On Saturday 19 April 2026, as part of World Heritage Day, David Butler led a group of twenty visitors and plot-holders across the allotments and through the churchyard, exploring the rich historical and archaeological significance of the two sites. Beginning with the extraction of building material for Durham Cathedral, leaving the present hollow where sandstone had been removed to leave only soft shale, David went on to draw attention to the raised pathways – probably remains of the dams for the medieval fishponds of Durham Cathedral Priory, which occupied the site after the end of quarrying. He then looked at more recent history – the origin of the allotments by as early as the 1840s and the phases in the development of the churchyard. The group was particularly riveted by his remarks about the graves – those of men influential in Durham mining, and also the grave of a young woman killed by a runaway lorry on Framwelgate Bridge in 1934. The enthusiasm of his audience underlined the importance – and beauty – of the sites.
