Editing Durham, England (section)

===Historical===
[[File:Scott inscription (Prebends Bridge).jpg|thumb|[[Sir Walter Scott]]'s words on Durham are inscribed into Prebends Bridge]]
The historic city centre of Durham has changed little over 200 years. It is made up of the peninsula containing the cathedral, palace green, former administrative buildings for the [[palatine]] and [[Durham Castle]].<ref name="Symeon" /> This was a strategic defensive decision by the city's founders and gives the cathedral a striking position.<ref name="Richardson" /> So much so that Symeon of Durham stated:
<blockquote>
To see Durham is to see the English [[Zion|Sion]] and by doing so one may save oneself a trip to [[Jerusalem]].<ref name="Symeon" /></blockquote>

Sir [[Walter Scott]] was so inspired by the view of the cathedral from [[South Street (Durham)|South Street]]<ref>{{Cite journal| last=Buchan | first=John | title=Sir Walter Scott | publisher=Cassell | year=1932 }}</ref> that he wrote "Harold the Dauntless", a poem about Saxons and Vikings set in [[County Durham]] and published on 30 January 1817. The following lines from the poem are carved into a stone tablet on Prebends Bridge:
{{poemquote|
Grey towers of Durham
Yet well I love thy mixed and massive piles
Half church of God, half castle 'gainst the Scot
And long to roam those venerable aisles
With records stored of deeds long since forgot.<ref>{{Cite journal
|last= Scott
|first= Walter
|author-link= Walter Scott
|title= Harold the Dauntless
|year= 1817
|publisher=James Eastburn & co
}}</ref>}}

The old commercial section of the city encompasses the peninsula on three sides, following the River Wear. The peninsula was historically surrounded by the castle wall extending from the castle [[keep]] and broken by two gatehouses to the north and west of the enclosure.<ref name="Surtees" /> After extensive remodelling and "much beautification"<ref name="Surtees" /> by the [[Victorian era|Victorians]] the walls were removed with the exception of the [[gatehouse]] which is still standing on [[the Bailey]].

The medieval city was made up of the cathedral, castle and administrative buildings on the peninsula.<ref name="Liddy" /> The outlying areas were known as the townships and owned by the bishop,<ref name="Symeon" /> the most famous of these being [[Gilesgate]] (which still contains the mediaeval [[St Giles Church, Durham|St Giles Church]]), Claypath and [[Elvet]].<ref name="Surtees" />

The outlying commercial section of the city, especially around the North Road area, saw much change in the 1960s during a redevelopment spearheaded by [[Durham (district)|Durham City Council]]; however, much of the original [[mediaeval]] street plan remains intact in the area close to the cathedral and market place.<ref name="Surtees" /> Most of the mediaeval buildings in the commercial area of the city have disappeared apart from the [[House of Correction]] and the Chapel of Saint Andrew, both under [[Elvet Bridge]].<ref name="Surtees" /> [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] buildings can still be found on the Bailey and Old Elvet<ref name="Surtees" /> most of which make up the colleges of Durham University.