23-536: Hurworth-on-Tees is a village in the borough of Darlington , within the ceremonial county of County Durham , England. It is situated in the civil parish of Hurworth. The village lies to the south of Darlington on the River Tees , close to its meeting point with the River Skerne , and immediately adjoins the village of Hurworth Place , which forms part of the same civil parish. The church of All Saints
46-570: A hamlet in the township of Hurworth, growing rapidly under the influence of the railhead and coal depot. In 1841, the Great North of England Railway opened the main line between Darlington and York, passing through Hurworth parish; the previous branch line and terminus remained as goods facilities. A passenger station was built on the new line in Hurworth Place, although it was named Croft Station and later renamed Croft Spa Station after
69-483: A monument in the church of All Saints. Darlington (borough) The Borough of Darlington is a unitary authority area with borough status in County Durham , England. Since 1997 Darlington Borough Council has been a unitary authority ; it is independent from Durham County Council . It is named after its largest settlement, the town of Darlington , where the council is based. The borough also includes
92-477: A performer. He died on 20 May 1782 at his native village, where his gravestone bears epitaphs in Latin and Hebrew . Emerson dressed in old clothes and his manners were uncouth. He wore his shirt back to front and his legs wrapped in sacking so as not to scorch them as he sat over the fire. He declined an offer to become FRS because it would cost too much after all the expense of farthing candles he had been put to in
115-514: A rural area surrounding the town which contains several villages. The population of the borough at the 2021 census was 107,800, of which over 86% (93,015) lived in the built-up area of Darlington itself. Since 2016 the council has been a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority , which has been led by the directly elected Tees Valley Mayor since 2017. The neighbouring districts are the County Durham district to
138-432: A wind-powered vehicle in which the vertically mounted propeller gives direct power to the front wheels via a system of cogs. In mechanics he never advanced a proposition which he had not previously tested in practice, nor published an invention without first proving its effects by a model. He was skilled in the science of music , the theory of sounds, and the ancient and modern scales; but he never attained any excellence as
161-455: Is situated in the middle of the village. There may have been a church on the site as early as the 12th century. The church was extensively rebuilt in the 1830s and again in 1871. There was a school at Hurworth before 1770, when it was refounded. Currently the village has two schools. Hurworth Primary School caters for around 250 children aged 4–11. The secondary school is called Hurworth School ; it caters for around 650 students aged 11–16. There
184-580: The County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service and Durham Constabulary . Since 2016 the council has been a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority along with Hartlepool , Middlesbrough , Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees . Unlike Darlington, the other four districts in the combined authority had all been part of the county of Cleveland between 1974 and 1996. Darlington Borough Council provides both county-level and district-level services. Parts of
207-493: The borough are covered by civil parishes , which form a second tier of local government for their areas. Since 2016 the council has been a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority . The council has been under no overall control since 2019. Following the 2023 election a coalition of Labour and the Liberal Democrats formed to run the council, led by Labour councillor Steve Harker. Political control of
230-431: The composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2027. Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 50 councillors , representing 20 wards , each of which elects two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. The council is based at Darlington Town Hall on Feethams in the centre of Darlington. The building was purpose-built for the old county borough council and
253-455: The council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows: Lower-tier non-metropolitan district Unitary authority The role of mayor is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council . An attempt to secure a referendum on having a directly elected mayor in 2006 was unsuccessful. The leaders since 1991 have been: Following the 2023 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to May 2024,
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#1732791103419276-428: The county council. The way this change was implemented was to create a new non-metropolitan county of Darlington covering the same area as the existing borough, but with no separate county council; instead the existing borough council took on county functions, making it a unitary authority. The borough remains part of County Durham for ceremonial purposes , with whom it continues to share certain local services, such as
299-501: The course of his life of study. Emerson rode regularly into Darlington on a horse like Don Quixote 's, led by a hired small boy. In old age, plagued by the stone, he would alternately pray and curse, wishing his soul 'could shake off the rags of mortality without such a clitter-me-clatter.' Like his fellow County Durham savant John Bird , Emerson makes an appearance in Mason and Dixon by Thomas Pynchon . Emerson's works include: It
322-519: The east of the village. It is the training ground for Middlesbrough FC . There has been a settlement at Hurworth since at least as far back as the 12th century. The estate that Hurworth was part of has changed hands many times over the centuries. In 1665, the Great Plague almost wiped out the village population of 750 leaving only around 75 survivors. The plague struck many other nearby villages including Birkby and South Cowton . Three dips in
345-513: The north and west, Stockton-on-Tees to the east and North Yorkshire to the south, the River Tees forming the border for the latter. The town of Darlington was made a municipal borough in 1867. In 1915 it was elevated to become a county borough , taking over county-level functions from Durham County Council. The borough was reformed and enlarged on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 . It absorbed nearly all of
368-464: The surrounding Darlington Rural District , with the exception of the parish of Great Aycliffe (which covers the town of Newton Aycliffe ) which went to Sedgefield district . The enlarged borough was also reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district as part of the 1974 reforms, with Durham County Council once more providing county-level services to the town. The council was made a unitary authority on 1 April 1997, regaining its independence from
391-593: The village green mark the site where as many as 1,500 people were buried in massive lime pits. According to old records, bodies from other nearby villages were ferried across the River Tees for burial in Hurworth. Perhaps the most famous person to have lived in Hurworth was William Emerson , an eminent mathematician born in Hurworth in 1701. He was educated at Newcastle upon Tyne and York and then devoted himself to mathematics. He died at Hurworth in 1782 and has
414-624: The village of Croft-on-Tees which faces Hurworth Place on the opposite bank of the Tees. The branch line and goods yard, by then known as Croft Depot, closed in 1964, and Croft Spa station closed in 1969, but the line remains, forming part of the East Coast Main Line between Darlington and Northallerton . When travelling on the East Coast Main Line it is possible to see Rockliffe Park training ground , which lies to
437-457: Was also a small independent school, Hurworth House School , which closed in the summer of 2010. The Hurworth Grange Community Centre is based in a manor house built in 1875 by the Backhouse family. Facilities include the large hall, meeting rooms, lounge bar, sports hall, football pitch, children's play area, 14 acres (57,000 m) of grounds and a concrete skateboard ramp. Hurworth Grange
460-697: Was born in Hurworth , near Darlington , where his father, Dudley Emerson, also a mathematician, taught a school. William himself had a small estate in Weardale called Castle Gate situated not far from Eastgate where he would repair to work throughout the summer on projects as disparate as stonemasonry and watchmaking. Unsuccessful as a teacher, he devoted himself entirely to studious retirement. Possessed of remarkable energy and forthrightness of speech, Emerson published many works which are singularly free from errata. In The Principles of Mechanics (1754) he shows
483-602: Was built on the site of an older one in 1673. The bridge has been closed to traffic many times in recent decades because of flooding of the Tees due to heavy rainfall in Teesdale . The fourth of the seven arches on the bridge marks the boundary between North Yorkshire and County Durham. The Stockton and Darlington Railway Company opened a branch line in 1829 which ran from Darlington and terminated within Hurworth parish, close to Croft Bridge. The settlement that grew up around it became known as Hurworth Place, described in 1834 as
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#1732791103419506-538: Was completed in 1970. As well as Darlington itself the borough includes the surrounding villages of: It is home to Teesside International Airport (previously known as Durham Tees Valley Airport). The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Darlington. William Emerson (mathematician) William Emerson (14 May 1701 – 20 May 1782) was an English mathematician . He
529-430: Was once visited by Rudyard Kipling ; it is claimed that 'The Roman Centurion's Song' is based on a sarcophagus he saw there. The village has a number of other amenities including a fish and chip shop , village shop pubs, a garage, community karate club (Kyosho Karate) and a residential home. The A167 road crosses the River Tees via Croft Bridge on its way towards Darlington, passing through Hurworth Place. The bridge
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