The town of Barnard Castle, originally built by Barnard Baliol, great grandfather to John Baliol, king of Scotland. The principal street is spacious, and near three-quarters of a mile in length ; the houses are neat, being built with white stone. At the lower part of the market-place, stands an open structure of fine free-stone, covered with slate, and surrounded by an octagon colonnade, which serves as a stand for the market people ; and here is held one of the greatest corn markets in the north of England. It was formerly famous for the manufacturing of white leather breeches, and for tammies or Scotch camblets, in the manufacture of which a number of weavers are yet employed, as well as in making stockings.

Here are four annual fairs, and a market on Wednesday. For the encouragement of agriculture, a society has been formed here which distributes annually prizes to the neighbouring farmers, &c. who have the best cultivated farms, the best stallion horse, bull, cow, heifer, tup, boar, sow, &c.

Barnard Castle is situated 246 miles from London, and contains, according to the late returns, 393 houses, and 3581 inhabitants, of whom 531 were returned as being employed in various trades. This is an increase of 595 in ten years.

The name of this town, and probably its origin, are derived from a formidable castle, erected, soon after the Conquest, on the summit of a rock on the west side of the town. Part of this castle is still standing, from which it appears to have been a stately and magnificent structure. Its walls are venerably mantled with ivy, and enclose a very considerable area of an irregular figure. On the west side is a round tower of great magnitude, built with ashlar stone, and now used as a shot manufactory. The vault over the tower-part still remains, and is finely constructed ; but it is plain, and without ribs. The keep or inner part is protected by a vast moat, with a portal at one end. From the castle is a very beautiful view of the Tees, over which is a bridge of two arches, built in the year 1596.

This castle sustained a severe siege during the rebellion raised by the earls of Westmorland and Northumberland, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but the garrison were forced at last to surrender to the rebels, who granted them honourable terms.

The Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III., resided some time in this castle, and founded a college in the town for a dean and ten priests, with lay-clerks and choristers.

BARNARD CASTLE, a parish, market town, and station on the South Durham branch of the North Eastern railway, and township, head of a county court district and petty sessional division, 25 miles south-west from Durham, 16 west from Darlington, 39 south-by-west from Gateshead, 38 south-west from Sunderland and 236 from London, in the Barnard Castle division of the county, south-west division of Darlington ward, Teesdale union, rural deanery of Darlington, archdeaconry of Auckland and diocese of Durham: the parish comprises the townships of Barnard Castle, Marwood, Streatlam and Stainton and Westwick: the town, which is about a mile in length, is situated on the southern slope of a hill descending steeply to the river Tees, and is approached from the north-east by the Bowes and Sunderland Bridge road, which connects it with Staindrop and Bishop Auckland. At the southern extremity of the market place, and nearly in the middle of the street, stands the Town Hall, and opposite to it Newgate street runs eastward and joins the road to Westwick and Whorlton. Thorngate is a continuation of the main street to the south from the Town Hall, and appears to be the most ancient part of the town. Bridgegate is a long narrow street, which diverges from the foot of the bank and forms the only approach into the town from the south, except a winding path around the west and north sides of the Castle. The bridge which connects Barnard Castle with the village of Startforth, on the Yorkshire side of the Tees, consists of two groined arches, that on the Durham side being somewhat higher than the other. The town is governed by a local board of twelve members, formed June 21, 1850, and is well supplied with water from a reservoir situated at Mount Pleasant, and lighted with gas from works situated at the Flats and belonging to the local board.

The church of St. Mary is a spacious battlemented edifice of stone, in the Norman, Early English and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of five bays, aisles, transepts and an embattled western tower with pinnacles, containing a clock and 8 bells: it is said to have been originally founded in the 12th century, by Barnard de Baliol, and portions of the ancient fabric still exist; at a later period, in the same century, the church was enlarged by his son Barnard, who added a north aisle and converted the former north wall into an arcade: the south aisle and transepts were next erected, and the north transept about 1380: in the 15th century extensive alterations were made, including the building of a clerestory and the construction of a chancel arch, rood loft, and stairs thereto: the tower, with its lead covered spire, remained until 1792: Richard, Duke of Gloucester (afterwards Richard III.) obtained a licence in 3477, from Edward IV. to make his church collegiate, and although the college was never founded, it appears that he contributed to the enlargement or embellishment of the structure, and placed his cognizance, a boar, upon its walls: several chantries were also founded here, one of which, established by Robert de Mortham, was confirmed by Bishop Bury, in 1339; this chantry was assigned to the south transept, which retains its piscina and several arched recesses, and in one of these is the effigy of the founder: in the north transept is another piscina, which, however, has been moved 12 feet from its original position; and in the south wall is a fine Norman doorway, till recently built up: the church was partially restored in 1870, at a cost of about £4,000, when the south and east walls of the chancel, dating only from 1810, were rebuilt, the flooring reduced to its proper level and re-laid, an organ chamber erected by the north transept, the galleries removed, and the whole interior reseated with open benches: a stained window was also inserted in the south transept and a new organ introduced: the tower was rebuilt in 1875 a cost of nearly £2,000. The register dates from the year 1609. The living is a vicarge, gross yearly value £700, with residence, in the gift of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, and held since 1865 by the Rev. Frederick Brown M.A. and fellow of that college, hon. canon of Durham and surrogate.

There is a Catholic chapel, situated in Ware street; the Congregational chapel in Hall street will seat 400 persons; the Wesleyan chapel in Thorngate will seat 650 persons; the Primitive Methodist chapel in Newgate street, erected in 1887, at a cost of £2,124, has 350 sittings. There is also a Free Christian chapel, in Newgate, built in 1870 as a memorial to George Brown esq. barrister, and seating about 200 persons. The Masonic Hall in Newgate was erected in 1887, and here the Society of Friends hold their meetings.

The Town Hall, situated in the Market place and erected in 1747, at the cost of Thomas Breaks esq. a native of this town, is an octagonal building, around the basement story of which there is a piazza, inclosed by an iron railing. The county magistrates meet at the police station in Queen street. The court baron of the Duke of Cleveland is held in October every year.

The Barracks, erected in 1864, are the head quarters of the 3rd Battalion Durham Light Infantry.

The Mechanics' Institution, situate in the Horse market, is a building of stone, two storeys in height, erected by subscription as a memorial to H. T, M. Witham esq. of Lartington Hall, late president of the society; it comprises a public hall and rooms in which science and drawing classes are held; the Savings Bank is held here and a portion of the building is used as a dispensary.

The market day is Wednesday: the cattle market joins the western extremity of Galgate, and is continued by the horse market and the market place, which together form the main street of the town. There is also a public auction mart. The market for cattle is held fortnightly on Wednesdays. Annual fairs take place on Easter and Whit Wednesdays for pedlery, and on the eve and day of St. Mary Magdalene for horses, cattle and sheep.

In the early part of the present century the carpet manufacture was introduced, and formed the chief trade of the place: it has, however, much declined. The staple trade is now the manufacture of flax thread for shoe makers, which is extensively carried on by Messrs. Ullathorne and Co. of Gate street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, who employ a considerable number of workpeople.

There are several charities arising from various sources as follows: Ezra Emmerson left by will, dated December 25th, 1733, £50, the interest to be given to the poor annually; Glenton’s dole produces £7 2s. annually; in 1745 Peter Waistell of London left £100 and Mr. Percival left £40: in 1785 these sums were invested in the purchase of a field at Low Startforth, and the rent is given to the poor; in 1726 Matthew Hutton of Barnard Castle left 16a. 3r. 23p. of land and 1A. 2R. 24P. of wood, the rents to be given in bread to the poor; there is an annual sum of £3 2s. distributed to seven poor widows, derived from £20 left by W. Hutchinson esq. of Barnard Castle and £50 left by the Right Hon. Lord (Vane) Viscount Duncannon, in 1718; there is £30 yearly left by W. Sanderson in 1755; the old men and women’s charity produces £37 11s. 9d. of which sum £2 10s. is distributed to eight old men, £2 4s. to seven old women and £2 3s. 9d. to one old woman annually; Longstaff and Bain’s charities produce £9 15s. 2d. yearly; John Dent of London left £133, the interest to be applied to educating poor boys belonging to Barnard Castle.

Here was once a hospital dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the revenues of which have been appropriated to the North Eastern County school.

The Bowes Museum, situated in a park of 21 acres, just beyond the boundary of Newgate street on the left, and erected in 1869-75 at the cost of the late John Bowes esq. of Streatlam Castle, and his wife, the Countess of Montalbo, is a magnificent building of stone in the French Renaissance style, from designs by Mons. E. Pellechet of Paris and Mr. J. E. Watson of Newcastle-on-Tyne, architects: the structure, including the basement, is three storeys in height and stands on a wide arcaded and balustraded terrace, below which are gardens laid out in lawns and flower beds: the south, or principal front, overlooking this terrace, is 300 feet in length, with a general elevation of about 85 feet, but is relieved in the centre by an advanced block containing the principal entrance and carried up above the ridge of the roof so as to form a kind of tower, finished with a square domical roof enriched on all sides by tall dormer lights: at each end of the main block are wings, 138 feet in length, projecting boldly to the south 38 feet and relieved by slightly advanced bays rising to the parapet and supporting large pedimented dormers lighting the truncated pyramidal roofs, which are also pierced by smaller dormers above: the upper stage of the building, both in the centre and wings, is adorned with coupled pilasters, above which and surrounding the whole building is a bold cornice supported by carved cantilevers: the roof is pierced by a tier of dormers throughout: the basement and upper floors are assigned to residential purposes: a fine staircase of polished red Peterhead granite, 8 feet wide, and supported by columns of red and grey granite, conducts to the first floor, containing pottery and porcelain, glass, carved ivories, crystals and silversmiths’ work, and a sculpture gallery, 204 feet long and 44 wide: on the second floor is a picture gallery of exactly the same dimensions as the sculpture gallery, arranged in three separate rooms, and containing a valuable collection of pictures, chiefly by Continental artists, and including a “Translation of St. Francis d’Assisi” and a “Spanish beggar boy” by Murillo, various portraits of the Bonaparte family by Francois Kinsoen, Maudhuit, Gerard and David, and of Marshal Soult, Duke of Dalmatia, by J. Desire Court, a fine painting of the “Embarkation of Admiral de Ruyter” by W. Van de Velde, a Miracle of the Blessed Sacrament,” by Giovanni da Fiesole (Fra Angelico), and an exquisite little triptych, c. 1470, by Hans Van Memmelinghe (or Hemling), in very perfect condition: there are also portraits of Mrs. Thrale by Sir Joshua Reynolds P.R.A. of Moll Davis by Hogarth, and of Mr. and Mrs. Bowes, painted in 1863 by Eugene Feyen: the rooms in the west wing on this floor are appropriated to the library, and in a large room near the staircase are a number of paintings, chiefly landscapes, executed by the foundress: here also is preserved a curious mechanical swan of silver, made in the reign of George III. by an eminent watch maker named Weekes. Mrs. Bowes died Feb. 9, 1874, previous to the completion of the museum, but under the will of her husband, John Bowes esq. who died 9 Oct. 1885, the institution has been amply endowed and vested in trustees. Under existing regulations, parties of not more than six persons are admitted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays by order previously obtained from the curator, Mr. Owen Stanley Scott.

The Castle, the massive ruins of which occupy the summits of a series of precipitous rocks on the north bank of the Tees, once ranked amongst the most extensive and important in the North of England, and originally commanded one of the principal passages between Durham and Yorkshire. It was founded by Barnard or Bernard de Baliol between 1112 and 1132 and remained in the possession of the Baliols until 1293, when, on the attainder of John de Baliol, King of Scotland, it was claimed by Bishop Bek, who in 1301 seized it, and during his tenure of the fortress the keep and other portions are believed to hare been built. Edward I. in spite of episcopal protests, granted the Castle to Guy de Beauchamp, 2nd Earl of Warwick, and it continued to be held by the Beauchamps and Nevilles for a period of about 150 years until by the marriage of Richard, Duke of Gloucester (afterwards Richard III.) with Anne (Nevill), 2nd daughter of Richard, Earl of Warwick K.G. it eventually became vested in the Crown, and after several alienations was purchased by the ancestors of the Duke of Cleveland K.G. the present owner. The area inclosed by the walls slightly exceeds 8 acres and forms an irregular oblong, the longer axis running due north and south: the east side, next the town, is 336 yards in length; the west side, above the river Tees, 245 yards; the north and south sides, which both slope inwards towards the west, measure respectively 160 and 110 yards: the area is divided into four wards, of which the outer ward occupies somewhat more than the southern half: the remaining portion consists of the town ward, which has the larger share and extends to the north and west, and the middle and inner wards, which occupy the north-western quarter: the whole site was encompassed by a ditch, which on the east side passed between the castle and the town and on the west side was stopped by the rising ground near the bridge: here the fortress was protected by the Tees, and on the north by the Percy beck, one of its tributaries: the three northern wards were separated from the outer ward by a wall, and beyond this by a second ditch, which traversed the castle area from east to west, and the smaller wards were similarly protected from the town ward: the entrance to the castle from the town is on the east side, in the outer ward, where probably stood the ancient gateway: the curtain on this side was strengthened by buttresses, and at the northern extremity in the town ward are the remains of a rectangular structure projecting on both sides of the wall, and known as “Brackenbury’s tower :” on the north side are other towers, protecting the main entrance on this front, a massive Norman archway, and from these the wall is continued to the keep, placed at the extreme north-east of the castle area: the level of the inner ward, within which it partly stands, is about 30 feet higher than that of the rest of the inclosure, and the keep, rising from this to a height of about 50 feet, dominates the whole: it is a fine circular tower of red gritstone, about 40 feet in diameter, and consists internally of a basement and three floors above, but the parapet is wanting, and the stair is consequently broken off: the wall varies from 10 feet to 7 feet 2 inches in thickness: near the keep was the hall and other apartments, and on a perpendicular bay window in one of these appears the white boar, the well known badge of Richard III.: while the inclosing walls and towers are chiefly Norman work of late character, and there are traces of Early English, it is evident that the other portions of the fortress were almost entirely rebuilt in the Decorated period, to which the keep, the ruins of the hall and most of the remaining buildings belong; the castle was unroofed and dismantled in 1630.

The soil is strong loam; subsoil, clay and gravel; the land is chiefly pasturage. The Duke of Cleveland K.G. is lord of the manor and principal landowner.

Barnard Castle township, with Marwood, contains an area of 7,744 acres; rateable value, £22,172; the population in 1881 was 4,448.

Petty Sessions held at the Police station, Barnard Castle, second & last Wednesday of every month & at Staindrop second & last Friday in. every month. The following places are included in the division:-Barnard Castle, Cleatlam, Cockfield, Egglestone, Forest & Frith, Gainford, Headlam, Hilton, Ingleton, Langleydale, Langton, Lynesack & Softley, Middleton-in-Teesdale, Morton-Tinmouth, Newbiggin, Raby & Keverstone, Staindrop, Streatlam & Stainton, Walkerfield, Westwick, Whorlton, Winston & Newsham, Woodland.

Teesdale Union

Board day, Wed. fortnightly, at the Board room at 2 p.m. Teesdale union comprises the following places:-Barforth (N. R. Yorks), Barnard Castle &; Marwood, Barningham (N. R. Yorks), Boldron (N. R. Yorks), Bowes (N. R. Yorks), Brignall (N. R. Yorks), Cleatlam, Cockfield, Cotherstone (N. R. Yorks), Eggleston, Eggleston Abbey XN. R. Yorks), Forest & Frith, Gainford, Gilmonby (N. R. Yorks), Headlam, Hilton, Holwick (N. R. Yorks), Hope (N. R. Yorks), Hunderthwaite (N. R. Yorks), Hutton Magna (N. R, Yorks), Ingleton, Langleydale & Shotton, Langton, Lartington (N. R. Yorks), Lunedale (N. R. Yorks), Mickleton (N. R. Yorks), Middleton-in-Teesdale, Morton-Tinmouth, Newbiggin, Ovington (N. R. Yorks), Raby & Keverston, Rokeby (N. R. Yorks), Romaldkirk (N. R. Yorks), Scargill (N. R. Yorks;, Staindrop, Startforth (N. R. Yorks), Stainton, Streatlam, Wackerfield, Westwick, Whorlton, Winston, Woodland & Wycliffe (N. R. Yorks). Pop. in 1881 was 20,778; rateable value, £150,617.

Places of Worship, with times of services

St. Mary’s Church, Rev. Canon Frederick Brown M.A. vicar; Rev. Alfred Henry Ford B.A. curate; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Fri. 7 p.m.

St. Mary’s (Catholic), Ware street, Rev. James Shea, priest; mass, 10.30 a.m.; evening service & benediction, 6.30 p.m.; holidays of obligation, mass, 10& evening service & benediction, 7.30 p.m.; daily, mass, 8.30 a.m.

Congregational, Hall street, Rev. Benjamin Wilkinson, minister; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7.30 p.m.

Free Christian, Newgate; 10.45 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.

Primitive Methodist, Newgate street, Rev. William Raistrick, minister; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Mon. 7 p.m.

Wesleyan, Thorngate, Rev. William Goodhugh Dawson, minister; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Tues. 7 p.m.

Wesleyan, Stainton.

Schools

The North-Eastern County School, situated a little to the east of the Bowes Museum, was founded by an amalgamation of the funds of the ancient hospital of St. John at Barnard Castle with those of the Flounders’ trust at Yarm, augmented by a sum of £10,000, contributed by residents in the counties of Durham & Northumberland & in the East Riding of Yorkshire: the buildings, erected in 1883-6 & opened in January of the latter year, are of stone, in the English Domestic Gothic style, with mullioned windows, from the designs of Mr. R. J. Johnson, architect, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, & comprise a main block facing slightly to the east of south & a central annexe extending northwards, the whole forming in plan the shape of the letter T: the central portion of the main block is occupied by a large hall, open to the full height of the building & with galleries on each floor: on the east is the great school, 73 by 36 feet & 16 feet high, &; on the west the dining hall, which has exactly the same dimensions, together with kitchens & other domestic offices: near the entrance on this floor are the board room, library & secretary’s office: the northern limb contains a series of class rooms arranged on each side of a wide corridor, & beyond these, lavatories & offices: there are two upper floors of dormitories &c suites of rooms for masters, & in a detached block on the north side are bath rooms & a class room for natural science: a separate sick ward is also provided, & there is a distinct house for the headmaster: the building is estimated to provide for the reception of 300 boarders & 50 day boys: E. H. Prest M.A. Jesus College, Cambridge, headmaster; Rev. E. B. Vincent M.A. University College, Oxford; H. J. Hodgson M.A. Cavendish College, Cambridge; E. D. Walrond B.A., F.C.S. Caius College, Cambridge; D. G. Evans B.A. Cavendish College, Cambridge; E. G. Thwaytes B.A. St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge; H. A. Crallan B.A. Emmanuel College Cambridge; S. P. L. Steinmetz, London University; A. W. Ridout, London University; L. V. Clayson, London University; A. E. A. Oakes, London University; T. M. Thirlby, London University, assistant masters; W. Raper & F. W. Raper F.C.O. music; Sergt.-Major Fathers, drill; Edwin Wells, bursar.

National (boys), built in 1814, for 220 children; average attendance, 130; Charles Henry Corbett, master: (girls) built in 1840, for 110 children; average attendance, 70.

British (infants), built in 1837, for 200 children; average attendance, 130.