Bishop Auckland / United Kingdom

Bishop Auckland is a market town and civil parish in County Durham in north east England. It is located about 12 miles northwest of Darlington, 12 miles southwest of Durham and 5 miles southeast of Crook at the confluence of the River Wear with its tributary the River Gaunless. According to the 2001 census, Bishop Auckland has a population of 24,392, increasing to 25,455 according to the 2016 estimate. Much of the town's early history surrounds the Bishops of Durham and the establishment of a hunting lodge, which later became the main residence of the Bishops of Durham. This link with the Bishops of Durham is reflected in the first part of the town's name.During the Industrial Revolution, the town grew rapidly as coal mining took hold as an important industry. The subsequent decline of the coal mining industry in the late twentieth century has been blamed for a fall in the town's fortunes in other sectors. Today, the largest sector of employment in the town is manufacturing.Since 1 April 2009, the town's local government has come from the Durham County Council Unitary Authority. The unitary authority replaced the previous Wear Valley District Council and Durham County Council. Bishop Auckland is located in the Bishop Auckland parliamentary constituency. With its mining history, it used to be a safe Labour seat, but flipped for the Conservatives with a sizeable majority for the first time in 2019 after the area had decisively voted to leave the European Union three years prior. Bishop Auckland has a town-twinning with the French town of Ivry-sur-Seine. The town is also colloquially referred to as Bish Vegas, the origins of which are unclear.