The Light, Durham

The Light is a proposed cultural venue at Aykley Heads in Durham, England.

1. History

The building was originally commissioned as a regimental museum for the Durham Light Infantry. The site selected was in a large rural setting known as Aykley Heads just to the southeast of County Hall. The building was designed in the modern style, built in concrete and glass and was officially opened by the Minister for the Arts, Jennie Lee, in 1969. The design involved a rectangular three-storey main block with a single-storey semi-circular section which projected forward at the southwest corner. The museum was located on the first two floors, with the Durham Art Gallery located on the third floor. It was refurbished to a design by Gareth Hoskins Architects, with interpretative displays about army life, in 1999. In October 2015 Durham County Council announced the closure of the D.L.I. Museum as a cost saving exercise; it closed the following year. This decision sparked the formation of a campaign to see the museum saved led by John Richardson. In 2017, Durham University, in partnership with Durham County Council, opened a new D.L.I. Collection Gallery at the Palace Green Library on Palace Green in Durham (where the Regiment's final parade had taken place in 1968). In June 2019 Durham County Council revealed plans to move the Durham Light Infantry Collection to Mount Oswald, where a new history centre, named "The Story", opened in June 2024; it houses the DLI Archive and "the entire DLI Collection", but only a fraction is on public display. Notwithstanding these developments, in 2021 the County Council agreed "to review options to reopen and repurpose" the old building at Aykley Heads. The plan was approved in 2024. As of 2025, an extension is being built, which will almost double the size of the old building; the revamped venue is scheduled to reopen in spring 2026. Renamed "The Light", this will include a dedicated DLI Gallery alongside other galleries and event facilities.

1. References

Nearby Places View Menu

259 m

St Leonard's Catholic School, Durham

St Leonard's Catholic School is a coeducational Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form. It is in Durham, County Durham, England.

School

County Hall, Durham

County Hall is a municipal building at Aykley Heads in Durham, County Durham, England. It is the headquarters of Durham County Council.

Government

Framwelgate

Framwelgate (or Framwellgate) is an area of Durham, County Durham, England. It is adjoined by Crossgate, North End, Framwellgate Moor and the River Wear. The origin of the place-name is from the Old English words fram and wella together with the Old Norse gata and means street by the strongly gushing spring. It appears as Framwelgat in 1352. The 'Borough of Framwelgate' grew up following the construction of Framwellgate Bridge over the River Wear by Bishop Flambard in 1121. The roads Millburngate and Framwelgate became part the main route between Durham and the North. The area was home to wealthy Durham merchants and artisans until the 17th century. By the 19th century much of the area had developed into slum housing with coal mining occurring to the north of Framwelgate. These houses were demolished during the 1930s and residents moved to the newly built Sherburn Road Estate in Gilesgate. Framwelgate is believed to have been named from a well at the head of the old street. This was connected to a pant in the Market Place. An honorary Pant Master continues to be appointed to this day. Above the well the road continues as Framwellgate Peth. Framwelgate Peth continues towards Dryburn, Durham's place of execution until the construction of Durham Gaol. Saint John Boste was executed here in 1594 for being a Roman Catholic priest. While name Dryburn is popularly claimed to derive from a stream that dried up following the execution of a Jesuit or a corruption of Tyburn (London's place of execution), Victor Watts has shown the name, deriving from the middle English for 'dry stream' was being used by at least the 14th century. A mediaeval leper hospital, St. Leonard's is believed to have been sited just south of Dryburn until its demolition in 1652/53. Framwellgate was formerly a township in the parish of Durham-St Oswald, in 1866 Framwellgate became a separate civil parish, on 1 April 1916 the parish was abolished to form Durham. In 1911 the parish had a population of 3235. Prior to the 1974 local government re-organisation the municipal borough covering central Durham was styled "The City of Durham and Framwelgate".

Historic Site Landmark

Crook Hall, Durham

Crook Hall is a Grade I listed house built in the 13th or 14th to 18th centuries, located in the Framwelgate area of the City of Durham. The oldest part is an open hall house dating from the 13th or 14th century, built in sandstone with a Welsh slate roof. It is the only known domestic open hall in County Durham. In the 17th century the hall was extended to form a Jacobean manor house; then in the 18th century a large brick Georgian house was appended to the 17th-century wing, making up a house of 11 bays in all. It is surrounded by English country style gardens, seen as among the best in the north of England.