County Durham

Local Authority District in England

County Durham, North East

§ This page gives an overview of the County Durham local authority district, bringing together key facts, maps, and data to help you quickly understand the area. One of 361 district profiles on Baseview.

Overview ⁞ County Durham is a historic and diverse ceremonial county stretching from the North Pennines in the west to the North Sea coast in the east. Its centrepiece is the city of Durham, renowned for its UNESCO-listed cathedral and castle, while the wider county includes former coal-mining towns such as Bishop Auckland and Consett, as well as coastal communities like Seaham and Hartlepool. The area was central to England’s industrial and railway heritage, particularly during the 19th century. Today, the ceremonial county includes three unitary authorities: Durham County Council, which covers the majority of the area; the Borough of Darlington; and Hartlepool Borough Council—both of which are administratively independent but fall within County Durham for ceremonial purposes.

The administrative boundary of County Durham can be viewed on OpenStreetMap: District Boundary of County Durham.

Map of County Durham — Administrative Boundary of County Durham (Local Authority District)

Key Facts about County Durham

What region is County Durham in? County Durham is in the North East of England, a region within the UK.

What county is County Durham in? County Durham is in the county of County Durham.

Is County Durham a city? Yes, County Durham is a city. County Durham holds official city status as one of the 76 designated cities in the UK.

Who governs County Durham? The local government for this district is: Durham County Council (Unitary Authority).

▶ Official website of Durham County Council 🔗 durham.gov.uk

Which police force covers County Durham? Policing in County Durham is provided by Durham Constabulary 🔗 durham.police.uk, which serves 2 local authority districts: County Durham ⁞ Darlington.

This district page, County Durham, is a sub-page of this county page: County Durham and this region page: North East. It zooms in to local authorities and parliamentary constituencies, and provides a list of wards in this district. We have this list page for easy browsing of all UK local authority districts: List of Local Authority Districts.

Constituencies in County Durham

A constituency is a specific geographical area that elects one Member of Parliament (MP) to represent them in the House of Commons. The United Kingdom is divided into 650 parliamentary constituencies. We have this list page for easy browsing of all UK parliamentary constituencies: List of Constituencies.

Wards in County Durham

County Durham is divided into 63 wards, listed below in alphabetical order.

Annfield Plain
Aycliffe East
Aycliffe North and Middridge
Aycliffe West
Barnard Castle East
Barnard Castle West
Belmont
Benfieldside
Bishop Auckland Town
Bishop Middleham and Cornforth
Blackhalls
Brandon
Burnopfield and Dipton
Chester-le-Street East
Chester-le-Street North
Chester-le-Street South
Chester-le-Street West Central
Chilton
Consett North
Consett South
Coundon
Coxhoe
Craghead and South Moor
Crook
Dawdon
Deerness
Delves Lane
Deneside
Durham South
Easington
Elvet and Gilesgate
Esh and Witton Gilbert
Evenwood
Ferryhill
Framwellgate and Newton Hall
Horden
Lanchester
Leadgate and Medomsley
Lumley
Murton
Neville's Cross
North Lodge
Passfield
Pelton
Peterlee East
Peterlee West
Sacriston
Seaham
Sedgefield
Sherburn
Shildon and Dene Valley
Shotton and South Hetton
Spennymoor
Stanley
Tanfield
Tow Law
Trimdon and Thornley
Tudhoe
Weardale
West Auckland
Willington and Hunwick
Wingate
Woodhouse Close

In the UK, a ward is a subdivision of a local authority area, used mainly for electoral and statistical purposes. Defined by the ONS, wards represent the primary unit for local elections, each returning one or more councillors to the local council. Wards are also used as a key geography for presenting population and census data.

Parishes in County Durham

County Durham is part-parished: 136 civil parishes (listed A-Z below) alongside 8 unparished areas.

Barforth
Barnard Castle
Barningham
Bearpark
Belmont
Bishop Auckland
Bishop Middleham
Bolam
Boldron
Bournmoor
Bowes
Bradbury and the Isle
Brancepeth
Brandon and Byshottles
Brignall
Burnhope
Cassop-cum-Quarrington
Castle Eden
Chilton
City of Durham
Cleatlam
Cockfield
Cornforth
Cornsay
Cotherstone
Coxhoe
Croxdale and Hett
Dalton-le-Dale
Dene Valley
Easington Colliery
Easington Village
Edmondbyers
Edmondsley
Eggleston
Egglestone Abbey
Eldon
Esh
Etherley
Evenwood and Barony
Ferryhill
Fishburn
Forest and Frith
Framwellgate Moor
Gainford
Gilmonby
Great Aycliffe
Great Lumley
Greater Willington
Greencroft
Hamsterley
Haswell
Hawthorn
Headlam
Healeyfield
Hedleyhope
Hilton
Holwick
Hope
Horden
Hunderthwaite
Hunstanworth
Hutton Henry and Station Town
Hutton Magna
Ingleton
Kelloe
Kimblesworth and Plawsworth
Lanchester
Lands Common to Brancepeth and Brandon and Byshottles
Lands common to Hamsterley, Lynesack and Softley and South Bedburn
Langleydale and Shotton
Langton
Lartington
Little Lumley
Lunedale
Lynesack and Softley
Marwood
Mickleton
Middleton in Teesdale
Middridge
Monk Hesleden
Mordon
Morton Tinmouth
Muggleswick
Murton
Nesbitt
Newbiggin
North Lodge
Ouston
Ovington
Pelton
Peterlee
Pittington
Raby with Keverstone
Rokeby
Romaldkirk
Sacriston
Satley
Scargill
Seaham
Seaton with Slingley
Sedgefield
Shadforth
Sheraton with Hulam
Sherburn Village
Shildon
Shincliffe
Shotton
South Bedburn
South Hetton
Spennymoor
Staindrop
Stanhope
Stanley
Startforth
Streatlam and Stainton
Thornley
Tow Law
Trimdon
Trimdon Foundry
Urpeth
Wackerfield
Waldridge
West Auckland
West Rainton and Leamside
Westwick
Wheatley Hill
Whorlton
Windlestone
Wingate
Winston
Witton Gilbert
Witton-le-Wear
Wolsingham
Wolsingham Park Moor lands cmn to Stanhope, Tow Law and Wolsingham
Woodland
Wycliffe with Thorpe

A civil parish is the lowest tier of local government in England, used for villages, small towns, and suburbs. They have their own local authority, either a parish council or a parish meeting, which provides local services like managing parks, allotments, and streetlights, and represents the community's views to larger councils.

Built-up Areas in County Durham

County Durham covers 106 built-up areas, listed below in alphabetical order.

Annfield Plain
Barnard Castle
Beamish
Billy Row
Birtley *
Bishop Auckland
Bishop Middleham
Blackhall Colliery
Blackhall Mill *
Blackhall Rocks
Bournmoor
Bowburn
Brandon (County Durham)
Burnhope
Burnopfield
Byers Green
Castleside
Chester-le-Street *
Chilton (County Durham)
Cockfield
Consett *
Cornforth
Cotherstone
Coundon and Leeholme
Coxhoe
Craghead
Crook
Croxdale
Dipton
Durham
Easington (County Durham)
Eastgate
Ebchester
Eldon Lane and Coundon Grange
Esh Winning
Evenwood
Fence Houses *
Ferryhill
Fishburn
Frosterley
Gainford
Great Lumley
Hamsterley
Hamsterley Mill
Haswell
Hetton le Hill
High Pittington
High Shincliffe
Hilton (Eden) *
Hobson
Horden
Hunwick
Kelloe
Kirk Merrington
Lanchester
Langley Park
Leadgate
Medomsley
Mickleton (County Durham)
Middleton-in-Teesdale
Murton (County Durham)
Nettlesworth and Kimblesworth
New Brancepeth
Newfield
Newton Aycliffe *
Pelton and Ouston
Peterlee
Rowlands Gill *
Sacriston
School Aycliffe *
Seaham
Sedgefield
Shadforth
Sherburn (County Durham)
Sherburn Hill
Shildon *
Shotton Colliery
South Hetton *
Spennymoor
Staindrop
Stanhope
Stanley (County Durham)
Startforth
Tanfield Lea
Tantobie
Thornley
Toft Hill and High Etherley
Tow Law
Trimdon
Trimdon Colliery
Trimdon Grange
Urpeth
Ushaw Moor and Bearpark
Washington *
West Auckland
West Pelton
West Rainton *
Wheatley Hill
Whitehill (County Durham)
Willington (County Durham)
Wingate
Witton Gilbert
Witton Park
Witton-le-Wear
Wolsingham
Wynyard *

In the UK, a Built-up Area (BUA) is a continuous urban area of at least 20 hectares (0.2 km²), defined by the ONS as land where buildings are generally no more than 200 metres apart, such as towns, cities, or large villages. (Note: A BUA name marked with an asterisk (*) indicates that the area is situated partly in the district of County Durham.)

County Durham compared with other districts in the UK

This section shows how County Durham compares with other local authority districts in the UK, using a variety of measures and rankings.

County Durham has 63 electoral wards.

County Durham compared with other districts — ▮ Smaller: 352 ▮ Similar: 3 ▮ Larger: 6 (compared with 361 districts)

County Durham has a population of 538,011 (2024 mid-year estimate by ONS)

Population of County Durham compared with other districts — Population of County Durham, compared with other districts in England and Wales

More local statistics and data for County Durham can be found on the ONS statistics for County Durham.