Barnard Castle and Teesdale in the Durham Dales is the second largest
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England and Wales. Barnard Castle,
the region's main town, takes its name from the castle that was built
there in the twelfth century. Many notable people have visited the town
over the centuries including Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens, who
both found literary inspiration there. Today, Barnard Castle is a
popular destination for those who are drawn by its history, the Bowes
Museum - with its significant collection of fine and decorative arts -
and the surrounding countryside. In A-Z of Barnard Castle & Teesdale
authors Andrew Graham Stables and Gary David Marshall take the reader on
an engaging alphabetical tour of the area's history and discover many
hidden gems along the way. The book explores some of the most
influential people, unusual places and social histories to provide an
exciting new view of a town that was important to many kings, as well as
kingmakers including Richard III. The authors also disclose old maps and
stories from Upper Teesdale. Discover how a boy born to the premier
Anglo-Norman family of the town became King of Scotland but was later
forced to abdicate and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Rarely seen
artefacts, from a now demolished church thought to be Saxon in origin,
will be explored and may define the origins of the town built along an
old Roman road. With access to a wealth of old photographs and the
archives of the impressive Bowes Museum, the authors also reveal, for
the first time, a sketch of the town from the early 1700s by one of the
renowned Buck brothers.
