[2] A medieval cross is believed to have stood in the area, presumably erected by, or named for, a member of the influential local Neville family, owners of the Honour of Brancepeth.

After pillaging much of Northern England the Scots were met at Neville's Cross by an army of Lancastrians, Yorkshiremen and Cumbrians led by the Archbishop of York.

The Scots were defeated by the smaller English army and David II was captured; he was freed on payment of a ransom eleven years later.

Neville's Cross became a wealthy residential suburb of Durham late in the 19th century as development extended up Crossgate.

Major growth followed the widening of the Darlington and Newcastle Roads around 1960 to create what is now the A167, bridging the main east coast railway line which had severed Neville's Cross from Crossgate Moor to the north.