County Durham Timeline

A work in progress. See separate timeline for Durham (City)

12th Century

• 1164: Bishop Puiset initiated the building of St Cuthbert’s Church in Darlinton

18th Century

• 21st August 1701: birth of George Bowes, a leading coal proprietor and Member of Parliament for County Durham. 
• 27th June 1726: establishment of the Grand Allies, a cartel of coal trading familes in the North East.
• 22nd December 1786; birth of Timothy Hackworth, engineer and superintendent of Stockton and Darlington Railway.  

19th Century

• 6th March 1806; birth of poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning at Coxhoe Hall 
• 19th July 1808; opening of St. Cuthbert's, Ushaw College as a seminary for the training of Roman Catholic priests.
• 1818: founding of Gainforth Academy, where later Stan Laurel was a pupil. 
• 27th September 1825; opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
• 2nd July 1835: Haswell Colliery opened; the first colliery with a steel cable down its mine shaft.
• 2nd February 1838; Charles Dickens visits Barnard Castle whilst researching his novel, Nicholas Nickleby.
• 1840: founding of the Derwent Iron Company in Consett; forerunner of Consett Steel Works.
• 28 August 1844; foundation stone of the Penshaw Monument laid by Thomas Dundas, 2nd Earl of Zetland
• 28th September 1844: 95 men and boys killed on a mining disaster at Haswell Colliery.
• 5th July 1849; birth of William Stead, pioneer journalist and editor of the Nothern Echo in Darlington.
• 1st April 1857; opening of the Newton Cap Viaduct over the River Wear at Bishop Auckland.
• 21st September 1858; Charles Dickens gave reading at Central Hall, Darlington.
• 1864: opening of Auckland Park Colliery in County Durham
• 1st January 1870; first edition of the Northern Echo newspaper, produced in Darlington.
• 12th August 1871: the first Durham Miner's Gala held at Wharton Park, Durham.
• 1872: Croxdale Viaduct, over the River Wear, built by the North Eastern Railway.
• 1872: Durham coal field: opening of collieries at Bearpark, Chilton, and Middridge.
• 16th February 1882: 74 men and boys killed at Trimdon Grange Colliery
• 1st July 1887; building of the new Darlington Railway Station completed.
• 10th June 1892; public opening of the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle.

20th Century

• 23rd July 1906: Gertrude Bell cuts ceremonial sod to start the sinking of Bowburn Colliery.
• 14th October 1906; an explosion at Wingate Grange Colliery led to the deaths of 26 miners.
• 2nd September 1907: opening of Darlington Civic Theatre
• 1909: Blackhall Colliery opened by Horden Collieries Ltd. 
• 13th April 1924; birth of Frank Atkinson, the founder of Beamish open-air museum.
• 18th February 1933; Bobby Robson, footballer and manager, born in Sacriston, County Durham.
• 19th April 1947; Newton Aycliffe was established under the New Towns Act of 1946.
• 29th May 1951; Easington Colliery Disaster; an explosion resulted in 83 deaths.
• 27th  June 1953: Last day of passenger services on the Weardale Extension Railway, Wearhead
• 1972: Opening of Beamish Museum - the first regional open-air museum in England.
• 27th September 1975; opening of the Darlington Railway Museum (now Head of Steam) by the Duke of Edinburgh.
• 12th September 1980; closure of the Consett Steel Works, with the loss of over 4,000 jobs.
• 1985: Weardale Museum in Ireshopeburn established by volunteers.
• 1995; conversion of the Newton Cap Viaduct  in Bishop Auckland to a road bridge for the A689.

21st Century

• 22nd October 2004: the National Railway Museum Shildon opened by Prime Minister Tony Blair
• 12th November 2015: opening of the reconstructed St Helen's Church of Eston by the Bishop of Durham at Beamish Museum.