Chester-le-Street

town in County Durham

Chester-le-Street [2][3] is an ancient town in the northeast of England. It is in County Durham. Where it stands was a Roman fort called Concangis. This is the 'Chester' (from the Latin castra) of the town's name. 'Street' refers to the paved Roman road that ran north-south through the town. It is now called Front Street (shown at right).

Chester-le-Street

Front Street
Population23,946 (2001)[1]
OS grid referenceNZ270512
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCHESTER LE STREET
Postcode districtDH2, DH3
Dialling code0191
PoliceDurham
FireCounty Durham and Darlington
AmbulanceNorth East
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
County Durham

Chester-le-Street is 7 miles (11 km) south of Newcastle upon Tyne and 8 miles (13 km) west of Sunderland. It is on the River Wear.

Church change

The parish church of St Mary and St Cuthbert is where the body of St Cuthbert lay for 112 years. Then it was taken to Durham Cathedral. The church is the site of the first translation of the Gospels into English. There Aldred wrote the Old English gloss between the lines of the Lindisfarne Gospels.[4]

Markets change

This place is a market town.[5] Markets are held on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Until 2009 the town had its own local government district. The status of the town has been changed several times by local government regulations.[6][7] The changes were controversial at the time.[8][9]

References change

  1. Durham County Council – Chester le Street Archived 2007-10-10 at the Wayback Machine (this is the population for the old urban district. The larger district population is 53,100)
  2. It is pronounced as all one word: "Chesterlystreet" or sometimes "Cheslystreet".
  3. Forvo Team. "Chester-le-Street pronunciation: How to pronounce Chester-le-Street in English". forvo.com.
  4. Selkirk, Raymond 2000. Chester-le-Street & its place in history. Birtley, County Durham: Casdec Print & Design Centre, 339/40. ISBN 1-900456-05-2
  5. "Towns in County Durham: Chester-le-Street". Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
  6. "Unitary authority for County Durham confirmed". Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  7. "Durham unitary authority approved". BBC News. 25 July 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  8. "Public misled over unitary authority support – claim". Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  9. "Thumbs down for unitary authority". BBC News. 19 June 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2009.