In Britain, the city of Durham – about 20 km south of Newcastle – is mainly famous for two things: a bishop who did not believe in God and a university that serves posh kids who have failed their Oxbridge entry exams.
We will come to both of these later but start with what Durham should be famous for: one of the best short-and-easy riverwalks in the UK.
The Durham Riverwalk
The river in question is the Wear, and the trail owes its ranking as one of the area’s top visitor attractions to the fact that this stream winds itself scenically around Durham’s medieval town centre through discreetly landscaped woodlands, combining magnificent nature views …
… with glimpses of architectural treasures.
This one-hour Durham Riverwalk is the perfect start for a day trip to the city: for the simple reason that the “grey towers of Durham” and the city’s “mixed and massive piles”, “half Church of God, half castles against the Scots” (as Sir Walter Scott put it in his poem Harold the Dauntless), look their best when framed by a more cheerful counterpoint scenery of blue skies, glittering waters and leafy trees.
If you arrive at Durham by rail, you will not have to look long for the trail. Virtually any route you take from the train station to the city centre will lead you to the river.
Whenever you find your way blocked by the Wear, just turn right and continue with the river on your left hand side.
The trail begins with a long straight walk to the Prebends Bridge …
… where J.M.W. Turner studied the scenery in preparation for his famous watercolour painting of Durham Cathedral and the river Wear.
The spot where Turner is thought to have stood when sketching the scene is marked by an information panel, …
… but when you put yourself in the artist’s position, you will notice that he cheated a bit, pulling the Cathedral closer towards the viewer and shifting it a little to the right so it is shown from the front rather than the side. (Today, they would call that photoshopping.)
There is not much a visual artist would want to do to improve the scenery on the far side of the bridge: when the Wear bends toward the left, the riverbank landscape turns even more painterly than before, …
… and after a short while, you will reach the equally picturesque St Oswald’s Church, reputedly Durham’s oldest.
This is probably the perfect time to leave the trail, because by crossing the churchyard into Church Street and then continuing into New Elvet, …
… we are completing the Durham riverwalk loop around the city centre and can now enter its historic core from the eastern side via the Elvet Bridge.
You are now free to give in to your (so far suppressed) “longing to roam the venerable aisles” of Durham (Sir Walter Scott again) and to study the “records stored of deeds long since forgot” (ditto).
We suggest you start with the number 1 on the list of the city’s architectural treasures: Durham Cathedral is not only one of the grandest but also one of the oldest Christian monuments in Britain.
Parts of the building date back to the 11th century, while the collection of the diocesan library includes artefacts from the 6th century, the very dawn of Northern Christianity. (On a more mundane note, you may also recognise the Cathedral from the first two Harry Potter films where it stood in for Hogwarts.)
And if you want to date the red mailbox that so shamelessly photobombs the Cathedral in the picture above, we refer you to this little piece. Yes, the Easy Hikers have the answers to all of your queries – and what’s more: they never miss a chance of linking to one of their own posts.
Durham may be one of the five Great Sees of Anglicanism, but for centuries, its bishops were generally not figures of nationwide renown. This changed when David Jenkins (bishop from 1984 to 1994) stepped on to the scene, publicly expressing his disbelief in the Virgin Birth and the physical resurrection of Christ.
The English press joked that “until now, we have always thought that it would be a minimum requirement for a senior member of the Anglican clergy to believe in God”. As a celebrity du jour, Jenkins was regularly featured on the satirical puppet show Spitting Image and in one famous episode used his gifts of persuasion to turn God himself into an atheist.
On the list of Durham’s architectural treasures, the Cathedral is closely followed by the city’s University. The institution occupies more than 300 buildings across town, 83 of which are listed. By far the oldest of these historic piles is the 11th century Durham Castle, conveniently located right opposite the Cathedral.
The city’s university itself is much younger than the historic buildings that accommodate it today: it was established in the 1830s when Durham became the first town to break Oxford’s and Cambridge’s 600-year-long monopoly on University education in England.
In English culture, Durham University occupies the ground underneath the twin summits of Oxbridge and above the academically respected redbrick universities of the industrial North. But what does “in English culture” mean?
To give you an idea: Durham graduates include two army chiefs of staff, several editors of national newspapers, two Archbishops of Canterbury, captains of the England rugby and cricket teams, Directors of MI5 and Permanent Secretaries at the Civil Service plus many government ministers past and present on both sides of the aisle. It would be hard to find a university other than Oxford and Cambridge that could present a similar roll call of people who really matter in Britain.
For more historic buildings, walk to near-by Market Place or stroll through any of the high streets in the town centre. But before you return to the train station, we suggest you take another short detour by the river.
The light changes throughout the day, and you may be surprised how different the scene can look in the afternoon. Turner alone painted or sketched the river views (at least) six times, and the interplay of shadows and reflections has inspired countless artists and artworks through the centuries. This is a trail that is worth more than a single look.
