these works is not at present so considerable as formerly, owing to the discovery of a very singular salt-spring at Birtley, in this county, which has been thus described by Sir William Appleby. "It arises at the depth of seventy fathoms, in an engine-pit con structed for drawing water out of coal-mines, at the extremity of a stone drift, drove 200 yards north-east therein; and what is more extraordinary, springs only in such drift in every direction; though the pit, and every other contiguous, has been excavated both above and below it many fathoms. Its mixing with the fresh water in the same pit, would have occasioned it remaining totally unnoticed, but for an accident which happened to the boiler of the engine soon after its erection. One morning the bottom of the boiler suddenly dropt out: the engineer, amazed thereat, informed the undertakers, who, upon examination, found it incrusted with a vast quantity of strong salt, and the iron wholly corroded. Upon tasting the water, though incorporated with immense quantities of fresh, it was found exceedingly brackish and salt, on which the workings were explored, and the above-mentioned very valuable salt spring was discovered to arise in such drift only; and has for these nine years produced 20,000 gallons per day, four times stronger than any sea-water whatever. In consequence of this important discovery, a large and extensive manufactory of salt has been established by a company of gentlemen, who, after encountering many difficulties, have brought it to very great perfection, the quality being most excellent." At Butterby, near Durham, is another salt-spring, which issues from a rock in the river Weare, and is only visible when the water is low: it contains somewhat more of the sulphate of magnesia, or Epsom salt, than the spring at Birtley. The manufactures of Durham are numerous and important. The south side of the Tyne is fringed with manufactories and coal. staiths. At Swalwell, and Winlaton, are some of the first ironworks in England; and at Lumley is a manufactory for converting scrap-iron into engine-boiler plates, and cast metal into malleable iron. • Granger's General View, p. 22. iron. Steel-works have been established at Shotley-bridge, Swalwell, Team, and Gateshead. Tammies, carpets, and waistcoatpieces, are manufactured at Durham: tammies and huckabacks are also made at Darlington; where a machine has been established for spinning flax into yarn; and another for grinding spectacle glasses. Cottons are manufactured at Castle Eden, Stockton, and Bishop's Auckland; and sail-cloths, glass, and other articles, at Stockton, Sunderland, and South Shields. The principal Rivers of Durham, are the Tees, the Weare, and the Derwent. The Tees rises in the vast moors which form the district wherein the counties of York, Cumberland, Westmoreland, Durham, and Northumberland, nearly unite. After issuing from the moors, the stream flows south-eastward, through the romantic valley of Tees-dale, for nearly thirty miles, when suddenly turning to the north-east at Sockburne, it falls into the German Ocean at some distance below Stockton. The river, through the whole of its course, assimilates with its external attendants of rocks, moors, and mountains; being broad, shallow, and rapid, frequently ravaging the valley with its inundations, and precipitating itself in vast cataracts. After emerging from the deep dell beneath the Abbey of Egglestone, it flows with rapidity through the rich demesne of Rokeby, below which it receives the Greta from Yorkshire, and another small stream from the moors of Durham. In the highly ornamented territory which surrounds the majestic walls and towers of Raby Castle, it forms a fine feature, and preserves its romantic and striking character through great part of its after progress to the sea.* The Weare derives its waters from the same wild range of moors which produces the Tees; but flowing considerably to the north of that river, it crosses the central part of the county, and falls into the sea near Sunderland. Wear-dale, like Tees-dale, is a very wild and romantic district, and, like that also, is pleasantly interspersed with towns and villages: emerging from its recesses, the river passes Bishop's Auckland, when assuming a north-eastern direction, it flows Skrine's History of Rivers in Great Britain. flows onward to the city of Durham, which it nearly surrounds. Thence passing northward, it runs near the walls of Lumley Castle; but turning suddenly to the south near Birtley, flows towards Sunderland. The Derwent rises northward of the Weare, in the same range of moors, and pursuing nearly a parallel course with that river, gives animation and interest to a wild and mountainous tract on the northern borders of the county, till it falls into the Tyne near Smalwell. DURHAM. THE City of Durham is situated on a singular rocky eminence, rising near the central part of the county, and almost surrounded by the river Weare. From all the neighbouring points of view, its appearance is unique, and striking; its public edifices exhibiting a degree of magnificence unexpected at a distance so remote from the Metropolis; and its situation and figure being so peculiar as to have occasioned its being emphatically denominated the English Zion. The centre of the eminence is occupied by the Cathedral and Castle, which, with the streets called the Baileys, are included within the remains of the ancient city walls. Below the walls on one side, the slope is ornamented with hanging gardens and plantations, descending to the river; on the other, the acclivity is high, rocky, and steep. The rich meadows, the cultivated sides of the adjacent hills, and the various seats in the vicinity, add greatly to the beauty of the prospect. Durham derives its name from its situation, the term being a corruption from the Saxon words Dun, a hill; and Holme, a river island. By the Latins, observes Camden, it is called DVNELvs; and by the common people, Durham, or Duresme: the VOL. V. latter B * In an ancient Saxon Poem, inserted in Hickes's Gramm. Anglo-Saxon, and referred by Adelung to the Danish-Saxon period, which this writer fixes between the years 780 and the time of the Conquest, the topography, &c. of Durham, is thus described. This |