County Durham

            County Durham is a county in North East England. The county town is Durham, a cathedral city. The largest settlement is Darlington, closely followed by Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees. It borders Tyne and Wear to the north east, Northumberland to the north, Cumbria to the west and North Yorkshire to the south. Historically, the county included southern Tyne and Wear, including Gateshead and Sunderland. During the Middle Ages the county was an ecclesiastical centre; this was mainly due to the shrine of St Cuthbert being in Durham Cathedral, and the extensive powers granted to the Bishop of Durham as ruler of the County Palatine of Durham.