Book description
The historic City of Durham is now over 1,000 years old. With its
magnificent Norman Cathedral and Castle it has become a world famous
tourist attraction, the outstanding importance of which was recognised
in 1987 when it was designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.
Martin Dufferveil's book is a celebration of this unique City and of the
Country that has grown up around it, from the day in AD 995 when a group
of monks carrying the coffin of St Cuthbert settled on what was then
known as the 'Dunholm' to the present time. From the original site on
the high wooded rock, a settlement began to take shape. It was one which
would be swelled by pilgrims and made wealthy by their offerings, and
which would eventually become one of the most important sites of
religious pilgrimage and military power in England. Many events and
people have, throughout the last millennium, lit up the long story of
Durham, in both fact and fable. This book recalls some of them. Wars,
saints, kings and mythical beasts are all included in this tale of over
1,000 years as are surveyors, locomotive engineers and miners. It is all
here from the long sagas of the Wars of the Roses and the English Civil
War, to the legendary Lampton Worm; from Canute the Great, Viking
Emperor, to murder most foul at Gutty Throat Farm; and from the ravages
of William the Conqueror, to the bizarre plan to turn Durham City into a
port. Steam locomotives for the Tsar of Russia and Dixieland in the USA
both had their origins here in Durham, and both feature in this book.
A native of Durham, Martin Dufferveil works for Durham City Council in
the Legal Services Section of the Town Clerk and Chief Executive's
Department. He lives with his wife and two children in Durham.
