Natural England - Castle Eden Dene: history

Castle Eden Dene: history

The Castle Eden Dene site has a long history.

Timeline

6,000 BC – the first evidence of man living in the area are some worked flints that were discovered. The rock is not naturally found in the area and must have been brought to the Dene by early hunter-gatherers.

Circa 900 AD – Saxons called this area Yoden, meaning Yew Dene, from which we get Eden today.

1143 – by now a village including a castle, or fortified manor house, several small houses and a chapel, which stood on the site of the present church, has been established.

1757 – the castle and the land were bought by Rowland Burdon, although most of the buildings were now in ruins

1775 – workmen discover the Castle Eden Vase, a 6th Century beaker that is now in the British Museum

Circa 1790 – Burdon builds a road opening up views of the Dene and it becomes something of a local tourist attraction

1905 – the ten-arched railways viaduct across the Dene opens.

1951 - the Dene was taken over by Peterlee Development Corporation after the death of the last member of the Burdon family

1964 – the Dene becomes a Local Nature Reserve but a lack of money meant that many of the old paths were not reopened until 1971

1985 – designated a National Nature Reserve.