Six crossing of the River Tees have been marked by new road signs showing the border between County Durham and the North Riding of Yorkshire. Two further signs mark the Yorkshire – Westmorland border at Ley Seat Edge. This project was instigated by the Yorkshire Ridings Society, paid for by the Historic Counties Trust and undertaken by Durham County Council. All three are to be heartily thanked and congratulated.
An unveiling ceremony was performed on Monday 15th June 2026 at the new border signs at Egglestone Abbey Bridge. Councillor Robbie Rodiss, Chairman of Durham County Council, unveiled the signs and spoke about the importance of our history and heritage to our sense of belonging and continuity. Also present were Higher Teesdale councillor Richard Bell, former ceremonial mayor of Stockton-on-Tees Council Ross Patterson, and representatives from the Historic Counties Trust and the Yorkshire Ridings Society.
Peter Boyce of the Historic Counties Trust said, “Could one even imagine our country without Yorkshire and County Durham? Not just beloved by the people who call them home, but by all Britons. We are very grateful to Durham County Council for marking the ancient border between them and to Councillor Rodiss for unveiling the new signs at Egglestone Abbey Bridge”.
Nigel Wilkin of the Yorkshire Ridings Society said, “The River Tees has marked the border between County Durham and the North Riding of Yorkshire for over a thousand years. Despite the indelible place of our two great counties in our history and our hearts, this border has not been properly marked for over 50 years. We are overjoyed to see this omission rectified.”
Peter Boyce continued, “We also wish to warmly thank Councillor Ross Patterson. During his year as the ceremonial mayor of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, Ross raised over £14,000 for the erection of historic county roads signs and kindly donated that money to the Historic Counties Trust. Some of that money has funded these signs.”
At Councillor Patterson’s suggestion, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council has erected North Riding of Yorkshire / County Durham signs at most crossings of the River Tees in its area.
As of Tues 16th June 2026 the border signs at Ley Seat Edge, Winston Bridge, Egglestone Abbey Bridge and Eggleston Bridge are in place. The signs at County Bridge (Castle Barnard/Startforth) and at Middleton Bridge will be installed in the next two weeks. The sign at Whorlton Suspension Bridge will be installed prior to the reopening of the bridge following major restoration work.
Due to a misunderstanding, the ceremony had to be moved at short notice from County Bridge in Barnard Castle to Egglestone Abbey Bridge. The sign at County Bridge could not be installed in time for the ceremony. We would like to apologise to anyone inconvenienced by this.
The border road signs in Teesdale are part of a larger project to see all Yorkshire riding borders marked and also to extend historic county border markings to other counties, as funds and cooperative local authorities allow.
The banner image shows the North Riding of Yorkshire sign at Ley Seat Edge.
6 thoughts on “Yorkshire – County Durham border in Teesdale marked by new road signs”
Amazing, great news. Thanks to all who took part and made such a fine effort.
I know there will likely be photos of the signposts along the Tees on the great day but is it possible to produce a map to show these plot points? This would be really useful as no doubt local historical walks could be built up around such things.
Thanks again for all the great work. I really look forward to the day. It feels good to finally be there, starting to rectify the damage that modern politics has caused.
We’ll be posting pictures of all the new signs after the event on Monday. We will do a map too, though basically every crossing of the Tees upriver from Winston will have signs 🙂
Any plans to put historic county signs at Wynch Bridge nr Low Force? I hear the good folks of Holwick are keen on adhering to their North Yorkshire roots.
Also, where can one make a donation (and to whom) so you can continue to carry on this work? Thanks.
Since that isn’t a public highway, it wasn’t part of the present project. Good idea though. You donate to Historic Counties Trust via the ‘Donate’ button on https://historiccountiestrust.co.uk/
Can I ask why a County Durham sign hasn’t been put up on the Hurworth place side of Croft bridge and a Yorkshire north riding sign has opposite the Croft hotel.
The Coft sign was put up with the agreement of North Yorkshire Council. It is a repurposed former district council sign. The Hurwood side is under Darlington Council. Honestly don’t know if they have been approached about erecting historic county signs. It’s very much a case of going with those councils who are keen or at least willing to erect such signs.