River Wear
The
River Wear (pronounced Wee-er) is a river in
North East England. The river rises at
Wearhead in
County Durham, and meanders through
Weardale passing through the market town of
Stanhope, which is famous for the ford across the river, and on through
Washington. It flows through, and its mouth is located at,
Sunderland.
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The wooded riverbanks of the Wear as it flows through Durham. |
At
Bishop Auckland the Wear then passes below
Auckland Castle, the official residence of the
Bishop of Durham and its
Deer Park. Also overlooking the Wear at this point is
Binchester Roman Fort,
Vinovia.
The River Wear then continues flowing in a general northeasterly direction until it reaches the university city of
Durham. Here, the river forms a
peninsula upon which stand the imposing medieval sites of
Durham Cathedral and
Durham Castle. The Cathedral, which contains the final resting place of
St. Cuthbert, and the City of Durham are now officially recognised as a
World Heritage Site.
The route of the River Wear then passes
Finchale Priory,
Chester-le-Street and the new town of
Washington in Sunderland, before reaching
Sunderland city centre. It is here that the River Wear once boasted dozens of
shipyards, now largely derelict, which contributed to making Sunderland one of the most productive shipbuilding towns on the planet. The River Wear flows out of Sunderland between
Roker Pier and South Pier, and into the
North Sea.
The section of the Wear at Durham was featured on the television programme
Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of the North.
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Rivers of the United Kingdom
