Durham Dean and Chapter Library

Durham Priory was a Benedictine priory associated with Durham Cathedral, in Durham in the north-east of England. Its head was the Prior of Durham. It was founded in 1083 as a Roman Catholic monastery, but after Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540 the priory was dissolved and the cathedral was taken over by the Church of England. Historically, Durham Priory was one of the most important land owners in County Durham along with the Bishop of Durham until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII. Until then, Durham Priory was home to between 50 and 100 Benedictine monks. Durham was the largest and richest of the monasteries associated with Durham; the other cells were in Coldingham Priory (until 1462), Jarrow and Monk Wearmouth, Finchale, Farne, Holy Island, Lythe, Stamford and Durham College, Oxford (after 1381). The Bishop of Durham was the temporal lord of the palatinate, often referred to as a Prince-bishop. The bishop competed for power with the Prior of Durham who held his own courts for his free tenants. An agreement dated about 1229, known as Le Convenit was entered into to regulate the relationship between the two magnates.After the Benedictine monastery was dissolved, the last Prior of Durham, Hugh Whitehead, became the first dean of the cathedral's secular chapter.Durham Priory held many manuscripts; in the 21st century, steps were under way to digitise the books, originating from the 6th to the 16th century, owned by the Benedictine monastery. The project was being undertaken in a partnership by Durham University and Durham Cathedral.

Durham College, or New College, Durham, was a university institution set up by Oliver Cromwell, to provide an alternative to (and break the effective monopoly of) the older University of Oxford and University of Cambridge. It also had the aim of bringing university education to Northern England. It received letters patent - though not degree-awarding powers - in 1656, but after Cromwell's death in 1659 the universities of Oxford and Cambridge petitioned his son Richard Cromwell against the new university, and the college ceased to exist with the restoration of the monarchy in 1660.

The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Durham, the fourth-ranked bishop in the Church of England hierarchy. The present Norman era cathedral had started to be built in 1093, replacing the city's previous 'White Church'. In 1986 the cathedral and Durham Castle were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Durham Cathedral's relics include: Saint Cuthbert's, transported to Durham by Lindisfarne monks in the 800s; Saint Oswald's head and the Venerable Bede's remains. The Durham Dean and Chapter Library contains: sets of early printed books, some of the most complete in England; the pre-Dissolution monastic accounts and three copies of Magna Carta. From 1080 until 1836, the Bishop of Durham held the powers of an Earl Palatine. In order to protect the Anglo-Scottish border, powers of an earl included exercising military, civil, and religious leadership. The cathedral walls formed part of Durham Castle, the chief seat of the Bishop of Durham.There are daily Church of England services at the cathedral, Durham Cathedral Choir sing daily except Mondays and holidays, receiving 727,367 visitors in 2019.

The Chorister School was a co-educational independent school for the 3 to 13 age range. It consisted of a Pre-School (opened in September 2008), a pre-preparatory and preparatory day and boarding school in Durham, England. It was set in an enviable position on a World Heritage Site, in a range of Grade I listed buildings adjacent to Durham Cathedral, surrounded by the woodlands and riverbanks of the River Wear. The majority of the pupils at the school attended on a 'day' basis, with about 45 boarders of both sexes making up the balance. Pupils did not have to be Cathedral choristers, but those boys and girls who were choristers could be either boarders or day pupils. Pupils were taught in small classes in a collection of historic buildings all of which formed part of the college, or cathedral close. The Chorister School merged with nearby Durham School, closing 28 September 2021.

Cranmer Hall is a Church of England theological college based at Durham, England. Cranmer Hall forms part of St John's College, Durham which is a recognised college of Durham University. It stands in the Open Evangelical tradition. Cranmer Hall currently trains ordinands for the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion.

St John's College is a college of the University of Durham, United Kingdom. It is one of only two "recognised colleges" of the university, the other being St Chad's. This means that it is financially and constitutionally independent of the university and has a greater degree of administrative independence than the other, "maintained", colleges. However, to maintain its status as a recognised college, the university council must approve the appointment of its principal and be notified of changes to its constitution.St John's is Durham's second smallest college and comprises John's Hall for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying any university course and Cranmer Hall (named after Thomas Cranmer and with its own master or Warden), an Anglican theological college in the open evangelical tradition.

The Bailey, or The Peninsula, is a historic area in the centre of Durham, England. It is a peninsula within a sharp meander in the River Wear, formed by isostatic adjustment of the land. The name 'The Bailey' derives from it being the 'outer bailey' of the Norman motte and bailey-style Durham Castle. Access to the area is restricted by the Durham City congestion charge, which started in 2002 and is the UK's oldest such scheme.

The Museum of Archaeology, founded in 1833, is a museum of the University of Durham in England. The museum has collections ranging from the prehistoric, Ancient Greece, Roman to Medieval.

Palace Green is an area of grass in the centre of Durham, England, flanked by Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle. The Cathedral and Castle together form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although initially not part of the site itself, Palace Green was added to the UNESCO site in 2008.It is situated on top of the narrow, high peninsula formed by a sharp bend in the River Wear. The Cathedral is on the southern side, facing the Castle across the Green on the north side. To the east are Durham University buildings including the law, theology, classics and history departments, with the music department and the university's special collections library to the west. From the north and east Palace Green is accessed by two cobbled streets called Owengate (formerly Queen's Street) and Dun Cow Lane, the latter taking its name from a local legend involving a milkmaid and her cow. From the west a passageway, 'Windy Gap', leads down to the banks of the River Wear between two buildings which are now part of the university Music School. Early in the twentieth century one of the buildings had been the home of the novelist J. Meade Falkner, author of Moonfleet. In summer, Palace Green is sometimes used by students of Durham University as a croquet lawn on permission from the groundsman of University College Durham.'Palace Green' is also the name of a hymn tune written by Michael Fleming (1928-2006) while a music student at the university, for the hymn 'Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above'.During the COVID-19 Pandemic, marquees on Palace Green have been used as a testing centre run by the University.

Bishop Cosin's Library, originally the Episcopal Library or Bibliotheca Episcopalis Dunelmensis, is an historic library founded in 1669 in Durham, England. Owned by the University of Durham, the library is open to the public.

St Chad's College is a recognised (independent) college of Durham University in England, founded in 1904 as an Anglican hall for the training of Church of England clergy. The main part of the college is located on the Bailey, occupying nine historic buildings at the east end of Durham Cathedral. It neighbours Hatfield College to its north, while St John's College and St Cuthbert's Society are to its south. The college is named after St Chad of Mercia, a seventh-century bishop. Although it is the smallest of Durham's colleges in terms of student numbers (in 2018–19, the college had 409 undergraduates and 150 active postgraduates), it has the largest staff, extensive college library facilities, and among the highest undergraduate academic results in Durham.

St Cuthbert's Society, colloquially known as Cuth's, is a college of Durham University. It was founded in 1888 for students who were not attached to the existing colleges. St Cuthbert's Society is a Bailey college, based on Durham's peninsula next to the River Wear, although it also has other accommodation a few minutes' walk away in Old Elvet. St Cuthbert's retains its title of 'society', although its workings have changed since its formation. Its foundation differed from that of Durham's other colleges in that it was established as a common room for, and by, its students. Other Societies followed: St Aidan's Society – now St Aidan's College, and the Graduate Society – now Ustinov College. It is still home to the highest proportion of local students (very few of whom live in) and traditionally houses a high proportion of mature students. It is the only collegiate body to offer undergraduates catered, self-catered, and part catered accommodation.