History of local government districts in Durham

They had been successive district administration in the County of Durham. The ancient county was formerly structured around the Bishop of Durham with ancient wards and boroughs.

1835–1974

The county palatine was restructured to a standard county system of the time through successive Durham County Palatine Acts 1836 to 1889. Municipal boroughs were established under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The administrative county and county boroughs were introduced in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. Urban and rural districts were created under the Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73). The structure was replaced under the Local Government Act 1972 in 1974.

Boroughs

A borough could either have or not have a rural controlled from the same set of municipal buildings. A municipal borough’s area was part-governed by the administrative county; a municipal borough could become a county borough which was only ceremonially linked with the county.

Borough	Type	From	Until	Notes
Darlington[1]	Municipal	1867	1915
	County	1915	1974	Replaced by the Borough of Darlington
Durham[2]	Municipal	1835	1974	Replaced by City of Durham, since 2009 the Unitary Authority of County Durham
Gateshead[3]	Municipal	1835	1888
	County	1888	1974	Replaced by the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead
West Hartlepool[4]	Municipal	1887	1902
	County	1902	1967	Boroughs merged
Hartlepool[5]	Municipal	1850	1967
	County	1967	1974	Replaced by the Borough of Hartlepool
Jarrow[6]	Municipal	1875	1974	Replaced by the Borough of South Tyneside
South Shields[7]	Municipal	1850	1889
	County	1889	1974	Replaced by the Borough of South Tyneside
Stockton-on-Tees[8]	Municipal	1835	1968	Merged into the County Borough of Teesside
Sunderland[9]	Municipal	1835	1888
	County	1888	1974	replaced by the Borough of Sunderland

Districts

A rural and or urban district could be controlled from a single set of municipal buildings:^[10]

District	Type	From	Until
Annfield Plain	Urban	1896	1937
Auckland	Rural	1894	1937
Barnard Castle	Rural	1894	1974
Barnard Castle	Urban	1894	1974
Benfieldside	Urban	1894	1937
Billingham	Urban	1923	1968
Bishop Auckland	Urban	1894	1974
Blaydon	Urban	1894	1974
Boldon	Urban	1936	1974
Brandon and Byshottles	Urban	1894	1974
Chester-le-Street	Rural	1894	1974
Chester-le-Street	Urban	1909	1974
Consett	Urban	1894	1974
Crook	Urban	1898	1937
Crook and Willington	Urban	1937	1974
Darlington	Rural	1894	1974
Durham	Rural	1894	1974
Easington	Rural	1894	1974
Felling	Urban	1894	1974
Hartlepool	Rural	1894	1937
Hebburn	Urban	1894	1974
Hetton	Urban	1895	1974
Houghton-le-Spring	Rural	1894	1937
Houghton-le-Spring	Urban	1894	1974
Lanchester	Rural	1894	1974
Leadgate	Urban	1894	1937
Ryton	Urban	1894	1974
Seaham	Urban	1937	1974
Seaham Harbour	Urban	1894	1937
Sedgefield	Rural	1894	1974
Shildon	Urban	1894	1974
South Shields	Rural	1894	1936
Southwick on Wear	Urban	1894	1928
Spennymoor	Urban	1894	1974
Stanhope	Urban	1894	1937
Stanley	Urban	1894	1974
Stockton	Rural	1894	1974
Sunderland	Rural	1894	1967
Tanfield	Urban	1895	1937
Tow Law	Urban	1894	1974
Washington	Urban	1922	1974
Weardale	Rural	1894	1974
Whickham	Urban	1894	1974
Willington	Urban	1894	1937

1974-2009

Local government districts in Durham ceremonial county

Map of districts 1974-2009

Map of districts from 2009

Under the Local Government Act 1972, the county's ceremonial, district and borough boundaries were moved to align to the newly created non-metropolitan county of Durham. The ceremonial county had the boroughs Darlington (borough) of Sedgefield and the City of Durham as well as five districts:

• Chester-le-Street
• Derwentside
• Easington
• Teesdale
• Wear Valley.^[11]

unitary authority under the Local Government Act 1992. Darlington borough became a unitary authority in 1995. The county of Cleveland disbanded in 1996, Boroughs of Hartlepool and of Stockton-on-Tees became unitary authorities in the ceremonial county. The Borough of Stockton-on Tees is split between the ceremonial counties of Durham and North Yorkshire.

The non-metropolitan county was subject to 2009 reforms. The council county, districts and boroughs were merged into a unitary authority. The ceremonial county now covers four unitary authorities:

• Borough of Darlington
• County of Durham
• Borough of Hartlepool
• Borough of Stockton-on-Tees (north of the River Tees)