Bishop Auckland is a market town, located approximately 12 miles northwest of Darlington and 12 miles southwest of Durham . The town stands at the confluence of the River Wear and its tributary the River Gaunless, whose name comes from the Norse for useless.

The route of the Roman Road, which was known as Dere Street, passes straight through the middle of the town on its way to the nearby Roman Fort at Binchester. Binchester Roman Fort, or Vinovia as it was known to the Romans, has one of the best preserved examples of a Roman Bath House in the World. The Fort would likely have been a supply station for Hadrians Wall and it is fairly certain it was mainly cavalry that would have been stationed here. There is also evidence that there was a lookout post where Auckland Castle now stands. Bishop Auckland's main shopping street, Newgate Street , together with Cockton Hill Road and Watling Road faithfully follow the route of the Roman Road , Dere Street.

The influences of the Saxons are all around Bishop Auckland, notably the Saxon Church at Escomb, which is one of the oldest and best examples of a Saxon Church in England . The stones from the church are thought to have been brought to the site up stream on the River The Clock Tower entrance to the Auckland CastleWear, from the Roman Fort at Binchester. It was in the 1960's when a school boy pointed out a Roman inscription on one of the churches stones that the link to the Fort was made. At South Church there is St. Andrew's, which occupies a commanding position on what was formerly the site of an early Saxon church. The erection of this most interesting structure may be said to date from the early part of the thirteenth century. It is cruciform in shape, consisting of nave, aisles, transepts, spacious chancel, south porch and western tower. It is said there is a tunnel that links the church to a farm on the opposite side of the Gaunless, which would have been used for escape by the monks, though it has never been found.

The records for a town where Bishop Auckland now stands do not start until about 1020, though the records show that the area was given by Canute to the Church in around 1020 AD, though it is highly likely that there was a village of sorts prior to this date. The Medieval Prince Bishops were some of the most powerful men in the land, and it was not until the 19 th century that the Bishop van Mildert gave Durham Castle over to found the University. This led to the Bishops Palace becoming the official residence of the Bishop of Durham.

The Bishop's palace, often also known as Auckland Castle , is the official residence of the Bishop of Durham. The palace is surrounded by a large and beautiful park that was originally used by the Bishops for hunting, though for many years the park land extended far up into Weardale. Originally the Bishop Auckland Town Hall with St Anne's church in the foregroundpalace was a small manor house, though it was extended over many years, with Bishop Cosin converting the banqueting hall to a chapel around 1665 after the Civil war, the chapel is the largest private chapel in Europe . Part of the building was called ' Scotland ' because it was used to house Scottish prisoners. Lewis Carroll sets his story 'A Legend of Scotland' here.

Education has played a big part in the history of Bishop Auckland; the college of St Andrews in South Church was, during the fifteenth century moved to the Palace grounds. The school unfortunately had a somewhat bad reputation and in 1604 it was to become what is now King James the 1 st School. Another, Barrington School , was to gain International acclaim when the Tsar of Russia sent a group to study the schools scholastic methods. There have been a number of famous faces to emerge from King James the 1 st , one in particular, William Armstrong, went on to become Lord Armstrong famous for shipbuilding and armaments.

1843 saw one of the greatest changes of the Industrial Revolution with the opening of the Railways. Bishop became a hub for the railways and a network of seven lines ran through the town. This was also the start of the coal revolution with many mines opening all around the area, the last of Stan Laurelwhich closed in the 1960's. The town was a true market town, which provided a wealth of shops and services for the coal and lead miners, and also for the smaller towns and villages throughout Weardale. The town was to see the opening of one of the countries first Co-operative Societies in 1860 that spread throughout County Durham .

Bishop Auckland has an impressive Town Hall, which was built in 1861 to a Gothic French design. The town hall has become a focal point of the town housing the library, gallery, Theatre and the Stan Laurel rooms, which is quite appropriate.

A name that the town has been proud to have had a relationship with is Arthur Stanley Jefferson. The Jefferson 's moved to Bishop Auckland to take over the running of the Eden Theatre, with Arthur going to King James the 1 st Grammar School. Arthur was to leave for America and sought out a career in the Movies, which led to what has to be the best remembered comedy double act of all time, Laurel and Hardy. Young Arthur changed his name for the stage to Stan Laurel.

The town has a number of bridges, though it is the railway viaduct that is the most impressive spanning the river Wear, it once carried the line to Durham . It fell into dis-repair with the loss of the rail network in the 1960's and was nearly lost to time. A reprieve came in the transformation of the viaduct into a road bridge, after a lot of campaigning by locals to take traffic away from the single lane Bishop A view over Bishop from the ViaductSkirlaw bridge, lying next to the viaduct.

Bishop Auckland was nationally known for the achievements of the football club which held an incredible record in the F.A. Amateur Cup, appearing in the final eighteen times, and winning ten times, including a memorable three years in a row in 1955, 1956 and 1957. Players such as Bob Hardisty, Harry Sharrat, Lol Bradley, Seamus O'Connell, Jimmy Nimmins all plied their trade at Bishop Auckland Football Club, playing at the old Kingsway ground - now long gone. Their national status was so high that after the Munich air disaster, three of the players were asked to join Manchester United to help re-establish their team and one of them played regularly in the first team.