Gilesgate

Gilesgate
Gilesgate Location within County Durham
Population	6,746 (2021)
Unitary authority	County Durham
Ceremonial county	County Durham
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DURHAM
Postcode district	DH1
Dialling code	0191
Police	Durham
Fire	County Durham and Darlington
Ambulance	North East
UK Parliament	City of Durham

Gilesgate is a street and an eastern inner suburb of Durham in County Durham, England. Gilesgate, as a street, was once the main eastern route into Durham City. It runs east from the end of Claypath on the edge of Durham City centre, steeply uphill to Gilesgate Moor where it splits into Sunderland Road and Sherburn Road. As a suburb, Gilesgate is only loosely defined. Administratively at a local scale, it is split between between the Elvet and Gilesgate Ward of the City of Durham parish, the Gilesgate Moor Ward of Belmont and an unparished area between the two. The Gilesgate Moor and Old Durham Middle Super Output Area, approximating most of what is called Gilesgate, had a population at the 2021 census of 6746.

History

Gilesgate was originally the main street in a settlement associated with the Hospital of St Giles which was sited by the existing St Giles Church. Its Medieval name was Gillygate, and it developed as a "long deeply banked street" down from the moor and the church to the city, which by the eighteenth century was lined with houses.

During the 19th century, several collieries were built in and around Gilesgate. To the eastern end of Gilesgate, a mining settlement called New Durham was built; this was later enveloped by the expanding city, but the name still appears in the area in places. At its other western end, Gilesgate train station was opened in 1844 as a terminus on a branch of the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway, but served passengers for only 13 years; it remained open as a goods station however until 1966. The line was later repurposed as the A690 road, providing a bypass for Gilesgate for traffic to and from Durham.

Through the nineteenth century, housing was extended further east along both Sunderland Road and Sherburn Road. Additional housing was constructed along the Sherburn Road in the 1930s, including the Sherburn Road Estate, built to house residents from the slums of Framwelgate. Following the Second World War, a further council housing estate was constructed north of the Sunderland Road with the streets taking the names of war leaders and local recipients of the Victoria Cross. After many of the collieries closed, the suburb became largely residential, though some industrial buildings were developed in the Dragonville area to the east of Gilesgate Moor.

The street was divided in the 1960s by the construction of the A690 and the demolition of a number of houses, pubs and shops at the foot of Gilesgate Bank to construct a roundabout.

Gilesgate is now a suburb of Durham and has a wide range of shops such as a Tesco Extra and a number of pubs, including New Durham Club and the Queens Head.

The historic parish church of St Giles is a grade I listed building, with the Roman Catholic church of St Joseph located on Mill Lane. Local primary schools include Gilesgate, Laurel Avenue, St Hilds (Church of England) and St Joseph's (Roman Catholic). Gilesgate also has two retail parks, Dragonville and Durham retail parks.

See also

• Kepier Hospital

References

• Margot Johnson. "Gilesgate and St. Mary Magdalene" in Durham: Historic and University City and surrounding area. Sixth Edition. Turnstone Ventures. 1992. ISBN 094610509X. Page 15.