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The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham: Volume 3, Stockton and Darlington Wards. Originally published by Nichols and Son, London, 1823.
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DARLINGTON WARD.
Darlington Ward, the largest of the four divisions, includes the whole Southwestern portion of the County. It is conterminous with Chester Ward from the junction of the Browney and Derness North-east to Shorngate Cross on the North-west; from thence it is bounded by Northumberland as far as the Boundary Curraigh, where Durham, Cumberland, and Northumberland meet; by Cumberland and Westmoreland on the West (fn. 1); and by the Tees dividing it from Yorkshire on the South-west and South as far as Croft-bridge, where it meets Stockton Ward; from thence the Eastern boundary is formed partly by an imaginary line, and partly by the Skerne dividing it from Stockton Ward, by the Tursdale-water which separates it from Easington Ward, and by the Browney dividing it from Chester Ward, from its junction with the Wear, and ascending the water to its meeting the Derness.
Darlington Ward, besides a large portion of the lower or level country, includes the rich and beautiful upper vale of Tees, the vale of Wear, and the wild hills and heights betwixt and around them, where minerals compensate for a sterile surface.
The Ward includes the Boroughs of Darlington, Auckland, and Barnard Castle, and the other Market-towns of Staindrop, Wolsingham, and Stanhope; the Castles of Raby, Auckland, Brancepath, and Witton, and the ruins of Barnard Castle.