In March 1747, Durell entered Pembroke College, Oxford and graduated B.A.
He held concurrently with his principalship a vicarage in Sussex and (from 13 January 1767) a canonry in Canterbury Cathedral.
On Tuesday 8 October 1765, Durell was invested as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford.
His tenure is notable for the expulsion of six students from St Edmund Hall for holding unauthorized prayer meetings.
In the 1760s and 1770s he variously and extensively commented on, translated, and edited parts of the Scriptures which treated of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and the Books of Job, Proverbs, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes, and the Canticles.