Cotherstone is a village and civil parish in the Pennine hills

Pennines

The Pennines are a low-rising mountain range, separating the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East.Often described as the "backbone of England", they form a more-or-less continuous range stretching from the Peak District in Derbyshire, around the northern and eastern edges of...

, in Teesdale

Teesdale

Teesdale is a dale, or valley, of the east side of the Pennines in England. Large parts of Teesdale fall within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - the second largest AONB in England and Wales. The River Tees rises below Cross Fell, the highest hill in the Pennines, and its...

, County Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.
Cotherstone lies within the historic county boundaries

Historic counties of England

The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...

 of the North Riding of Yorkshire

North Riding of Yorkshire

The North Riding of Yorkshire was one of the three historic subdivisions of the English county of Yorkshire, alongside the East and West Ridings. From the Restoration it was used as a Lieutenancy area. The three ridings were treated as three counties for many purposes, such as having separate...

, but along with the rest of the former Startforth Rural District

Startforth Rural District

Startforth Rural District was a rural district in the North Riding of the historic county of Yorkshire in the Pennines of northern England.It was formed in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894...

 it was transferred to County Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

 for administrative

Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England

Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties are one of the four levels of subdivisions of England used for the purposes of local government outside Greater London. As originally constituted, the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties each consisted of multiple districts, had a county council and...

 and ceremonial

Ceremonial counties of England

The ceremonial counties are areas of England to which are appointed a Lord Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as counties and areas for the purposes of the Lieutenancies Act 1997 with reference to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England and Lieutenancies Act 1997...

 purposes on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972

Local Government Act 1972

The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

.

There was a railway station at Cotherstone on the now-closed Barnard Castle to Middleton-in-Teesdale line. The railway line crossed the River Balder

Baldersdale

Baldersdale is a dale, or valley, on the east side of the Pennines in England, north of Barnard Castle. Its principal settlements are Hury and Briscoe. Baldersdale lies within the traditional boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire...

 at the Balder Viaduct just north of Cotherstone.

Cotherstone cheese is a celebrated delicacy, and the village was famous for it by at least 1858.

Notable people

Hannah Hauxwell

Hannah Hauxwell

Hannah Hauxwell is a retired English farmer who has been the subject of several television documentaries on Yorkshire Television....

, who became famous through a Yorkshire Television

Yorkshire Television

Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...

 documentary, farmed near Cotherstone and in 1998 moved to the village itself.

In 1973 the modernist architect Maxwell Fry

Maxwell Fry

Edwin Maxwell Fry, CBE, RA, FRIBA, FRTPI, known as Maxwell Fry , was an English modernist architect of the middle and late 20th century, known for his buildings in Britain, Africa and India....

 retired to Cotherstone.

The jurist John Cyril Smith

John Cyril Smith

Sir John Cyril Smith, CBE, QC, FBA, was an authority on English criminal law and the philosophy of criminal liability. Together with Brian Hogan he was the author of Smith & Hogan's Criminal Law, arguably the most respected undergraduate text on English criminal law...

 was born in the village in 1922.

Miles Stapleton

Miles Stapleton of Bedale

Sir Miles Stapleton of Bedale KG was an English knight, one of the Knights Founder of the Order of the Garter. He was the eldest son of Gilbert de Stapleton, knt. , and the grandson of Miles de Stapleton . His mother was Matilda Sir Miles Stapleton of Bedale (or of Cotherstone) KG (1320?–1364)...

was a notable Lord of Cotherstone (among other places) during the fourteenth century.