Hidden Gems Near Durham
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The hidden gems near Durham are Joe's Pond, Claxheugh Rock, Backhouse Park, Hendon Beach, Bessie Surtees House, The Lit & Phil, The Vampire Rabbit of Newcastle and The Grainger Market.
Durham makes a fine base for exploring the wider North East, and these hidden gems fan out to the north and along the coast. Closest to home, Joe's Pond is a peaceful wetland reserve near Houghton-le-Spring, alive with birds.
Push on to Sunderland and you will find the pale cliff of Claxheugh Rock above the Wear, the wooded valley of Backhouse Park with its noisy parakeets, and the plain, honest sands of Hendon Beach beside the working docks. Carry on north to Newcastle and there is plenty to seek out: the Jacobean Bessie Surtees House on the Quayside, the galleried reading rooms of the Lit and Phil, the odd little Vampire Rabbit carving behind the cathedral, and the bustling Victorian aisles of the Grainger Market.
From quiet nature reserves to grand old libraries and curious carvings, there is something here for every kind of day out. Here are eight hidden gems to seek out near Durham.
Joe's Pond
Photo: Les Hull via Geograph.org.uk
Watch the birds at Joe's Pond A freshwater pond and wetland nature reserve south of Houghton-le-Spring in County Durham, looked after by the Durham Wildlife Trust and sitting right beside the larger Rainton Meadows reserve. Open water, reeds, fen and flower-rich grassland fill the site, which began as a flooded clay pit worked by a man named Joe Wilson in the 1950s and took his name.
A boardwalk suitable for wheelchairs loops the pond, with waymarked trails and bird hides, and more than 140 kinds of bird have been recorded here, including all five British owls. Parking and a visitor centre are next door at Rainton Meadows.
Claxheugh Rock
Photo: Tim Heaton via Geograph.org.uk
Stand beneath Claxheugh Rock A tall pale cliff on the south bank of the River Wear in western Sunderland, near South Hylton and the old Ford Quarry. Around twenty metres high, it exposes a Permian reef of dolomite limestone resting on soft yellow sandstone, and it is the type site for this rock formation, important enough to geologists to be a protected site.
Come here and you see a buff-coloured cliff rising above the riverside, reached from the path along the Wear. Peregrines and estuary birds are often spotted around it.
Backhouse Park
Photo: Malc McDonald via Geograph.org.uk
Backhouse Park Green parakeets are the surprise here, a well-established colony chattering through the treetops of a wooded Sunderland valley carved by the Hendon Burn. Mature specimen trees, spring bulbs and a blaze of autumn colour lend the Ashbrooke park the character of an arboretum, its paths threading down through the trees.
The Quaker Backhouse family kept this ground as their private garden from 1835, until it was handed to the town and opened to the public in the early 1920s. Underfoot runs the Permian magnesian limestone that follows this stretch of coast, a geological signature of the north-east shore.
Hendon Beach
Photo: Oliver Dixon via Geograph.org.uk
Hendon Beach The view here is of a working port and its industrial buildings rather than open countryside, which tells you plainly what kind of beach this is. A strip of sand and shingle on the Sunderland coast just south of the docks, it is backed by a sea wall and promenade, with wooden groynes and rock defences holding the front.
The England Coast Path runs right along it. This is an honest, urban shore in an area that has seen plenty of regeneration, better suited to a bracing walk than a bucket-and-spade afternoon.
Grangetown Beach lies a short way further south if you want to stretch the walk.
Bessie Surtees House
Photo: Ben Brooksbank via Geograph.org.uk
Tour Bessie Surtees House A pair of tall, timber-framed merchant houses on Sandhill by the Quayside in Newcastle, among the best surviving Jacobean houses in the city, their jettied, many-windowed front looking out over the River Tyne. The building is well known for the 1772 elopement of Bessie Surtees, who climbed from an upper window to run off with John Scott, later Lord Chancellor.
English Heritage looks after it and it is free to visit, now by pre-booked guided tour, with restored period rooms on show while the upper floors serve as offices.
The Lit & Phil
Photo: Mike Quinn via Geograph.org.uk
Browse the shelves at the Lit and Phil The Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle is an independent subscription library on Westgate Road, housed in a grand Greek Revival building of the 1820s. The largest independent library outside London, it has a galleried main reading room lit by glass domes, shelves rising over two levels that hold more than 150,000 books, and a large collection of recorded music.
Founded as a discussion society in 1793, its rooms were the first anywhere to be lit by electric light, when Joseph Swan showed his bulb here around 1880. It works as a members' lending library and a free reference library, and it hosts talks.
The Vampire Rabbit of Newcastle
Photo: David P Howard via Geograph.org.uk
Seek out the Vampire Rabbit A grotesque carving of a fanged rabbit set above the ornate back doorway of the Cathedral Buildings at Amen Corner, off Dean Street in Newcastle, facing the rear of St Nicholas Cathedral. Part of the 1901 building, it is now painted black with red fangs and claws.
Its meaning is a mystery, and even whether it is a rabbit or a hare is debated, so the various stories about it are guesswork rather than fact. It is a small, strange detail that visitors like to seek out on the passage behind the cathedral.
The Grainger Market
Photo: Peter McDermott via Geograph.org.uk
The Grainger Market One tiny unit has held a Marks and Spencer stall since 1895, a survivor from the firm's Penny Bazaar days, tucked among more than a hundred businesses under one roof. This large covered Victorian hall in central Newcastle opened in 1835 as part of Richard Grainger's grand rebuilding of the city.
Its alleys of stalls sell meat, fish, fruit and vegetables alongside street food, cafes and independent shops. The listed building was refurbished in the mid-2020s.
Come hungry, wander the aisles beneath the roof, and let the traders decide your lunch.
FAQs
Which of these gems is closest to Durham?
Joe's Pond is the nearest, a wetland reserve about eight kilometres north of Durham near Houghton-le-Spring, with parking and a visitor centre at neighbouring Rainton Meadows.
How do I reach the Newcastle gems from Durham?
Newcastle sits roughly 22 kilometres north of Durham, with fast, frequent trains between the two, so the Bessie Surtees House, the Lit and Phil, the Vampire Rabbit and the Grainger Market all make an easy day out.
Are any of these free to visit?
Several are. Bessie Surtees House is free (guided tours are pre-booked), the Lit and Phil offers free reference access, and both Joe's Pond and Backhouse Park cost nothing to explore near Durham and Sunderland.
Conclusion
From a quiet wetland near Houghton-le-Spring to the busy aisles of a Victorian market, these eight places show how much the North East holds within a short trip of Durham. Head for the coast and Sunderland offers the cliff at Claxheugh Rock, the parakeets of Backhouse Park and the workaday sands of Hendon Beach.
Carry on to Newcastle for the Jacobean Bessie Surtees House, the book-lined rooms of the Lit and Phil, the curious Vampire Rabbit and the stalls of the Grainger Market. Closer to home, Joe's Pond rewards anyone who loves birds and open water.
Whether you are after nature, history or a good browse, these are the hidden gems to seek out near Durham.
