Bishop Auckland, township and market town with ry. sta., S. Durham, on eminence near confluence of rivers Wear and Gaunless, 9½ miles SW. of Durham -- town, 950 ac., pop. 10,097; township, 2126 ac., pop. 11,632; 2 Banks, 2 newspapers. Market-day, Thursday. There is a handsome town-house (1863) with tower 100 ft. high; at NE. stands palace of Bishop of Durham, a splendid pile, covering 5 ac., surrounded by park of 800 ac. The town has cotton factories and engineering works; extensive coal-mines are in the vicinity.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))