University of Durham.

At Durham degrees in music by examination were initiated in 1889. They were designed to meet the needs of professional musicians for a test of professional competence rather than an academic course. Whereas music degrees by examination at Oxford, Cambridge and London in the 19th century all required candidates to show competence also in other subjects such as classics and mathematics, Durham degrees demanded high musical ability but only general educational qualifications, and had no residential requirement. Exercises in original composition were required for both the B.Mus. and D.Mus., and later the M.Mus. These degrees proved popular with professional musicians, and by the inter-war period Durham music graduates probably outnumbered those of the other English universities put together.

From the guide to the University of Durham Music Exercises, 1891-1980, (Durham University Library, Archives and Special Collections)

The building of Durham castle was begun about 1072 by Waltheof, Earl of Northumberland. Over the centuries since then it has been rebuilt, altered and extended to adapt it to changing circumstances and uses, as fortress, bishop's palace and university college. Custody of the castle was given by William the Conqueror soon after its foundation to Walcher, Bishop of Durham, and it remained in the possession of successive bishops for over seven and a half centuries. To their spiritual responsibilities the bishops of Durham added administrative, judicial, and military responsibilities as rulers, on behalf of the crown, of the Palatinate of Durham, as that jurisdiction developed in the middle ages. In the post-medieval period the temporal responsibilities of the bishop of Durham as palatine lord gradually diminished, and his temporal jurisdiction was ended in 1836, when Durham became an ordinary county. The last of the prince bishops, William Van Mildert, was instrumental in founding the University of Durham in 1832, and in 1837 Durham Castle was given to the university, and became the home of its earliest college, University College. It continues to be used for this purpose.

From the guide to the Durham Castle Buildings Archive, ca. 1885-1951, predominantly 1924-1939, (Durham University Library, Archives and Special Collections)