Durham

Durham, a northern coast-county of England lying between the Tyne and the Tees, having a length of 55 miles, a breadth of 35 miles, and an area of 973 square miles. The western part is occupied by the Northern Pennine range, rising to a height of 2,196 feet; and eastward of this are bleak heights, throwing out spurs among which ore fertile valleys through which streams flow. Of the rivers the principal are the Tyne, the Wear, and the Tees, which are navigable for a few miles. The geological formation is of mountain limestone, millstone grit, magnesian limestone, new red sandstone, with veins of basalt or greenstone; and the county contains part of the Newcastle coalfield, and is, in fact, one of the most important coal-producing districts, a strike of the Durham miners sufficing- to paralyse half the industries of the North. Those who know the Greta at its junction with the Tecs will remember how the river has hollowed out for itself a channel in the limestone, in which the bother will not find a particle of mud. The moors of the west afford good pasturage for sheep. In the east of the county there is clay, upon which cereals are grown, and stock is raised. The alluvial bank of the Tees makes a good grazing ground. and the short-homed breed of Teeswater cattle is fumed'throughout the world. The valley of the Derwent is well-timbered. The mineral productions of the county are coal, lead, limestone, black marble, zinc, ironstone, firestonc, slate, millstone, and freestone; and among the industries are mining, iron-smelting, shipbuilding, iron, coke, glass, and pottery making, and the manufacture of chemicals. The capital of the county is Durham (q.v.), and the other large towns are Stockton, South Shields, Sunderland, and Hartlepool. Durham is a county palatine, till lately in the jurisdiction of the Bishop, but now an appanage of the Crown. There are eight parliamentary divisions, returning each one member, and seven parliamentary boroughs. The Roman occupation is marked by several towns ending in "Chester," and by the existence of altars, coins, and urns. In Saxon times the county formed part of the kingdom of Northumberland, and at a later period suffered much from the incursions of the Scots.