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Bearpark is a village and civil parish in County Durham in England. It is situated two and a half miles west of Durham, and a short distance to the north of Ushaw Moor. The name may be a corruption of the French term Beau Repaire – meaning "beautiful retreat". Half a mile to the north of the present village lies the ruins of Beaurepaire Priory, built in 1258 by the Prior of Durham, Bertram de Middleton, as a retirement residence. The building was extended in the subsequent three centuries, becoming a retreat for the Durham monks in a similar way to the nearby Finchale Priory. The manor was largely destroyed by the Scots in 1640 and 1644 during the British Civil War. In 1872, Theodore Fry was involved in founding the Bearpark Coal and Coke Company, which established a coal mine in Bearpark until 1984, when the mine was closed. Bearpark Community Centre is at the hub of the local village, a red brick building originally built in 1921 as a miners' welfare hall. An old pit wheel stands in front of the building, a memorial to the village's mining history. A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Bearpark from John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles of 1887:
Bearpark was created from the parish of Elvet in 1894, but its acreage was somewhat reduced with a transfer of land to Durham St. Oswald the following year. In 1935 it lost further acreage to the parish of Brandon and Byshottles and gained about the same amount from Broom. Bearpark was part of Durham Rural District from 1894 until 1974 and since 1974 within the City of Durham district of County Durham. [edit] Research Tips
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