Editing Darlington (section)

==History==
===Darnton===
[[File:St Cuthbert's Church, Darlington (geograph 6355021).jpg|thumb|right|St Cuthbert's Church]]
Darlington started as an [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] settlement. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon ''Dearthington'', which seemingly meant 'the settlement of Deornoth's people' but, by Norman times, the name had changed to Derlinton. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the town was usually known by the name of ''Darnton''.<ref name="englandsnortheast">{{Cite web |title=Darlington |url=http://www.englandsnortheast.co.uk/DarlingtonTees.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027151735/http://www.englandsnortheast.co.uk/DarlingtonTees.html |archive-date=27 October 2020 |access-date=4 May 2011 |website=englandsnortheast.co.uk}}</ref>

Darlington has a historic market area in the town centre. [[St Cuthbert's Church, Darlington|St Cuthbert's Church]], built in 1183, is one of the most important early English churches in the north of England and is [[Grade I]] listed.<ref name=visitdarlington>{{Cite web |title=visitdarlington.com: The Leading Visited Darlington Site on the Net<!-- Bot generated title --> |url=http://www.visitdarlington.com/images/icons_large/icon_pdf.gif |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110203041339/http://www.visitdarlington.com/images/icons_large/icon_pdf.gif |archive-date=3 February 2011 |website=visitdarlington.com}}</ref> The oldest church in Darlington is [[St Andrew's Church, Haughton-le-Skerne|St Andrew's Church]], built around 1100 in [[Haughton-le-Skerne]].

When the author [[Daniel Defoe]] visited the town during the 18th century, he noted that it was eminent for "good bleaching of linen, so that I have known cloth brought from Scotland to be bleached here". However, he also disparaged the town, writing that it had "nothing remarkable but dirt"; roads would have typically been unpaved in the 18th century. <ref>{{Cite book |last=Defoe |first=Daniel |title=A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies |publisher=J. M. Dent & Co. |year=1927 |location=London |chapter=Letter 9: Eastern Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland |access-date=13 April 2011 |chapter-url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/text/chap_page.jsp?t_id=Defoe&c_id=33 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629220605/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/text/chap_page.jsp?t_id=Defoe&c_id=33 |archive-date=29 June 2017 |url-status=live |via=Vision of Britain}}</ref>

The so-called ''[[Durham Ox]]'' came from Darlington; born in the early 19th century, this steer became renowned for its excellent proportions which came to inform the standard for Shorthorn cattle.<ref name="englandsnortheast" />

===Victorian era===
====Stivvies====
[[File:Stooperdale Offices, Darlington (geograph 6393231).jpg|thumb|Stooperdale Offices (built for the [[North Eastern Railway Company]])]]

During the early 19th century, Darlington remained a small market town.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A History of Darlington |url=http://www.localhistories.org/darlington.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203005824/http://www.localhistories.org/darlington.html |archive-date=3 December 2019 |access-date=4 May 2011 |website=localhistories.org}}</ref>

The [[Stockton and Darlington Railway]] ran steam locomotives designed for passengers and goods, built to a standard gauge, on a permanent main line with branches. On 27 September 1825, [[George Stephenson]]'s engine, ''[[Locomotion No. 1]]'', travelled between [[Shildon]] and [[Stockton-on-Tees]] via Darlington, an event that was seen as ushering in the modern railway age.

Later in the 19th century, the town became an important centre for railway manufacturing. An early railway works was the [[Hopetown Carriage Works]] (est. 1853), which supplied carriages and locomotives to the Stockton and Darlington Railway. The engineering firm of [[William and Alfred Kitching]] also manufactured locomotives there around this time. The town eventually developed three significant railway works:
* The largest of these was the main line [[Darlington Works]]; its main factory, the North Road Shops, opened in 1863 and remained in operation until 1966. 
* [[Robert Stephenson and Company|Robert Stephenson & Co.]] (colloquially: "Stivvies"), moved to Darlington from [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] in 1902. It was renamed ''Robert Stephensons & Hawthorns'' in 1937, was absorbed by [[English Electric]] around 1960 and had closed by 1964. 
* [[Faverdale Wagon Works]] was established in 1923 and closed in 1962; in the 1950s, it was a UK pioneer in applying mass-production techniques to the manufacture of railway goods wagons.

====Quakers and the Echo====
During the 19th century, Darlington [[Quaker]] families such as those of [[Pease family (Darlington)|Pease]] and [[Backhouse's Bank|Backhouse]] emerged as major employers and philanthropists. Industrialist [[Joseph Pease (railway pioneer)|Joseph Pease]] gave Darlington its landmark [[clock tower]] in 1864.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=David |date=7 April 2011 |title=Town clock keeps up with the chimes |work=[[The Northern Echo]] |url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/8958754.Town_clock_keeps_up_with_the_chimes/ |url-status=live |access-date=4 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905022952/http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/8958754.Town_clock_keeps_up_with_the_chimes/ |archive-date=5 September 2018}}</ref> The clock face was crafted by [[T. Cooke & Sons]] of [[York]], and bells cast by [[John Warner & Sons]] of nearby [[Norton, County Durham|Norton-on-Tees]].<ref name=visitdarlington /> The bells are sisters to [[Big Ben]].{{cn|date=January 2023}}

[[Darlington Mechanics Institute]] was opened in 1854 by [[Elizabeth Pease Nichol]], who had donated towards its cost.<ref name="rude">{{Cite news |last=Lloyd |first=Chris |date=10 March 2014 |title=History: School for rude mechanicals |work=The Northern Echo |url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/history/11065778.School_for_rude_mechanicals/ |url-status=live |access-date=11 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512231526/http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/history/11065778.School_for_rude_mechanicals/ |archive-date=12 May 2014}}</ref> In 1853, [[South Park, Darlington|South Park]] was laid out, over {{convert|91|acres}}, with financial support from the Backhouse family.<ref>{{Cite web |title=South Park |url=http://www.visitdarlington.com/site/heritage/south-park-p70291 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720091159/http://www.visitdarlington.com/site/heritage/south-park-p70291 |archive-date=20 July 2011 |website=visitdarlington.com}}</ref>

[[Architect]] [[Alfred Waterhouse]], famous for work including London's [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] and [[Manchester Town Hall]], designed  Darlington's [[Grade II listed]] [[Old Town Hall and Market Hall, Darlington]] in 1860. Four years later he contributed Backhouse's Bank building that is, {{as of|2022|lc=yes}}, a branch of [[Barclays]] bank.<ref name=visitdarlington />

During the period, [[George Gordon Hoskins]] was responsible for much of the town's architecture, designing buildings such as The King's Head Hotel.{{cn|date=January 2023}}

Darlington Free Library, a [[Grade II listed]] building in Crown Street, was built for £10,000 by [[Edward Pease (railway pioneer)|Edward Pease]]. His daughter, Lady Lymington, opened the building on 23 October 1885 and presented it to the town council who agreed to operate it in perpetuity. {{As of|2022}}, it contains a library and "centre for local studies".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Darlington Town Centre Heritage Trail |url=http://www.visitdarlington.com/downloads/Heritage%20Trail%20Guide.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717221910/http://www.visitdarlington.com/downloads/Heritage%20Trail%20Guide.pdf |archive-date=17 July 2011 |website=visitdarlington.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Crown Street – Darlington Libraries – celebrating 130 years 1885–2015 |url=http://www2.darlington.gov.uk/web/arena/crown-street-library |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003132457/https://www2.darlington.gov.uk/web/arena/crown-street-library |archive-date=3 October 2017 |access-date=29 January 2019 |website=darlington.gov.uk}}</ref>

In 1870, ''[[The Northern Echo]]'' newspaper launched.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 January 2020 |title=The birth of The Northern Echo born out of a bitter local political dispute |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/history/18136219.birth-northern-echo-born-bitter-local-political-dispute/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108180551/https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/history/18136219.birth-northern-echo-born-bitter-local-political-dispute/ |archive-date=8 January 2020 |access-date=1 April 2020 |website=The Northern Echo}}</ref> Its most famous editor, [[William Thomas Stead]], died on the ''[[Titanic]]''. Facing the present ''Northern Echo'' building on Priestgate is the William Stead [[public house]] named for him.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The William Stead |url=https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/pubs/all-pubs/england/county-durham/the-william-stead-darlington |access-date=12 January 2023 |website=Wetherspoons |archive-date=12 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112113756/https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/pubs/all-pubs/england/county-durham/the-william-stead-darlington |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Wars===
[[File:Canonsothprk.jpg|thumb|right|Russian [[Crimean War]] Cannon from [[Sevastopol]] in South Park]]
In 1939, Darlington had the most cinema seats per capita in the United Kingdom.<ref name=visitdarlington />

On the night of 13 January 1945, a [[Avro Lancaster|Lancaster bomber]] piloted by [[Pilot officer|Pilot Officer]] William Stuart McMullen of [[Canada]] was on a training exercise when one of its engines caught fire and it crashed on farmland near Lingfield Lane. McMullen heroically stayed at the controls while his crew parachuted to safety and directed the stricken aircraft away from the houses below. He was killed on impact. His heroism was honoured by renaming Lingfield Lane "McMullen Road" and erecting a memorial monument.<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 January 2017 |title=Recalling the moment of one man's sacrifice: The night a Canadian airman died saving Darlington residents |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/15020367.recalling-the-moment-of-one-mans-sacrifice-the-night-a-canadian-airman-died-saving-darlington-residents/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111043605/https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/15020367.recalling-moment-one-mans-sacrifice-night-canadian-airman-pilot-officer-william-mcmullen-died-saving-darlington-residents/ |archive-date=11 January 2023 |access-date=13 January 2019 |website=The Northern Echo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Casualty – Pilot Officer William Stuart McMullen |url=https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2623900/mcmullen,-william-stuart/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113182337/https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2623900/mcmullen,-william-stuart/ |archive-date=13 January 2019 |access-date=13 January 2019 |website=www.cwgc.org}}</ref>

===Tornado and the brick train===
Starting in 1993, rail enthusiast group [[A1 Steam Locomotive Trust]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=60163 Tornado |url=https://www.a1steam.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118103450/https://www.a1steam.com/ |archive-date=18 January 2017 |access-date=24 February 2017 |website=The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust}}</ref> worked on building an all-new steam locomotive, the first to be constructed since the 1960s. It was intended to be the 50th member of the long withdrawn [[LNER Peppercorn Class A1]] engine, called [[LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado|''Tornado'']] and numbered 60163, from scratch in the 1853 former [[Stockton and Darlington Railway Carriage Works]] at Hopetown. Many of the original fleet had been built at [[Darlington Works|Darlington locomotive works]] in the late 1940s. ''Tornado'' was completed in January 2008.

To commemorate the town's contribution to the railways, [[David Mach]]'s 1997 work [[Train by David Mach|''Train'']] is located alongside the A66, close to the original Stockton–Darlington railway. It is a life-size brick sculpture of a steaming locomotive emerging from a tunnel, made from 185,000 [[Accrington brick|Accrington Nori brick]]s. The work had a budget of £760,000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Darlington's Brick Train |url=http://www.thisisdarlington.com/attractions/Darlingtons_Brick_Train.asp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106115338/http://www.thisisdarlington.com/attractions/Darlingtons_Brick_Train.asp |archive-date=6 January 2020 |access-date=6 January 2020 |publisher=This is Darlington}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=23 June 2017 |title=Darlington Brick Train celebrates 20th anniversary |work=BBC News |publisher=[[BBC]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-40356417 |url-status=live |access-date=6 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112021229/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-40356417 |archive-date=12 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=26 June 1997 |title=Spotters go bats over a brick train |work=Lancashire Telegraph |url=https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/6177023.spotters-go-bats-brick-train/ |url-status=live |access-date=7 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107135447/https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/6177023.spotters-go-bats-brick-train/ |archive-date=7 January 2020}}</ref>

===21st century===
[[File:Darlington - geograph.org.uk - 52377.jpg|thumb|The Market Square in 2004]]
In 2001, Darlington became the first place in England to allow same-sex [[civil ceremony|civil ceremonies]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 February 2003 |title=Same sex 'weddings' proposed |work=BBC News |agency=British Broadcasting Company |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2731977.stm |url-status=live |access-date=6 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115123423/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2731977.stm |archive-date=15 January 2009}}</ref> and {{As of|2022|lc=yes}}, it hosts an annual [[Pride parade|Gay Pride]] Festival at venues across the town.{{cn|date=January 2023}} A 2005 [[Darlington Borough Council]] project to [[pedestrianise]] areas of the town centre, this included some [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] features along High Row.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Main Features of the Pedestrian Heart Scheme |url=http://www.darlington.gov.uk/Living/Planning+and+Building+Control/Planning+Services/Projects+and+Schemes/PedHeart/PedHeartFeatures.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509041344/http://www.darlington.gov.uk/Living/Planning+and+Building+Control/Planning+Services/Projects+and+Schemes/PedHeart/PedHeartFeatures.htm |archive-date=9 May 2006 |website=Darlington Borough Council}}<br/>{{Cite web |date=16 September 2005 |title=Town revamp 'may disrupt traders' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4251676.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111043601/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/4251676.stm |archive-date=11 January 2023 |access-date=18 January 2008 |website=BBC News}}<br/>{{Cite news |date=24 April 2007 |title=Trader hits out at the heart of the scheme |work=[[The Northern Echo]] |url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/search/display.var.1349982.0.trader_hits_out_at_the_heart_of_the_scheme.php |url-status=live |access-date=18 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001634/http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/search/display.var.1349982.0.trader_hits_out_at_the_heart_of_the_scheme.php |archive-date=27 September 2007}}<br/>{{Cite news |date=18 October 2007 |title=Hearty thanks – Town centre scheme is praised |work=[[Herald & Post (Teesside)|Herald & Post]] |url=http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/local-teesside-news/darlington-news/2007/10/18/town-centre-scheme-is-praised-84229-19970199/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116015804/http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/local-teesside-news/darlington-news/2007/10/18/town-centre-scheme-is-praised-84229-19970199/ |archive-date=16 January 2009}}</ref> In August 2008, a fire, in which nobody was killed, caused damage and weeks of closure until the damage fixed for several shops (including [[Woolworths (United Kingdom)|Woolworths]]). The King's Head Hotel was also affected with damage to the roof and 100 bedrooms, the hotel was able to reopen in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mercure Darlington Kings Hotel |url=http://www.kingsdarlington.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315043328/http://www.kingsdarlington.com/ |archive-date=15 March 2016 |access-date=14 March 2016 |website=kingsdarlington.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=4 October 2012 |title=Darlington King's Head Hotel reopens after £8m revamp |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-19832781 |url-status=live |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113185927/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-19832781 |archive-date=13 January 2019}}</ref>