Crossgate is a small area of housing that sits above North Road but below the Neville's Cross

Neville's Cross

Neville's Cross is a place in County Durham, in England. It is situated on the A167 trunk road to the west of the centre of Durham.The area is primarily residential, although there is a newsagent, some public houses and a primary school located there...

 area of Durham

Durham

Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

. It is predominantly occupied by students at Durham University

Durham University

The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...

 who favour the area due to its proximity to the university departments in the Elvet

Elvet

Elvet is an area of the city of Durham, in County Durham, in England. It is situated on the opposite side of the River Wear from Durham Cathedral and forms the south-eastern part of central Durham. Elvet is currently unparished. Historically, the word 'elvet' is a word meaning 'swan' or...

 and Palace Green

Palace Green

Palace Green is a small 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....

 areas of the city.

Local amenities

Crossgate boasts two pubs (Ye Olde Elm Tree and The Angel), a working men's club and a pancake cafe, all of which exist as part of a cheerful community housed in pretty late Victorian

Victorian architecture

The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

 brick terraced houses.

History

Crossgate is one of the oldest centres of Durham. In the Middle Ages it constituted a separate 'borough' of Crossgate, otherwise known as Old Borough (comprising Crossgate itself, Allergate and South Street) and was more or less coterminous with the chapelry of St Margaret of Antioch. It was under the lordship of Durham Priory

Durham Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham is a cathedral in the city of Durham, England, the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Durham. The Bishopric dates from 995, with the present cathedral being founded in AD 1093...

and had its own borough court, but had no market of its own. Crossgate was first joined to the main centre of Durham, where the markets were held, when Bishop Flambard built Framwellgate Bridge, about the year 1128. From being a chapelry of the parish of St Oswald's, St Margaret's was made an independent parish in 1431. The earliest parts of the church are Norman, The area of residence shrank considerably during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but grew again rapidly during the nineteenth century. Crossgate's present largely residential character is at least partly the result of the nineteenth-century construction of North Road as a principal shopping street.