The spirit that stays locked up behind bridge's prison bars

In 1632, this institution appears to have replaced or come to occupy an earlier chapel dedicated to St James that stood upon the bridge at this point.

The cells were linked with others in the Great North Gate, a massive defensive gate that straddled Saddler Street.

This served for many years as a prison, and a prison reformer who visited the cells in the 18th Century was appalled by the conditions in its cells, finding many of the prisoners, mostly transports, living in dreadful conditions and plagued with sickness.

The Great North Gate dated from 1417 and was an obstruction to traffic. It was removed in 1820 when prisoners were moved to a new jail at Elvet. The new jail was started in 1809 and is still the site of the prison today.

It was in November the following year that one of the last and most famous inmates of the Elvet Bridge dungeons passed away. His name was Jimmy Allan (or occasionally Allen), the gipsy piper, and he was one of the most notorious characters of our region's history.

He was known across the length and breadth of Britain, but there is a great deal of uncertainty about his life, as many legends surround his name.

It is believed that Jimmy was born near Rothbury, in Northumberland, in about 1733, and at some time during his early years, he was adopted by the Faa family. Also known as the Faws, they were a well-known gipsy clan in the Border region and lived at Kirk Yetholm, in Teviotdale, just across the border in Scotland.

Kirk Yetholm was the headquarters for the Border gipsies, and the Faws were one of the most important clans. Wull, or Will Faa, who adopted the young James, was regarded as the King of the Border gipsies, and it may have been he who taught Jimmy to play the Northumbrian pipes. Jimmy was playing the pipes from about the age of 14.

Skilled pipers could gain great acclaim in the Borders, where there were three classes of piper. Lowest in the social scale were the wandering or gipsy pipers, while higher up were town pipers, and higher still the appointed pipers who served particular dukes or noblemen. Jimmy was a particularly talented piper and would ultimately achieve the status of official piper to the Countess of Northumberland.

But at heart, Jimmy was always a wandering gipsy, and a notorious one at that.

Jimmy seems to have lived the life of a loveable rogue. He is believed to have had many lady friends, and often charmed them out of purse.

He may have left a number broken-hearted, and on at least one occasion, he committed bigamy. His other vices included drinking and gambling, and he often indulged in cattle and horse thieving to raise money for his deviant ways.

Regularly enlisting and then deserting from various armies was another way in which Jimmy found himself in trouble, and he was on the run for most of his life.

He is said to have travelled widely in Europe, where he entertained audiences with his pipes, and may have ventured as far as the Dutch East Indies.

Dublin and Edinburgh were claimed to be among his regular haunts, and here he would certainly have found audiences who would appreciate his traditional music.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to know the true events of Jimmy's life, but it is certain that his wandering ways were eventually brought to an end in 1803.

In that year, he stole a horse from Gateshead, then in the County of Durham, and was pursued north until he was captured at Jedburgh, in the Scottish Borders.

He was convicted at the Durham Assizes and sentenced to death. The only alternative was to accept transportation, ensuring he would never set foot in Britain ever again.

However, Jimmy escaped both punishments on account of his old age and poor health, but he was to live the rest of his life in the dungeon beneath Elvet Bridge, often suffering from illness in his later years.

Jimmy lived here until he passed away on the unlucky 13th of November, 1810, aged 77.

A pardon allowing for Jimmy's release had, in fact, just been granted by the Prince Regent, but unfortunately it did not arrive in Durham until shortly after Jimmy's death.

Today it is often claimed that Jimmy can still be heard playing his pipes in the dungeon beneath Elvet Bridge, making Jimmy arguably Durham's most famous ghost.

In 1997, strange happenings were reported from a coffee shop that stands above the dungeons.

These included a broken grandfather clock that suddenly chimed and an apparition of an old woman poking a fire. The dungeon where Jimmy resided has itself recently been converted into a pub bearing Jimmy's name, and there have also been reports of spooky activities in the bar.

On one occasion, shortly after the bar opened in December, the assistant manager reported a glass that was suddenly flung from a shelf for no reason. Perhaps it was Jimmy reaching for a final drink.

* If you have memories of Durham, including old photos or stories of people and places you would like to share with The Northern Echo, write to David Simpson, Durham Memories, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF. All photographs will be returned.

Published: 01/08/2003

If you have any memories of Durham City, Chester-le-Street, Derwentside or the Durham coast, including old photos or stories of people and places you would like to share with readers of The Northern Echo, write to David Simpson, Durham Memories, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF or email David.Simpson@nne.co.uk. All photos will be returned.