Our Story

Our Story

The Bridge was established in 1864. The land lady at the time Margaret Palmer named the pub after the 100ft granite railway viaduct built to service the North Eastern Railway built by T E Harrison. The INN was built to house the builders of the mammoth arches.

In 1879 Lewis Henry Blake took over the pub at a time when it was becoming popular with members of the Durham Miners Association and it became a main stay for members on the way to the miners hall.

From 1897 to 1926 Edwin Alfred Oliver managed the pub for W.B Reid & Co Ltd. Between 1914 and 1919 he enlisted in the army to fight in the first world war and left the pub in the hands of his wife Sophia.

Durham was growing fast and was noted for a huge increase in retail and wholesale trading. John Watson a member of the Durham chamber of trade took over the pub in 1951 his friends and fellow traders used the pub for informal business meetings over a tipple or two!

Despite a huge fire in 1964 which nearly saw the end of the Bridge Hotel, today it continues to strengthen it’s reputation for serving fine cask conditioned ale, premium branded drinks and ‘good honest pub food with accommodation by Landlord, Wayne Carl Glover & his fabulous team!

Since 2016 I, myself Wayne and my wonderful team have transformed the pub into the place to be type venue in the heart of Durham. (Meet you at the Bridge Hotel vibe to it) Everybody starts here and finishes back here!
When I took over as GM in 2016 the pub was feeling extremely sorry for itself however I knew the sinking ship could be revived with a little TLC……………!

In 2016 our facebook business page was only rated 3.4 stars but today it is now rated 5 stars due to all of our customer reviews.

Myself and my team have worked tirelessly to put this magnificent INN right back on the map, and it’s certainly paid dividends!

This old but newly refurbished pub is a 5 minute walk from Durham train station and just another 5 minute walk into the heart of Durham City.

This pub has as fantastic and premium offering, with 8 victorian letting rooms (3 of them with a Cathedral view)
a kitchen that provides proper good honest pub grub (250 roast dinners on a Sunday) and a bar that has a superb drinks offering.

The Bridge Hotel has a fabulous food offering which is blended with fantastic 5 star customer service, what else does a punter need!!?

Legal details for our business are Bridge Hotel Durham, Company Number: 12084631 and our Registered Office Address is 23 Riverside Studios Amethyst Road, Newcastle Business Park, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne And Wear, NE4 7YL – just to be clear, this is NOT the address of our public house, and is simply here to keep us legal.

Contact Us

If you would like to make an enquiry about accommodation then please contact us using the form below and we will get back to you shortly.