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Stanhope, County Durham

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Population
  
4,581 (2011 Census)

Region
  
North East

Sovereign state
  
United Kingdom

Shire county
  
County Durham

Dialling code
  
01388

UK parliament constituency
  
North West Durham

OS grid reference
  
NY995395

Country
  
England

Postcode district
  
DL13

Local time
  
Saturday 9:46 PM

Post town
  
Bishop Auckland

Stanhope, County Durham httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Weather
  
6°C, Wind S at 8 km/h, 62% Humidity

Stanhope county durham 22nd february 2012


Stanhope (pronounced in the regional dialect "Stanup") is a small market town in County Durham, in England. It is situated on the River Wear between Eastgate and Frosterley on the north east side of Weardale. The A689 road meets the B6278 road from Barnard Castle to Shotley Bridge here.

Contents

Map of Stanhope, Bishop Auckland, UK

Description

The civil parish of Stanhope has a population of 4,519 in 2001, and also includes Rookhope, Westgate, St John's Chapel, Ireshopeburn, Wearhead, Cowshill, Cornriggs, Eastgate, Frosterley all on the A689 road, along with Crawleyside, Hill End and White Kirkley. The parish council area is the largest in England with 221 km². It shares some land in common with the neighbouring Wolsingham civil parish.

Stanhope is surrounded by moorland in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) - the second largest of the current 40 AONBs in England and Wales.

Features of interest include

  • a petrified tree stump in the churchyard which was discovered with two others. One of the others resides in the Hancock Museum in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
  • the Durham Dales Centre which incorporates a tea room, tourist information and craft shops
  • a ford with a step-stone bridge for pedestrians
  • the eighteenth century Stanhope Castle in the centre of the town stands on the possible site of a medieval castle.
  • one of only two heated open air swimming pools in the North East.

    • Stanhope Agricultural Show is held on the second weekend of September each year. It was founded in 1834 and has been held annually since, with the exception of the war years, the foot and mouth crisis and times of bad weather.

    Weardale Railway

    Stanhope is also the current terminus of the Weardale Railway, a heritage railway operating primarily on weekends from Bishop Auckland with stations at Frosterley, Wolsingham and Witton-le-Wear.

    Notable residents

  • Joseph Butler (1692–1752), theologian and cleric
  • William Percival Crozier (1879–1944), Scholar and journalist. Editor of the Manchester Guardian 1932-1944.
  • George Boateng, professional footballer
  • Thomas Coulthard (1818-1866) and Elizabeth Fleming (1820-1873), parents of legendary Australian rules footballer and Cricketer, George Coulthard (1856-1883)

    • References

    Stanhope, County Durham Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA