Facilities
Where are we?
Darlington Register Office is located at Backhouse Hall, Bull Wynd, Darlington, DL1 5RG
Both the ceremony and office entrances are located on the corner of Bull Wynd and Houndgate. Bull Wynd is a narrow street accessible either from Houndgate or from the Market Square next to the Citizens Advice Bureau.
The nearest pay and display car parking is at either the Town Hall Car Park or Beaumont Street Car Park (Car Parking in the Town Centre pages). Car Parking facilities for ceremonies will be explained to you as part of your ceremony booking.
Do I need an appointment?
We do operate an appointment system for the registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships and Civil Ceremonies. For further information please contact the register office on 01325 346604.
For all other services including the issue of historic certificates please contact the office for further details.
What are our facilities?
Our Office facilities (for all services except ceremonies) are accessed by the entrance on the corner of the building at Bull Wynd and Houndgate.
The majority of our services can be accessed from here including:
- Registering a Birth or Death
- Giving Notice of Marriage or Civil Partnership
- Issuing of Certificates
- Citizenship Cermonies
- Naming Ceremonies
- Renewal of Vows Ceremonies
- Commitment Ceremonies
- Civil Funeral Ceremonies
Our reception area includes a family history area where you can access our database of indexes of births, deaths and marriages in the Darlington District going back to 1837.
What are our ceremony facilities?
The ceremony and day to day office accommodation are have separate entrances and the ceremony suite is in a historic entrance to the building, located half way along Bull Wynd (which is a grade two listed Victorian façade and the entrance being a former Mechanics Institute)
The ceremony suite comprises:
- Pease Suite – this is the main ceremony room accommodating up to 80 guests.
- Stephenson Suite – this is a smaller ceremony room accommodating up to 40 guests.
- Central Hall – part of the Dolphin Centre, we have access to this facility which can be used for larger ceremonies.
Our facilities include: a separate waiting room for a bride and bridal party to ensure privacy from the groom and guests; access to the Dolphin Centre Bar for the groom and guests to have a pre ceremony drink and dedicated parking for the Bride’s car and nearby pay and display parking for guests.
The building looks onto Pease House, its garden and a Victorian fountain which are often used by couples for photographs after the ceremony although nearby South Park is also a popular choice for post ceremony photographs.
Backhouse Hall ceremony information [pdf document]
If you wish to book our facilities for a ceremony or if you have any further queries, please contact the Superintendent Registrar on 01325 346604 or email registeroffice@darlington.gov.uk.