Hidden amongst the flurry of new inscriptions in the bumper 2020/21 session, the UK attempted to expand the boundaries of one its first ever sites. Durham was inscribed in 1986 with two separate core zones, one each for the castle and the cathedral. In 2008, the site boundaries were extended to include the area of Palace Green in between the two with its associated buildings. ICOMOS considered that this extension to form a homogenous zone had “specific architectural and historic values which strengthen the expression of outstanding universal value”. However, the periodic report of 2013 still stated that even this extended area was “still not adequate to illustrate the attributes of Outstanding Universal Value” and so that is how we come to this new proposal.

The new boundaries cover an area almost four times that of those of 2008, the site extending in all directions from its current core to cover more historic buildings along what is known as the Bailey as well as the entirety of the meander of the River Wear that flows around the hill on which the castle and cathedral are built and parts of the adjoining riverbank. The original 1986 designation included the 18th Century Prebends Bridge but this new zone includes three more – the 13th Century Elvet Bridge, the 15th Century Framwellgate Bridge and the considerably less medieval 1966 Kingsgate pedestrian bridge that links the cathedral to the brutalist concrete masterpiece/monstrosity (opinions vary) of Dunelm House. Taken together, these new components are supposed to highlight the urban integration of the castle-cathedral complex and demonstrate the significance of its location on a defensible hilltop surrounded by a river. The riverbanks are said to have further historical importance as former sites of agriculture, presumably by the ecclesiastical inhabitants of the hill, although they are now entirely forested or built upon.

ICOMOS approved this extension in principle but did not think it went far enough and referred it back to the state party. They recommended that the core zone should expand even further to include not just the wooded areas of the riverbanks but the entire gorge of the Wear to “protect the views to and from the river landscape”. It is understandable why the proposal initially left out the non-wooded areas as these are occupied by a series of predominantly 20th Century buildings, including the aforementioned Dunelm House, which does seem incongruent with the medieval focus of the site. ICOMOS also recommended that a buffer zone should be considered to protect views of the Durham site, despite having said in 2013 that the site had “no buffer zone, and it is not needed”. What this would mean in reality is not clear as the cathedral can be seen from almost every street in the city centre and is ever present on the horizon from the many surrounding hills. The 2017 management plan attempts to determine what views most need protecting, outlining in great detail several factors such as which direction pilgrims would historically have approached the cathedral from. Whilst there is construction ongoing in the city on the sites of the old passport office and bus station, it seems unlikely anything will approach Liverpool levels of disregard for local heritage in this small, usually quiet city and the topography of Durham is such that it would take some remarkable building work to disrupt the views from the surrounding hills.

Beyond the city and its immediate surroundings, the management plan claims that the cathedral is visible in some directions from over 20 kilometres away and that consideration should be given to protecting all of these views where possible, particularly what it refers to as “influential ridgelines”. See the attached photo for a personal example, taken from approximately 13 km to the northeast at the Penshaw Monument in the outskirts of Sunderland, where the cathedral can still be seen as an imposing feature on the landscape. If a buffer zone is at some point implemented, it will be interesting to see how far it extends and how the rather intangible concept of a ‘view’ is protected over such distances. I would agree with other reviews here that the best view of Durham is that from the train as it crosses a viaduct on approach to the station from the south. Whilst on the topic of previous reviews on this site, the ban on photography inside the cathedral appears to have been lifted at some point in recent years, with their website stating that visitors are now “encouraged to take respectful non-flash photos for personal use”. Bill Bryson, former chancellor of Durham University, wrote in Notes from a Small Island that he "unhesitatingly gave Durham [his] vote for best cathedral on planet Earth." I don’t know if I would go that far, there are certainly many other inscribed European cathedrals to pick from, but the hilltop riverside setting imparts a grandeur that puts Durham, to my mind at least, ahead of other English cathedrals such as York, Salisbury, Lincoln, Ely etc. and well deserving of its inscription, whatever the new boundaries may be.