Coordinates: 54°46′33″N 1°34′28″W / 54.775948°N 1.574325°W / 54.775948; -1.574325

Elvet
Old Elvet Bridge
Elvet  Elvet shown within County Durham
OS grid reference	NZ2742
Unitary authority	County Durham
Ceremonial county	County Durham
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DURHAM
Postcode district	DH1
Dialling code	0191
Police	Durham
Fire	County Durham and Darlington
Ambulance	North East
EU Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	City of Durham
List of places: UK • England • County Durham

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 'swan-stream' from the Old English elfetu or ilfetu. The public house 'The Swan and Three Cygnets' on Elvet Bridge, is a reminder of the historical name given to this part of Durham City.

Elvet grew up from two medieval settlements based around Old Elvet and St Oswald's Church and includes Church Street, Hallgarth Street, Whinney Hill and much of Durham University's science site. Elvet is home to Durham Prison and Durham's Crown Court (Court Lane), County Court (New Elvet) and Magistrates' Court (Old Elvet).

Elvet House, a former Crown building (c. 1951) in Hallgarth Street, is currently the base for Durham's Jobcentre Plus, Crown Prosecution Service, Driving Standards Agency and Tribunals Service. The County Court vacated its purpose-built 1960's annex to Elvet House in October 2008 to relocate alongside the Magistrates' Court.

Whinney Hill is a street on a hill of the same name in the Elvet area, that name being derived from the whin (gorse) shrub that grows there in profusion. The street runs north-south from Durham Prison and the Durham City Cricket Grounds, on the banks of the River Wear, to the roundabout on the Stockton-on-Tees road near the Durham University science site. The lower site of Durham Johnston Comprehensive School was located on it until September 2009 when the school's sites merged.

Durham's first passenger railway station, Durham Elvet, opened in 1893 at the north end of Whinney Hill, closing in 1954.^[1] Its site is now occupied by Durham Magistrates' Court and the university's Parsons Field buildings.

References[link]

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