Middleton-in-Teesdale is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It is situated on the north side of Teesdale between

Eggleston Eggleston is a village in County Durham, in England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 Census was 448. It is situated in Teesdale, a few miles north-west of Barnard Castle. Etymology The second element of ''Eggleston'' ...

and Newbiggin, a few miles to the north-west of Barnard Castle. The settlement is surrounded by the

North Pennines The North Pennines is the northernmost section of the Pennine range of hills which runs north–south through northern England. It lies between Carlisle to the west and Darlington to the east. It is bounded to the north by the Tyne Valley and ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (

AONB An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of rural area, countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for protected area, conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are desig ...

Administration

Middleton is administered by

Durham County Council Durham County Council is a local authority administering all significant local government functions in the unitary authority area of County Durham in North East England. The council area covers part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, ...

. It is part of the Bishop Auckland parliamentary constituency in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. Prior to

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time, GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 Central Eur ...

in 2020, it was a part of the

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary author ...

constituency for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

. The local police force is

Durham Constabulary Durham Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing ceremonial county of County Durham in North East England. The force’s area is bordered by Cumbria Constabulary to the west, Cleveland Police to the south east, Nor ...

History

The small market town in Upper Teesdale expanded in the early 19th century when the London Lead Company moved its northern headquarters there from

Blanchland Blanchland is a village in Northumberland, England, on the County Durham boundary. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 135. Set beside the river in a wooded section of the Derwent valley, Blanchland is an attractive smal ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

. Much of the architecture from its days as a company town is still clearly visible. This includes Middleton House, formerly the headquarters of the company, the school (which is now an outdoor centre) and some company houses. St Mary's Church, rebuilt in the late 1870s, has a historic detached bell tower with bells dating back to the 16th century. There are separate chapels for Catholics, Baptists, Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists. A fountain was erected in the town in 1877 to honour Robert Walton Bainbridge, superintendent of the London Lead Mining Company. Middleton served as the terminus of a railway line from Barnard Castle until this was closed as part of the

Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...

. The Wynch Bridge from 1830 close to the Low Force waterfall was built to allow miners to reach the Middleton mines. It is thought to be one of the oldest suspension bridge in England. On 20 June 1939, a British American Air Services De Havilland Dragon Rapide (Registration:G-AERE) flying from Heston Aerodrome to Newcastle Airport crashed at

Forest-in-Teesdale Forest-in-Teesdale is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated in upper Teesdale Teesdale is a dale, or valley, in Northern England. The dale is in the River Tees’s drainage basin, most water flows stem from or converge into s ...

near Middleton-in-Teesdale. The weather was bad and the aircraft was flying low. The accident killed all three passengers and crew on board.

References

External links

Photographs of Middleton-in-Teesdale, Teesdale2000Middleton PlusNorth Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
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) {{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton-In-Teesdale River Tees Towns in County Durham