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For similarly named places, see Bear Park.

Bearpark is a village and civil parish in County Durham in England. It is situated two and a half miles west of Durham, and a short distance to the north of Ushaw Moor. The name may be a corruption of the French term Beau Repaire – meaning "beautiful retreat". Half a mile to the north of the present village lies the ruins of Beaurepaire Priory, built in 1258 by the Prior of Durham, Bertram de Middleton, as a retirement residence. The building was extended in the subsequent three centuries, becoming a retreat for the Durham monks in a similar way to the nearby Finchale Priory. The manor was largely destroyed by the Scots in 1640 and 1644 during the British Civil War.[2][3] In 1872, Theodore Fry was involved in founding the Bearpark Coal and Coke Company, which established a coal mine in Bearpark until 1984, when the mine was closed.

Bearpark Community Centre is at the hub of the local village, a red brick building originally built in 1921 as a miners' welfare hall. An old pit wheel stands in front of the building, a memorial to the village's mining history.

Bearpark featured on the BBC radio and television series Uncanny, citing the case of a Victorian boy haunting a house in the village.

Bearpark is the subject of a song by Durham-based band Prefab Sprout.[4]

References

  • Margot Johnson. "Beaurepaire" in Durham: Historic and University City and surrounding area. Sixth Edition. Turnstone Ventures. 1992. ISBN 094610509X. Page 33.
  1. ^ "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Chapel of Beaurepaire, Bearpark, Witton Gilbert (Bearpark)". Durham County Council and Northumberland County Council. 11 September 2012. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  3. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Williamson, Elizabeth (1985). The Buildings of England: County Durham. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 92–93. ISBN 978 0 300 09599 9.
  4. ^ Prefab Sprout - BearPark. Retrieved 31 March 2024 – via www.youtube.com.

4. ^ "A Mining World: The Story of Bearpark County Durham". ISBN 0 900974 56 7

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