Elvet is an area of the city of Durham, in County Durham, England. It is situated on the opposite side of the River Wear from Durham Cathedral and forms the south-eastern part of central Durham.
Name The name Elvet is recorded as Aelfetee in circa 800 AD and in the 12th century as Aeluete and Eluete. It is thought to be Old English in origin, containing the element elfitu ("a swan") + either ēa ("a river") or ēg ("an island"), giving the name a meaning of "swan stream" or "swan island".Mawer, Allen, The Place-Names of Northumberland and Durham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1920), p. 71. The Swan and Three Cygnets, a public house on Elvet Bridge, is a reminder of the historical name given to this part of the city.
Other attempts at the etymology of Elvet include identification with the epithet Elfed in the name of Madog, a hero in Y Gododdin.Mark Reginald Wakeford, 'The British Church and Anglo-Saxon Expansion: The Evidence of Saints' Cults' (unpublished Ph.D. theses, Durham University, 1998), pp. 17-19.
History
Elvet grew up from two medieval settlements based around Old Elvet and St Oswald's Church and includes Church Street, Hallgarth Street, Whinney Hill and the Roman Catholic St Cuthbert's Church. Elvet is home to Durham Prison and Durham Crown Court centre (Court Lane), County Court centre (New Elvet) and magistrates' court (Old Elvet). The Crown Court centre was originally built for the Durham Assizes and is a grade II* listed building.List entry 1322878For the courthouse used by the Crown Court, see Nikolaus Pevsner, "Assize Courts, Court Lane", The Buildings of England: County Durham, Penguin Books, 1953, (The Buildings of England, volume 9), p 128 ; Elizabeth Williamson (ed), "Crown Courts", The Buildings of England: County Durham, Second Edition, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1983, Corrected reprint, 1985, p 227; "The New Assize Courts at Durham" (1869) 27 The Builder 553 (10 July); "The New Assize Courts at Durham" (1869) 17 The Building News 489 (24 December), see also p 34 (9 July); The Illustrated Guide to Durham and Its Vicinity, G M Watt, 1888, p 139 ; "Criminal incompetence left £7.3m* bill". Northern Echo. 10 August 2011.
Elvet was chartered by Prior Bertram of Durham in 1188–1208 and was an ancient borough until 1835, when it became a township in the civil parish of St Oswald, within the municipal borough of Durham and Framwelgate. In 1866, Elvet became a separate civil parish within the borough; on 1 April 1916, the civil parish was abolished and Elvet became a ward of Durham. In 1911 the parish had a population of 3934. The 1919 25 inch to 1 mile Ordnance Survey maps show the Elvet ward boundary as running northeast along a stream from the Quarryheads Lane – Potters Bank junction to the River Wear and then along the centre of the river to join the municipal borough boundary where this came down to the river at Pelaw Woods, then following the municipal borough boundary along the river to Shincliffe Bridge and then along Stockton Road and Quarryheads Lane back to the junction with Potters Bank.
Elvet forms one of the character areas of Durham City conservation area. The Elvet character area is bounded by the River Wear to the west and north, the scarp slopes to the east and the road to Mountjoy Farm and Stockton Road to the south, as and extends along both sides of Quarryheads Lane as far as the Potters Bank roundabout, taking in the built up area of Elvet and surrounding countryside, including the Racecourse, Maiden Castle and Mount Joy hill. Since 2018, Elvet has been part of the Elvet and Gilesgate ward of the City of Durham parish. The south and east boundaries of the ward are similar to those of the character area, although excluding Mount Joy hill; as the ward takes in Crossgate, the Peninsular, Claypath and part of Gilesgate, the north and west boundaries lie beyond Elvet.
Streets Hallgarth Street Elvet House, a former Crown building (c. 1951) in Hallgarth Street, is currently the base for Durham's Jobcentre Plus, Crown Prosecution Service, Driving Standards Agency and Tribunals Service. The County Court vacated its purpose-built 1960's annex to Elvet House in October 2008 to relocate alongside the magistrates' court.
The former priory farm included the former granary called the Tithe Barn,Heritage at Risk. List entry 48798. which is grade II* listed;List entry 1120616 and two former barns,List entry 1323279 other buildingsList entry 1323278 and a wall which are grade II listed.List entry 1160063 The Tithe Barn has been dated between 1446Roberts, "A Preliminary Roof Typology for the North East of England c. 1200–1700" (2008) 39 Vernacular Architecture 27 to 49 ; Johnson, Durham: Historic and University City and surrounding area, 6th Ed, 1992, p 18 and 1449.Arnold and Howard, "The Tithe Barn, Elvethall Manor, Hallgarth Street, Durham", 2010, report number 59
Hallgarth House, which is number 77,Joseph Bascom St. John, The Europa World of Learning, Globe and Mail, 2005, p 1951. is grade II listed.List entry 1323282 The Victoria, formerly the Victoria Hotel, an inn which is number 86, is grade II listed.List entry 1381263Stables, "Victoria Inn", A-Z of the City of Durham, 2019; Dodds, "Victoria Inn Public House", Durham City in 50 Buildings, 2019, chapter 41; Richardson, Durham Cathedral City from Old Photographs, 2009, section 5.
Numbers 18,List entry 1120615 21 to 32,List entry 1120617 54 to 56,List entry 1160068 58,List entry 1323280 59,List entry 1310711 67,List entry 1120619 68, 69,List entry 1310715 70,List entry 1323281 73List entry 1160089 and 75List entry 1120620 are grade II listed.
Church Street Oswald Court is off Church Street. A fire ball is reported to have fallen there during a thunderstorm on 13 July 1884."Thunderstorms" (1884) 13 The Electrician 220 (19 July 1884)
New Elvet The commercial centre of Elvet is around the junction of New Elvet, Old Elvet and Elvet Bridge. North of this is a connection to Leazes Road (the A690) via New Elvet Bridge, built in 1967–75.
South of this, the riverbank on the west side of New Elvet is dominated by Durham University buildings. The Elvet Riverside complex was built in two stages from 1962–66 and 1972–75 and consists of lecture theatres, teaching rooms, study spaces and offices. Pevsner described it as "contribut[ing] little to either river or street". It houses the faculty office for the faculty of arts and humanities, the school of modern languages and cultures, part of the department of English studies,
Dunelm House, home of Durham Students' Union, is located south of Elvet Riverside and is a grade II listed building built in 1966. It was designed by the same architects as Elvet Riverside, the Architects' Co-Partnership, but, according to Pevsner, succeeded architecturally where the other building failed. It forms a group with Ove Arup's Kingsgate Bridge, a grade I listed pedestrian bridge linking Elvet to the Durham Peninsula.
Old Elvet Shire Hall, a grade II listed building,List entry 1310562 is located on Old Elvet.Nikolaus Pevsner, "Shire Hall, Old Elvet", The Buildings of England: County Durham, Penguin Books, 1953, (The Buildings of England, volume 9), p 128; Elizabeth Williamson (ed), "Old Shire Hall", The Buildings of England: County Durham, Second Edition, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1983, Corrected reprint, 1985, p 226Margot Johnson. "Old Elvet" in Durham: Historic and University City and surrounding area. Sixth Edition. Turnstone Ventures. 1992. Page 18. Ustinov College operates three student residences (houses 29, 34 and 38) on Old Elvet; The Swan is unnumbered but located immediately beside 38.
The local Masonic Lodge (Universities Lodge 2352) is at 36. The Masonic Hall was built in 1869. The architect was T C Ebdy."A New Masonic Hall for Durham" (1869) 27 The Builder 20 (2 January); "Durham" (1869) 17 The Building News 467 (17 December); Elizabeth Williamson (ed), The Buildings of England: County Durham, Second Edition, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1983, Corrected reprint, 1985, p 253
The Royal County Hotel is a grade II listed building. It has a staircase traditionally said to have been taken from Lochleven Castle.List entry 1121376Charlie Emett. "Walk 1: Durham City: The Royal County Hotel". Pub Walks in County Durham & Teesside. Countryside Books. Newbury, Berkshire. 2005. . Pages 9 and 10. Number 32, which has been used as an Adult Education Centre, is a grade II listed building.List entry 1322879
Elvet Methodist Church was begun in 1902.Michael Richardson. Durham City from Old Photographs. Amberley Publishing. 2009. p 46"Wesleyan Church, Durham" (1903) 85 The Builder 499 Google Books
Number 34 is a grade II listed building. It has been used as the Graduate Society Offices.List entry 1121413 Elizabeth Milbanke and John Bacchus Dykes lived there at different times.William Whellan & Co. History, Topography, and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham. Whittaker and Co. Ave Maria Lane, London. Galt and Co. Ducie Street, Exchange, Manchester. 1856. p 206.
The Dun Cow, a pub which is number 37, is a grade II listed building.List entry 1121414
Numbers 1,List entry 1121400 5, 6,List entry 1322876 14,List entry 1121401 15, 15A,List entry 1121402 17,List entry 1322877 18, 19,List entry 1160498 19½,List entry 1121403 20,List entry 1160540 25,List entry 1121409 26,List entry 1121410 26A, 27,List entry 1160628 28,List entry 1121411 30,List entry 1121412 38,List entry 1310454 39, 40,List entry 1322880 42,List entry 1121415 43,List entry 1310463 44, 45, 46,List entry 1322881 52,List entry 1121417 53, 54, 55 and 55AList entry 1160700 are grade II listed buildings. Numbers are 47, 48 and 49 are grade II* listed buildings.List entry 1121416
Whinney Hill Whinney Hill is a street on a hill of the same name in the Elvet area, that name being derived from the whin (gorse) shrub that grows there in profusion. The street runs north–south from Durham Prison and the Durham City Cricket Grounds, on the banks of the River Wear, to the roundabout on the Stockton-on-Tees road near the Durham University science site. The lower site of Durham Johnston Comprehensive School was located on it until September 2009 when the school's sites merged.
Durham's third passenger railway station, Durham Elvet, opened in 1893 at the north end of Whinney Hill, closing in 1954. Its site is now occupied by Durham Magistrates' Court and the university's Parson's Field buildings.
References Margot Johnson. "Elvet" in Durham: Historic and University City and surrounding area. Sixth Edition. Turnstone Ventures. 1992. . Pages 16 to 18. Keith Proud. "Heart of the City". Northern Echo. 20 May 2011. Francis Frederick Johnson. Historic Staircases in Durham City. City of Durham Trust. Durham. 1970.