darlington

Darlington is a large market town in County Durham, England. The Borough of Darlington is governed from the town. In 2011, the town had a population of 92,363 and the larger Borough of Darlington‘s population was recorded as 105,564.

The unitary authority is a constituent member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority. The borough, therefore, is part of the Tees Valley mayoralty. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows along south of the town.

In the 19th century, Darlington underwent substantial industrial development, spurred by the establishment there of the world's first permanent steam-locomotive-powered passenger railway: the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Much of the vision (and financing) behind the railway's creation was provided by local Quaker families in the Georgian and Victorian eras.

Early history

St Cuthbert's Church

Darlington started as an Anglo-Saxon settlement. The name Darlington derives from the Anglo-Saxon Dearthington, which seemingly meant 'the settlement of Deornoth's people', but by Norman times the name had changed to Derlinton. During the 17th and 18th centuries the town was usually known by the name of Darnton.

Darlington has a historic market area in the town centre. St Cuthbert's Church, built in 1183, is one of the most important early English churches in the north of England and is Grade I listed. The oldest church in Darlington is St Andrew's Church, built around 1100 in Haughton-le-Skerne.

When the author Daniel Defoe visited the town during the 18th century, he noted that it was eminent for "good bleaching of linen, so that I have known cloth brought from Scotland to be bleached here". However he also disparaged the town, writing that it had "nothing remarkable but dirt." (Roads would have typically been unpaved in the 18th century.)

The so-called “Durham Ox” came from Darlington. (Born in the early 19th century, this steer became renowned for its excellent proportions, which came to inform the standard for Shorthorn cattle.)