site becomes available for development it should consider

retaining the circular auction building and could model the street pattern on

the high density grid patterns which form this area’s distinctive character, but

with a modern version of the terraced house.



214

The majority of the houses here were built to accommodate railway workers

and although they were not built by the railway company they use the same

below eaves decorative detailing that is to be found on the station buildings.

Victoria Road has a number of quality Victorian and Edwardian buildings

particularly near the station. These would have been designed to create a

good first impression for visitors arriving by train. Although the predominant

building material here is brick, Victoria Road has a number of properties built

of Pease’s brick, but many have been defaced by inappropriate shop fronts

and cladding. Perhaps the most significant aspect of this character area is the

view towards the station clock tower from the rest of Victoria Road. The tower

for the New Connexions church was a significant skyline feature, but is now

marred by the loss of its top.



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ZONE FIVE

Feetham’s Character Area

Feetham’s Field was once thought to be the most picturesque part of

Darlington and it features in a number of artistic depictions of the town. It has

gone through many changes with its large open space being gradually

reduced. Weekly sales were held on Feetham’s Field and it was also where

labour was sold or hired (True North Books 1998, 94). The market site for the

markets, hirings and other public uses was built over for the bus station (Dean

1984, pl 6). Darlington Football Club and Darlington Cricket Club have for

large parts of the 20th century occupied adjoining grounds beside the river

Skerne on Feetham’s Fields, but the football ground is due to be redeveloped.

The area is significant today for its access to South Park and its potential to

extend the green space into Darlington and thus create a wildlife corridor and

amenity space.

The area is also significant for its Victorian buildings on the north side of

Victoria Road. Here there is a mixture of 19th century styles with neo-Gothic

windows and doors, ornate door surrounds and a good survival of railings and

windows. Some of the terraces have been badly treated, especially towards

the east end of the road – here entire facades have been built over or opened

up as glass, however the reinvention of a row of these houses as a 1930s Art

Deco style building does at least retain the scale of building, if not the detail.

The impact of Sainsbury’s is relatively neutral. The car park and buildings are

sunk into the ground and the car park planted with trees around the edges.

The position of a prominent landmark building – the church on the corner, also

hides the supermarket’s modern indistinctive structure and another early 19th

century building on the corner of Grange Road also gets Victoria Road off to a

promising start.



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Then and Now…

Plate 36. Victoria Road as it was designed to be with housing down both sides

Plate 37. Victoria Road in 2010. The road has been widened and the houses demolished on the right, but the views to Bank Top remain. The brick walls with stone capped piers also remain, but there is considerably more street clutter

A small group of terraced houses with ornate doorways towards the bottom of

Victoria Road also provide historic character; but they are overwhelmed by

the large bill boards and behind these South Terrace is an oasis of calm of



218

Victorian detailing and gardens beside the cricket ground. In terms of

character it should be part of Victoria Embankment, but the ring road has

divorced the two areas. It has good quality terraced houses with a reasonable

number of traditional windows and doors. The streets terminate on the east in

the leafy areas of the river Skerne and the houses have views over the

Cricket Ground – there since the second half of the 19th century. The entrance

into the cricket ground is particularly interesting and is said to be a miniature

of the lost gates of Wembley Stadium (I.Dougill pers comm. 12.7.10) and

consequently merit retention in any future development. For this reason they

have also been included on the recommended Local List of buildings.

This area is also significant as a linking route with the town centre. South

Arden Street takes pedestrians from Sainsbury’s car park into town. Here they

can enjoy the neo-Gothic pointed arches of the solicitors while waiting to

cross the road and then the quiet streets toward Beaumont Street with an

unfortunate view of Boyes – wholly lacking in charm. The decaying office

block also mars views into town and starts the approach into the town centre

with an air of neglect. It has no place in an historic town centre. The car parks

look like they ought to be crowded with yards, and medieval burgage plots;

indeed historic mapping shows that was exactly what was there before the car

parks were built. Indeed high density development would suit this area while

retaining the views towards Bank Top, St Cuthbert’s and St John’s. It could

restore quality architecture to the site, creating an exciting place to walk

through and help to reduce the impact of buildings such as Boyes on

Houndgate.

The greatest loss of historic character in this area is the ring road and the

large scale buildings alongside it, in particular the Town Hall and the Royal

Mail. The construction of the ring road involved the demolition of attractive

Victorian houses, but the key view towards Bank Top remains. The

roundabout is large and open and lacks historic character. It introduces to

much street clutter in the form of traffic signs and safety fencing. The scale of

the Town Hall is unsympathetic to the town and to views from the ring road.



219

Its impact could be softened by development in Feethams and south of the

Town Hall which introduces varied roof lines and design features which can

be appreciated from the ring road as well as from the town centre.



220



221

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ASUD 2009 Darlington Town Centre Fringe Project Desk Based Assessment

Austin, D 1982, Bolden Book

Baker, P 2008 The Thermal Performance of Traditional Windows and

Practical Measures to Reduce Heat Loss and Shrinkage (a paper given

in Historic Scotland’s Seminar on insulating historic properties in 2008

citing research by Glasgow University’s Centre for Research on Indoor

Climate and Health).

Centre for Research on Indoor Climate and Health 2007 Domestic

Technical Handbook

Cookson, G 2003 The Townscape of Darlington

Cudworth, W J 1899 Darlington Half Holiday Guide (first published 1882 by

Wm Dressers of High Row)

Darlington Borough Council 2006 The Early Railway Buildings at North Road,

Darlington

Darlington Borough Council 2010 Accommodating Growth Development Plan

Document

Darlington District Civic Society 1975 Buildings and Places

Dean, D and S 1984 Darlington in the 1930s & 40s

Department for Communities and Local Government 2010 Planning Policy

Statement 5: Planning for the Historic Environment

Ekwall E 1987 The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names

English Heritage 2004 Window Comparisons

English Heritage 2008 Conservation Principles

Fawcett B 2001 A History of North Eastern Railway Architecture Vol 1:

The Pioneers

Fawcett B undated ‘Darlington’s “GNE Shed”’ available at

http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/m.h.ellison/nera/gneshed.pdf [accessed 16.7.10]

Fiennes, C 1698 Tour Durham to Shropshire

Flynn, G. J 1983 Darlington in Old Picture Postcards

Flynn, G.J. 1994 Darlington in Old Picture Postcards Vol 2

Hardie, C and Hammond, N 2007 History in the Landscape. The archaeology

and architecture of Weardale

http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/m.h.ellison/nera/gneshed.pdf



222

Historic Scotland 2007 Inform: The use of lime and cement in traditional

buildings

Historic Scotland 2007 Inform: Repairing brickwork

Historic Scotland 2007 Inform: Maintaining sash and case windows

Historic Scotland 2007 Inform: Damp Causes and Solutions

Historic Scotland 2008 Inform: External Timber Doors

Lloyd, C undated Memories of Darlington

Longstaffe, WHD 1909 The History and Antiquity of the Parish of

Darlington in the Bishopricke of Durham (originally published in 1854)

Meadows, P and Waterson, E 1993 Lost Houses of County Durham

Petts, D and Gerrard, C 2006 Shared Visions: The North-East Regional

Research Framework for the Historic Environment

Pevsner, N 1990 The Buildings of England, County Durham

The Victorian Society 1992 Care for Victorian Houses number two:

Decorative Tiles

True North Books 1998 Darlington’s Golden years

Wall, J 2001 First in the World. The Stockton & Darlington Railway

Wooler, E and Boyd, A. C 1913 Historic Darlington

Yorke, T 2007 The Victorian House Explained



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APPENDICES

Appendix A

Chronology of development for Darlington’s Town Centre Fringe

1812 Union Street independent chapel by James Ianson of London, enlarged 1924

1821-2 Queen Street Primitive Methodists chapel

pre-1820s King, Queen, Regent, Union and Commercial Streets exist, but not fully developed.

Directory 1820. Businesses grow there in conjunction with railway. Houses a mixture of sizes and styles from impressive town houses to modest cottages, badly planned drains and sewers

1825 stone viaduct at north end of study area built by George Stephenson and the architect Joseph Brown, widened in brick in 1854

1825 The £5 note bridge built, designed by Ignatius Bonomi to carry the railway over the River Skerne.

A Scheduled Ancient Monument believed to have been the first – and certainly the only architect-designed – bridge on the Stockton and Darlington Railway. The bridge became known as the ‘£5 bridge’ after being shown on the banknotes.

pre-1826 Park Street, Freemans Place

1830s Land between Park Street and the river

pre 1837 Archer Street and Temperance Place

1833 Allan Estate, north of Bondgate, fields around Northgate railway, Clay Row

Land sold for development and agricultural use

1850 Health improvements including relocation of water pumps, street repairs and paving

1850 demolition of cottages in Bondgate

1850s Subway beneath the S&DR to connect Rise Carr to Hopetown

1855 -1871

Villas at Westbrook gardens

1857-60 Russell Street buildings added in 1864

1858 Whessoe Lane diverted and becomes Hopetown Lane

1859 first suggestion that cattle market be moved outside the town

1860s additional development between town and northwards up Northgate and the new Whessoe Lane is developed

1860s Park Place, Model Place and Swan Street, land around Victoria Embankment, Neasham, Yarm Road

1864 Chesnut Street

1867 Victoria Road

1861-4 Town Hall and market building – prominent skyline feature

1864 onwards

Leadenhall street and additional buildings on Russell Street near Northgate

1867 Victoria Road and Beaumont Street started and extended to Bank Top towards new station



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(1887)

1868 Chesnut Street (36 plots)

1870 Livingstone buildings on Northgate

1870 bishop’s palace demolished for terraced housing Luck street?

1870s? Hill House estate land sold sw of S&DR line and near Albert Hill to be developed with railway sidings and coal depots

1870s East Mount Estate started to be developed between upper John Street (now East Mount Road) and the railway

development complete by 1900

1870s McNay and Stephenson Streets fitted into a confined site along with several other working class terraces

1870s Victoria Embankment built

1871 Hargreave Terrrace partially developed

1872 McNay Street and Stephenson Street

1874 Pensbury Street completed

1875 Greenbank villa demolished and the area starts to be developed (Wycombe Street, north side of Dodds Street)

Lots sold in 1881 with land for a hospital.

1881 bridges on Russell Street and Chesnut Street built

Stone piers now eroded

1884 Edward Pease free library (Hoskins)

1885 new streets between Russell Street and Chesnut Street

still some vacant plots by 1902

1887 New Bank Top Station

1892 Land north of Corporation Road developed

1894 the technical college (Hoskins)

1895 St Cuthbert’s Bridge

1899 Northgate widened

1899 Parkgate widened

late 19th c

to early 20

th c

streets off Haughton Lane

1900 Valley Street and Weir Street laid out for development and the Skerne undergrounded. Borough Road area, and land around the power station developed

1912 Land acquired by the Council for allotments in the Cocker beck valley

1937 Old people’s homes in Hilda Street



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Appendix B Historic Street Names

Street names carry with them recollections, no matter how feint, of people and

events from our past. Reusing such names or using the names of local

historical figures to name new developments or streets, can help to make

links with the past and help new development to fit in. Local figures such as

Ralph Hodgson the poet, born in Garden Street in 1871 and Joseph

Woodward, inventor of the scoriae bricks, have yet to be recognised in street

names.

Historic Street Names

Chesnut Street Possibly named after magnificent chestnut trees which existed in the area when it was still rural in the mid 19

th century, but the

spelling appears to have been a signwriting mistake.

Commercial Street Carved out of part of Kendrew’s Market Garden in 1826 and designed from the start to be a mixed residential and commercial area.

Elmfield Named after a villa built off Northgate in the early 19

th century

Fatty Man’s Squeeze The name of a narrow lane which ran from Garden Street through to Russell Street beside the Lily Laundry. It was necessary to turn sideways to get through it. Now gone.

Garden Street Names after Edward Pease’s back garden which ran from his house down to the Skerne. It was renowned for its fruit trees (vines, fig, apricots, peaches, mulberries, cherries and plums) and the layout of the gardens can be seen on 25” OS maps dating to 1850. It is now the site of a car park and Philips – a modern brick building of no merit.

John Dobbin Street Named after a renowned artist who painted the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway at the Skerne Bridge, although the painting was produced 50 years after the event. He is also responsible for a mosaic reredos in St Cuthbert’s Church. The street is a 1960s creation and the name therefore relatively recent.

Kendrew Street Named after John Kendrew who was a weaver who lived in this area as a child. He adapted the Spinning Jenny for the spinning of flax for linen and also invented a machine for polishing optical glasses.

Lodge Street Named after the entrance lodge to East Mount villa, home of John Pease

McNay Street Named after Thomas McNay, S&DRs Engineer and Secretary

North Lodge An estate carved out of Elmfield’s grounds, presumably where Elmfields North Lodge



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was.

Park Lane Named after the Bishop’s Low Park that was located in this area

Peaceful Valley The area around what is now Garden Street, Weir Street and across to East Mount. It was named after the Pease’s families who lived on Northgate and at East Mount – hence Pease-full. The two families could walk across their gardens and rural countryside to visit each other. The name continued in use even when the area was no longer peaceful – a row of cottages, now demolished at the foot of Chesnut Street beside the Skerne, took the name in the early 20

th century when the

area was developed. They have since been demolished.

Polam Hall The first villa to be built outside the borough dating to 1780

Valley Street Named after the river Skerne which had flowed through the area. The street was carved out of the river area in c1900 and the river culverted into a brick tunnel which still exists below Valley Street (Dougill pers comm.)

Westbrook Named after Westbrook (the west brook being Cocker Beck) Gardens created by Henry Pease before 1835, described as large and beautiful with intersecting walks, a pond and a temple. Called Henry’s Folly by Edward Pease (his father)

Weir Street Named after the weir which ran off the Skerne in order to power nearby mills.

Weaver’s Yard Names after a row of weavers cottages which rand from behind Edward Pease’s House on Northgate to the Skerne. Only one remains to the rear of Pease’s House.

Wooler Street Named after William Alexander Wooler of Sadbergh Hall, a member of a prosperous family of businessmen originally from Wolsingham but settled in Darlington. He developed land which had belonged to the Buck’s Charity Land prior to 1864 and had the street named after himself (Lloyd’s Echo Memories 11.1.06).



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APPENDIX C NEGATIVE FEATURES IN THE TOWN CENTRE FRINGE



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APPENDIX D CONSERVATION AREAS IN THE TOWN CENTRE FRINGE



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APPENDIX E LISTED BUILDINGS IN THE TOWN CENTRE FRINGE



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Appendix F Local List of Historic Buildings

What is a Local List?

This is a list of buildings, structures, parks and gardens (including cemeteries and open spaces) that have special local architectural or historic interest and which local communities feel are an important part of their local heritage. They are different from, and do not include, legally protected Listed Buildings and Registered Parks and Gardens, which are already recognised as being of importance and have protection. Buildings and parks on the Local List may not be as important as those on the national list, but they are special to the town centre fringe

Why have a Local List? The Conservation Management Plan has identified a number of buildings and types of buildings which are distinctive and deserve care and attention for their contribution to the unique qualities of the area. These include buildings reflecting the area’s industrial heritage in the birth of the railways and the growth of the town as well as the social legacy seen in institutes, chapels, memorials and housing, and the little things often overlooked until they have gone such as old fashioned street signs and railings. What does being on the Local List Mean? Unlike Listed Buildings or Registered Parks and Gardens, being included on the Local List will not provide any additional planning controls or costs to owners. It will however recognise the importance of any identified buildings and value to local communities and encourage future care and consideration. It may be that the local list will in due course be formally adopted by the Borough Council and used to inform future planning decisions.



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Weaver’s Cottage to the rear of Edward Pease’s House on Northgate.

The rest of the row is demolished, but the name Weavers Yard survives on some maps. Weavers cottages normally have a distinctive row of windows along the top floor, very close together in order to let in the maximum amount of light. However these do not exist here or in the historic photographs of so-called Darlington House which stood on the site of the Technical College before it was built. RECENTLY RENDERED SO UNDER THREAT

Shop on 110-112 High Northgate with mid 19th century bowed 12 pane windows topped with a lead dome– a real rarity



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Tannery Row off Borough Road, already on maps by the 1850s – not many such lanes left in this area. Attractive scoria blocks and stone slabs combine to create a floorscaping which exudes historic character and harks back to horse drawn transport. Smoke vents on the end gable were part of the tanning process and key views down the lane centre on the market hall clock tower

Darlington’s first steam laundry on Weir Street–ripe for conversion and adds character to an area crying out for mixed use conversions

EMPTY – UNDER THREAT



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Darlington Bottling works, Gladstone Street built 1900 and one of the few Arts and Crafts designs in the town

The Temperance Institute on Gladstone Road, built to provide a meeting place without the temptations of alcohol and with the same stone detailing as the listed Technical College and Central School. The shop front below is of poor quality however and detracts from the architecture above

EMPTY – UNDER THREAT



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Richardson Construction, Portland Place – a small architectural treat which provides a terminus to views along Portland Place

19th century warehouse building on Weir Street shows several phases of extensions and rebuilding and may incorporate the remains of a building originally shown on maps dating to 1827



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Melville House, High Northgate built 1876 by Robert Borrowdale as the town’s first cocoa palace. This should be a prominent building with a positive contribution to make to the townscape, but it is hidden behind a petrol station sign. It lacks the ornate scupltures associated with Borrowdale – perhaps they have been removed? (The first Chocolate House/Cocoa Palace in England opened in London in 1657 followed rapidly by many others. Like the already well established coffee houses, they were used as clubs where the wealthy and business community met to smoke a clay pipe of tobacco, conduct business and socialise over a cup of chocolate.) EMPTY - UNDER THREAT



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The glassworks on Station Road/McNay Street. Delightful stone and brick mix with jaunty finial (most have fallen off) and sash windows – a relative rarity in the town centre fringe. Beautiful below eaves detailing. Its corner position gives it added prominence and streetscape presence.

Melville Street - Just because it must be the skinniest terrace in Darlington and quirky buildings make for interesting places!



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1-5 Victoria Road (opposite Sainsbury’s). A series of speculatively built middle class Victorian properties with fine stone detailing and below eaves decoration. Most have their original sash windows (No. 3 has some plastic replacements which spoil the row). No 5 (Victoria Dental Practice) was built by the developer for himself and his bust sits over the door. Inside the plaster work detailing is highly ornate and in excellent condition, as is the tilework on the porch floor and bookcases. Most have their original railings which is extremely rare in Darlington’s town centre fringe and their original Victorian doors. A group which represents Victorian domestic architecture at its best and worthy of listing Grade II to protect the exteriors and interiors.



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Grange House, a prominent corner position added much needed aesthetic value to a rather exposed roundabout area. An early 19th century design which still harks back to the Georgian styles. Multi pane sash windows, although some of these have been replaced with poorer quality plastic ones. Some ornate stone work amongst the brick facades.

Grange Vets and A. Pickering vets. Substantial brick buildings with octagons behind a brick wall with stone caps. Multi-pane sash windows in need of maintenance. This appears to have been the outbuildings to Grange House. Visible on photographs which pre-date the building of the ring road.



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11 Victoria Road (Freeman Johnson Solicitors) red brick with stone detailing to neo-Gothic doorway and top floor windows, original Victorian door, sash windows and thistle and rose end stops to the door arch. Replacement railings not of the quality of the originals but help to create a harmonious street front with the other railings.

7-9 Victoria Road (Sanders Swinbank), red brick with stone detailing, ball finials to gables, wide bayed windows. Stonework highly ornate, original railings and doors, cellar level with lead glazing bars and coloured glass. Possibly 1900 in date and consequently later than no.s 1-5.



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13-45 Victoria Road included as a group, but excludes no.s 23-25 which has been modernised in a 30s style and which is a broadly neutral feature (it has lost all sense of Victorian character, but retains its scale and massing as the original building sits behind), the Darlington Learning Zone is also excluded as it has a very poor replacement façade which spoils the entire street, and it excludes the Darlington Bedding Centre, which has removed the ground floor of the original Victorian houses. Otherwise the group includes Victorian Houses which have suffered some losses of traditional features, but overall the balance is still in favour of survival with a good number of original railings, sash windows and panelled doors. The below eaves detailing has survived in all the properties.



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70 Victoria Road on the corner of Feethams south, next to Sainsbury’s. A prominent position, but the Edwardian arched doorway with stained glass overlight is not appreciated by car drivers now that this side of the road is one way. The façade facing Victoria Road is poorer with plastic replacement windows, but its striking appearance still helps to lift the side of Victoria Road which has suffered most from the construction of the ring road.

Baptists Church, Victoria Road. An important landmark building located on a roundabout and so has added streetscape presence. One of those visual gateways into the town centre fringe.



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The former Old Skerne Printing Works & Hanratty’s Scrap Yard converted into residential studios, Weir Street – an oasis of well maintained calm amongst what looks like post war dereliction (it isn’t – this is modern dereliction). An example of successful reuse of former industrial buildings and a template for the town centre fringe. The printing works date to 1904 when it was built in what had been the back garden of Edward Pease’s home. The printing works were taken over by the North of England newspapers in the 1930s/40s and used as a paper store. Planning permission for the conversion was granted in 1987 and is still underway.

Old gateway into the Cocker Beck, Northgate. Stone gateposts topped with Victorian gables with roll top and stone wall with dressed stone capping.



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A Robert Borrowdale designed house on 1 Leadenhall Street. One of the few remaining delights built by Borrowdale, a stonemason who operated out of Northgate and carved busts, statues, gargoyles and livened up the town centre fringe. This was one of a row designed by Borrowdale – renowned as a local builder and ‘gargoyle fetishist’! (Lloyd, Echo Memories 12.8.1994)

Tallyman’s houses and coal drops, behind Westbrook Villas (Westbrook Villas are outside the study area). Very early examples of buildings associated with the railway. The tallyman’s house is in poor condition with a render coating which is exacerbating its problems. Neo-Gothic arch with hood moulding, recent door insertion to convert into a garage.



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In poor condition but with an interesting mixture that virtually constitutes the town centre fringes entire range of Victorian window types, ranging from arched, pointed arched, conventional double sashes, blocked windows and bays. This combined with its corner position means that it has the capacity to lift the area if it is maintained properly or pull the area down if it is allowed to decline further.

The Forum Music Centre, Brunswick Street (Brunswick School). One of the few remaining Victorian buildings on the largely demolished Brunswick Street. Despite the windows being blocked (in some cases inappropriately with breeze block) it retains the significant architectural neo-Gothic style which was popular with churches and schools in the mid to late 19th century. Good below eaves brick detailing, stone detailing to kneelers, gothic arched windows and buttresses. Another good example of a historic building being reused and their capacity to regenerate an area.



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The New Connexions Methodist Church, now a bathroom salesroom. Despite losing its top, this building still has considerable streetscape presence and combined with the tower of Bank Top Station, it creates a majestic architectural focus to views along Victoria Road.

First impressions mattered to Victorian’s and so often the construction of a railway station from the mid to late 19th century was combined with landscaping the approaches to the station and quality new build providing accommodation. This building was the North Eastern Hotel and was designed to impress the visitor arriving by train. It is still an impressive building even if the rest of Victoria Road has lost much of that impressiveness.



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Old street sign – there are not many left in the town centre fringe and this has a newer sign sitting alongside it. Woooler Street was named after a 19th century developer who purchased the land from Buck’s Land Charity in 1864.

Oxford Garage. Now a squat for an assortment of cats, this building was constructed in the early summer of 1869 after the land was bought by William Alexander Wooler (Wooler Street is named after him) from the Buck’s Land Charity in 1864. He sold the empty plot of land on to James Woodward the Younger on 22 January 1869. Mr Woodward built the warehouse in that summer and sold it to Joseph Morrell. One of the warehouse’s first occupiers was ‘ale and porter merchant’ Henry Burton. At that time the building had an earth floor with a stables for the horses and a forge for the smithy. IT was said that there was a hatch on the outside of the building where locals could obtain a swift jug of foaming ale in return for a few pennies. In 1924, Henry’s family sold the warehouse to Russells and Wrangham Brewery, of Malton; a brewery that had been established in 1771 and which ended up as part of Cameron’s in the 1960s. The next occupier was tettotaller Henry Walton, whose 1930’s business made gauges to sit on top of Whessoe oil tanks that were sold



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around the world. His toolkit and machinery were acquired from a failed company which had acquired machinery from the States in anticipation of building cars; Walton was able to acquire this machinery at knockdown prices and moved it into his Oxford Engineering Works. The business passed to his son who died in February 2005 and the building has remained empty (cats excluded) ever since. The machinery was offered to museums but there was no interest and it was sold for scrap. ((Information from Lloyd’s Echo Memories 11.1.06). The front elevation has more recent rick in the centre suggesting that the warehouse has either had its central bay replaced, or it was two buildings, possibly keeping the stables apart from the forge in case of fire. Otherwise the external elevations are little altered and the windows are the traditional ones it was made with.



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Warehouse building c1900. Presumably one of the first industrial buildings to move into the Valley Street area after the river was culverted and the roads laid out in 1900.



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Faith House, High Northgate (former Clacher’s the plumbers). This has become a rather unattractive building due to alterations at ground floor level but it is of some historic interest and the alterations to the ground floor may be reversible. In 1857 John Pease gave away a plot of land to the Darlington Christian Workmen’s Mutual Improvement Society, so that it could build a reading room (Lloyd, 20028). The society called its new premises Faith House and its name and date of 1857 are carved on the window sill (north) at first floor level. Two sash windows survive at first floor level. The building belongs to a tradition of self-improvement which started with the founding of Mechanic’s Institutes and became particularly popular in the second half of the 19th century. This Victorian self-improvement was to have wider ramifications in opening up the Cambridge and Oxford Universities to a wider audience and the formal creation of adult education. The house later became the mortuary caretaker’s house when a mortuary was built to the rear (this was after an unfortunate incident involving the burning down of he North of England School Furnishing co.). The mortuary had been a single storey building with a pitched roof but was demolished in the 1970s by the gas board. The site also has the added significance of the childhood recollections of one of the caretaker’s (John Charlton Cooke) having been written, which adds historical significance to the building.

8 The Northern Echo 26.6.2002, p 6B



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Rachel Coad School of Dance, Victoria Road. An attractive early 20th century building in a prominent street corner position. It has had some alterations to the ground floor, but the brown glazed tiles on the corner are especially attractive. A mix of brick with stone detailing with below eaves dentilling and kneelers. This building represents a shift away from the fussiness of the high Victorian styles towards plainer facades that were to become plainer still. Selected because of its streetscape value in an area where much has been lost through ill informed alterations.

Entrance gates into Feetham’s cricket and football ground – a 1930s (?) structure and said to be a miniature of the now lost gates of Wembley Stadium



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Appendix G Definitions of value and significance

Historical Value This derives from ways in which people, events and aspects of life can be connected through a place to the present. It tends to be

illustrative or associative, for example it might be an association with an architect or illustrate through visible connections with the past

how communities used a place

Evidential Value The potential of a place to yield evidence about past human activity

Aesthetic Value This derives from ways in which people draw sensory and intellectual stimulation from a place. It can relate to the design of a place, or the patina

of age which adds to local distinctiveness and character

Communal value This derives from the meanings of a place for the people who relate to it, or for whom it figures in their collective experience or memory.

With regard to the town centre fringe of Darlington, significance is also broken down into individual elements and it is these combined which give the area its overall

significance or value as described by English Heritage. The significance rating is considered under four headings and for each specific statement made a grading is

assigned as follows.

Exceptional Significance. Aspects of the site considered as seminal to the historical, architectural, or aesthetic character or development of the site, the

unsympathetic or ill-informed alteration or loss of which would destroy or significantly compromise the integrity of place. This category may be determined by

the date, rarity, completeness, duration, setting or the representative quality of the element discussed.

Considerable Significance. Aspects that help to define the historical, architectural, or aesthetic character of the place, without which the character and

understanding of place would be diminished but not destroyed.



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Some Significance. Aspects which may contribute to, or complement, the historical, architectural, ecological or aesthetic character of the place but are not

intrinsic to it, and in some circumstances may be intrusive, and the removal or alteration of which may have a degree of impact on the understanding and

interpretation of the place.

Marginal Significance. Those aspects which have only a minor connection with the historic, architectural and aesthetic character of the site and could be

considered intrusive, the removal or alteration of which could have a limited or even beneficial affect on the understanding of place.

The reader should note that significance should not be confused with importance. Many buildings have already been assessed according to national criteria

and judged to be of sufficient importance to be given status as Listed Buildings or Scheduled Ancient Monuments. The statement of significance accepts this

level of importance and seeks to identify in detail the elements which define the area’s special character and grades each element’s contribution to this.

However if buildings are identified as being worthy of designation, but which are currently not designated, or if they are considered to be worthy of inclusion

on a local list, then these are flagged up.

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