Castle Eden

Castle Eden is a village in County Durham, in England. The population of the village at the 2011 census was 642. It is situated a short distance to the south of Peterlee, Wingate, the A19 and Castle Eden Dene. The village is famous for the former Castle Eden Brewery which was home of the famous Castle Eden Ale; most of it was demolished in 2003 for a new housing estate and only the main front building remains today. This is a listed building and is now managed office space with a popular Italian restaurant. The A19 used to run through the village until it was bypassed in the 1970s. The deep and impressive nearby dene extends all the way to sea and its many Yew trees are a particular feature where they find the magnesian limestone soil advantageous.

Castle Eden takes its name from the Eden Burn that runs through it. Eden is a fairly common outcome in English of a Brittonic river name that can be reconstructed as *ituna 'to gush forth'. The name may also be related to the Cumbric redan meaning 'run' or 'flow', or possibly even coeden, meaning 'tree' or 'timber'. The name is first attested around 1050 as Geodene and Iodene, both representing the pronunciation ['jo:dene].

Both the Domesday Book and the King's Book record Castle Eden as a small village, but make no mention of any castle. In 1764, the estate of Castle Eden was purchased by Rowland Burdon from William Turner, in which the deeds describe a pathway passing a ruined medieval chapel across a bridge and through the village leading up to the ruined manor and castle. It is commonly considered that this is the area named "The Village" and that the present Parish Church of St. James (Parish of Monk Hesleden) is built on the site of the chapel mentioned.

In the 1760s, a farm labourer digging out a hedge discovered a fine glass beaker, known as "The Castle Eden Beaker". It now resides in the British Museum.

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