Palace Green is an open space in the centre of Durham, England, flanked by Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle. The Cathedral and Castle together form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although initially not part of the site itself, Palace Green was added to the UNESCO site in 2008. It is situated on top of the narrow, high peninsula formed by a sharp bend in the River Wear. The cathedral is on the southern side, facing the castle across the green on the north side. To the east are Durham University buildings including the law, theology, classics and history departments, with the music department and the university's special collections library to the west. From the north and east Palace Green is accessed by two cobbled streets called Owengate (formerly Queen's Street) and Dun Cow Lane, the latter taking its name from a local legend involving a milkmaid and her cow. From the west a passageway, 'Windy Gap', leads down to the banks of the River Wear between two buildings which are now part of the university's music department. Early in the twentieth century one of the buildings was the home of the novelist J. Meade Falkner, author of Moonfleet. In summer, Palace Green is sometimes used by students of Durham University as a croquet lawn with the permission from the groundsman of University College Durham. 'Palace Green' is also the name of a hymn tune written by Michael Fleming (1928–2006) while a music student at the university, used for the hymn 'Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above'.

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37 m

Cosin's Library

Bishop Cosin's Library, originally the Episcopal Library or Bibliotheca Episcopalis Dunelmensis, is an historic library founded in 1669 in Durham, England. Owned by the University of Durham, the library is open to the public.
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43 m

Bishop Cosin's Hall

Bishop Cosin's Hall was a college of the University of Durham, opened in 1851 as the university's third college and named after 17th century Bishop of Durham John Cosin. It closed in 1864 due to a fall in student recruitment at the university. It was housed in an 18th-century building on Palace Green which still carries its name.
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53 m

Institute of Advanced Study (Durham)

The Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) is an interdisciplinary research centre of Durham University. The IAS – set up to mark Durham's 175th anniversary – is intended to attract scholars and public figures from across the world to collaborate on 'agenda-setting research'. It is housed in the Grade II* listed Bishop Cosin's Hall, an early 18th century building on Palace Green, Durham, within the Durham UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Institute accepted its first fellows in January 2006 and was formally inaugurated into the university in October that year.
66 m

Assembly Rooms Theatre (Durham)

The Assembly Rooms Theatre, formally named the Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre after Sir Thomas Allen, is a historic 175-seat proscenium arch theatre located in the centre of Durham. It is home to 33 Durham Student Theatre companies as well as a local resident company. The theatre is owned by Durham University and managed by the Student Enrichment Directorate, a department of the university.