An Historical Geography of a Nineteenth Century Small Town
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Durham E-Theses Continuity and change in Durham city: an historical geography of a nineteenth century small town Holt, Susan Barbara How to cite: Holt, Susan Barbara (1979) Continuity and change in Durham city: an historical geography of a nineteenth century small town, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/8014/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN DURHAM CITY: AN HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF A NINETEENTH CENTURY SMALL TOWN thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Durham Susan Barbara Holt (in two volumes) VOLUME ONE The copyright of this thesis rests with the author No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent andj informatio, n derive. , d, November,5 197 9 from it should be acknowledged ABSTRACT This thesis examines the historical geography of the Municipal Borough of Durham,a relatively small nineteenth century town, in order to compare it with contemporary larger towns and with pre-nineteenth century towns. Discussion of a number of key themes is followed by an analysis of residential patterns and an evaluation of the processes underlying them. At mid-century Durham was a manufacturing town with both large and small employment units. In economy and population size it contrasted earlier centuries but more continuity was seen in terms of townscape. Dwellings built during the later nineteenth century formed a small but distinct part of the housing stock and an examination of the processes of housing provision showed no clear linkage with selected aspects of the regional economy. Instead, a detailed study of building applicants, by means of nominal linkage techniques, showed varied types of applicants operating on different types of building site. Constraints on building imposed by local authorities were found to be of slight importance. As a final key theme it was found that the social structure of this small town had attributes associated with larger towns of the period. All these themes are drawn upon in order to describe and explain patterns of residence within the town. No sampling techniques are used; instead each household in 1851 and 1871 is matched with its dwelling. Relationships can be detected between household types and rateable value, a surrogate for rent,and marked differences emerge between the heterogeneity of rateable values and social characteristics of most of the old town and the greater homogeneity of the new streets. In this town, in contrast to other published studies, residential patterns cannot be attributed either to its size or to its social and economic character. Instead explanation must be sought in the inherited distribution of property in fictional ownership and in the character of nineteenth century building operations and finance. i TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME ONE Page Table of Contents i List of Figures v List of Plates xii List of Appendices xiii Conversion of Imperial Measures to Metric xvi Conventions in Footnotes xvii Acknowledgements xviii CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION CHAPTER TWO : POPULATION LEVELS AND TRENDS 1. Introduction 17 2. The Size and Growth of Population, 27 15^8 to 1911 3. Durham City in comparison with other 38 towns in Co. Durham, 15^8 to 1911 4. Factors contributing to population 40 Change Notes ^9 CHAPTER THREE : CHANGES IN THE LOCAL ECONOMY 1. Introduction 57 2. Durham City in the mid-nineteenth 59 century; the industrial structure 3. Durham City in the mid-nineteenth century; the structure of firms 4. Economy of nineteenth century Durham City 69 compas&d to earlier centuries Page 5. Changes in employment in Durham City 74 during the nineteenth century 6. Investment patterns 90 7. Conclusion 92 Notes 94 CHAPTER FOUR : CHARACTERISTICS OF NINETEENTH CENTURY BUILDING 1. Introduction : Approaches and themes 104 2. The "building cycle for Durham City, 1850 to 1915 HO 3. Relationships between economic indicators and the building cycle 117 in Durham City 4. The character of the building process 125 5. Building participants 135 6. Conclusion 174 Notes 178 CHAPTER FIVE : THE COMPOSITION OF THE TOWNSCAPE 1. Introduction 190 2. The street plan 198 3. Plot patterns 228 4. Fabric 245 5. Conclusion 26l Notes 264 CHAPTER SIX : FORMS OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION 1. Introduction 284 2. Inherited local government structures 287 3. Eighteenth and early nineteenth century local government structures 295 iii page 4. Nineteenth century local government structures 298 5. Conclusions 304 Notes 306 CHAPTER SEVEN : INFLUENCES OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION 1. Introduction 317 2. Trends in Mortality 318 3. Influence on the development of the townscape 331 4. Changes in administrative policy 338 5. Comparison between Durham Local Board of Health and Durham Paving Commission 3^3 Notes 35^ CHAPTER EIGHT : THE SOCIAL CHARACTER OF THE TOWN 1. Introduction 368 2. Identifying classes and social trends 370 3. Durham as a traditional town 381 4. Durham as a small town 387 5. Conclusion 388 Notes 390 CHAPTER NINE : SOCIETY AND HOUSING 1. Social area analysis of nineteenth century towns 39& 2. The character of enumeration districts in Durham MB. in 1851 and I87I 397 3. Streets and parts of streets 413 4. Households and their dwellings 418 5. Conclusion 431 Notes 433 iv CHAPTER TEN : PROCESSES OF CHANGE 1. Points for discussion 2. The role of social and economic change 3. The development of social areas 4. Durham as a small nineteenth century town 5. The role of nineteenth century "building Notes CHAPTER ELEVEN : CONCLUSIONS FIGURE 20. Street Names VOLUME TWO Figures Plates Appendices Bibliography V LIST OF FIGURES Page 1. Curtilage infill 484 2. Size of town kernels in relation to built up area 485 3. Population growth 486 4. Baptisms & Burials, Durham City & suburbs, 1570 to 1850 487 5. Burials in 'plague years' 488 6. Durham MB. Population Structure 489 7. Birthplaces of household heads, Durham MB., 1851 490 8. Birthplaces of household heads, Durham MB., 1871 491 9. Durham MB., birthplaces of population, 1851 492 10. Birthplaces of carpet workers in Durham MB. 493 11. Birthplaces of paper workers in Durham MB., 1851 494 12. Railways & market days in 19th century Co. Durham 495 13. Population & mortality estimates, 1851 - 71 ^96 14. Carriers from Durham City 497 15. Durham Street Plan 498 16. Peninsula sited towns 499 17. Urban Plans 500 18. Spacing of medieval markets 501 19. Lordship & town plans 502 20. Street names 503 21. Parish and township boundaries 504 22. Co. Durham parishes 505 23. Churchyards & rows, Durham and suburbs 50 6 24. Plot & row dimensions 507 25. Crossgate 508 26. Tenure divisions within buildings 509 27. Elvet North row 510 28. Dean & Chapter property, Durham MB. 511 vi Page 29. Landownership & building in the vicinity of Durham City 512 30. Engraving Cover 513 31. Closes 514 32. Building plans, Durham MB., 1850 to 1915 515 33- Dwelling applications, Durham MB., & coal output from the NE. coalfield, 1850 to 1915 516 34. Building applications in relation to the bank rate, Durham MB., 1850 to 1915 517 35. Bank rate trends & building applications, Durham MB. 518 36. Dwelling applications & certificates in Durham MB. 1850 to 1915 519 37• Dwelling applications & building workforce, Durham MB. 1850 to 1915 520 38. Bye-law streets 521 39. The Avenue Estate, 1873 to 1919 522 40. Institutional Land Use 523 41. Building in Crossgate & Framwellgate 524 42. Building in St. Giles parish 525 43. Building in St. Nicholas parish 526 44. Building in Elvet 527 45. Building in Gilesgate Moor 528 46. Residences of carpet workers, 1851 & 1871 529 47. Rateable values, Durham MB., 1850 & 1870 530 48. Municipal Boundaries 531 49. Water supply & sewerage in Co.Durham, 1848 to 1900 532 50. Co.Durham Causes of Death 533 51. Values & types of dwellings, Durham MB., 1850 and 1880 534 52. Enumeration Districts, Durham MB. 535 53- Professional heads of households 536 54. Paper workers, 1851 537 55. Drift Geology 538 56. Buildings with through passages, 1919 539 57. Butchers at Durham Market 540 vii LIST OF TABLES Page 2.1 Population estimates for the parishes of Durham City and suburbs in 1563 32 2.2 Population estimates for the parishes of Durham 34 City and suburbs in 1674 2.3 Population estimates for St. Giles and St.Nicholas ^5 parishes between 1674 and 1793 2.4 Population estimates for selected towns, Co. 38 Durham, 1548 to 1801 2.5 Crude mortality for St. Nicholas and St. Mary-le- 43 Bow parishes in 1563 2.6 Population increase by decade, comparing Durham 47 MB. to Durham Union, Sunderland and Co. Durham, 1801 to 1911 3.1 Industrial occupational structure of the 60 workforce, Durham MB., 1841, 1851 and 1861 3.2 Occupational structure of Durham MB. and Gateshead 62 in 1841 and 1871, as a percentage of the total workforce 3.3 Occupational structure of the Durham MB. workforce, 74 males to females 1841 to 18?1 3.4 Occupational structure of the male workforce, 76 Durham MB., 1841 and 1911 3.5 Transport workers, Durham MB., 1841 to 1871 79 3.6 Occupational structure, 1841 to I87I, Durham MB., 80 of workforce employed in the professions and public service 3.7 Employment in domestic service, Durham MB., 83 1841 to 1871 3.8 Changes within employment in dealing, Durham MB., 84 1841 to 1871 3.9 Employment in woollens and metal manufacture, QC Durham MB., 1841 to 1871 3.10 Comparison of manufacturing employment for 86 Durham MB.