Bearpark is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is situated two and a half miles west of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

, and a short distance to the north of

Ushaw Moor Ushaw Moor is an old pit village in County Durham, in England, on the north side of the River Deerness. It is situated to the west of Durham, England, Durham, a short distance to the south of Bearpark. Ushaw Moor falls within the Deerness elect ...

. The name may be a

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

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 The Prior of Durham was the head of the Roman Catholic Durham Cathedral Priory, founded c. 1083 with the move of a previous house from Jarrow. The succession continued until dissolution of the monastery in 1540, when the priory was replaced wit ...

, 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 Finchale Priory ( ), sometimes referred to as Finchale Abbey, was a 13th-century Benedictine priory. The remains are sited by the River Wear, four miles from Durham, England. It is a Grade I listed building. Early history Godric was born ab ...

. The manor was largely destroyed by the Scots in 1640 and 1644 during the British Civil War. In 1872,

Theodore Fry Sir Theodore Fry, 1st Baronet (1 May 1836 – 5 February 1912) was an English businessman and Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1895. Life He was the son of Francis Fry, of Bristol, and his wife Matilda Pe ...

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 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

radio and television series ''

Uncanny The uncanny is the psychological experience of an event or thing that is unsettling in a way that feels oddly familiar, rather than simply mysterious. This phenomenon is used to describe incidents where a familiar entity is encountered in a frig ...

'', 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 Prefab Sprout are an English pop/rock band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham who rose to fame during the 1980s. Formed in 1978 by brothers Paddy and Martin McAloon and joined by vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player Wendy Smith in 1982, t ...

References

*Margot Johnson. "Beaurepaire" in ''Durham: Historic and University City and surrounding area''. Sixth Edition. Turnstone Ventures. 1992. . Page 33. 4. ^ "A Mining World: The Story of Bearpark County Durham".

External links

Bearpark-Online : Many Photos of Bearpark and Beaurepaire

Subterranea Britannica entry on Bearpark Station

''Keys to the Pasts notes on Bearpark.

City of Durham Council's notes on Beaurepaire
Villages in County Durham Civil parishes in County Durham {{Durham-geo-stub