Barnard Castle

Barnard Castle is a castle and also the name of its surrounding town in Teesdale, County Durham, England. It sits on the north side of the River Tees, opposite Startforth. Other than the castle, Bowes Museum is among the town's attractions.

Administration

Barnard Castle is for all purposes (traditional, ceremonial and administrative) located in County Durham.

Barnard Castle is the administrative centre of the Teesdale district of County Durham. As of 2005, it is represented on the County Council by Richard Bell and Jo Fergus (both Conservative). It is part of the Bishop Auckland parliamentary constituency, which as of 2005 is represented in parliament by Helen Goodman (Labour). It is in the North East England region, which serves as a constituency for the European Parliament.

The local police force is Durham Constabulary. Barnard Castle is in the Wear and Tees division, and has its own police station.

History

The impressive castle was founded by the Normans shortly after the conquest, but enjoyed its heyday under Bernard de Bailleul during the latter half of the 12th century. The castle passed into the hands of the Balliol family (of which the Scottish king, John Balliol, was the most important member), and then into the possession of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. King Richard III inherited it through his wife, Anne Neville, but it fell into ruins in the century after his death. The remains are now in the care of English Heritage.

Walter Scott frequently visited his friend John Sawrey Morritt at Rokeby Hall and was fond of exploring Teesdale. He begins his epic poem Rokeby (1813) with a man standing on guard on the round tower of the Barnard Castle fortress.

Charles Dickens and his illustrator Hablot Browne (Phiz)stayed at the King's Head in Barnard Castle while researching his novel Nicholas Nickleby in the winter of 1837-38. He is said to have entered William Humphrey's clock-maker's shop, then opposite the hotel, and enquired who had made a certain remarkable clock. William replied that his boy Humphrey had done it. This seems to have prompted Dickens to choose the title "Master Humphrey's Clock" for his new weekly, in whichThe Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge appeared. The Bowes Museum housed in a mighty chateau-like building, was founded by John Bowes and his wife and is of national status. It contains an El Greco, paintings by Goya, Canaletto, Boucher, Fragonard and a vast collection of decorative art. A great attraction is the 18th century silver swan automation, which periodically preens itself, looks round and appears to catch and swallow a fish.

John Bowes lived at nearby Streatlam Castle (now demolished). His Streatlam stud never had more than ten breeding mares at one time, but produced no fewer than four Derby winners in twenty years — a phenomenal achievement. The last of these, "West Australian", was the first racehorse to win the Triple Crown (1853).

Notable residents

Cyril Northcote Parkinson - writer and inventor of Parkinson's Law
Anne Fine - children's writer. Twice Whitbread Prize winner

Barnard Castle School

The independent co-educational school, Barnard Castle School, is located on the edge of the town.

Location

Grid reference:
Latitude and longitude: (54.54, −1.91)
Elevation: 180 m (600 feet)
Road access: A67 from Darlington; roads off A66 from Scotch Corner and Brough; A688 from Bishop Auckland; B6277 and B6278 from Teesdale.
Rail access: Bishop Auckland, 25 km (15 miles); Darlington, 30 km (20 miles)
Nearest large town: Darlington, 30 km (20 miles)

External links

Aerial photograph from Multimap