Chester-le-Street | |
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Front Street |
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Chester-le-Street shown within County Durham | |
Population | 23,946 (2001) |
OS grid reference | NZ270512 |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | CHESTER LE STREET |
Postcode district | DH2, DH3 |
Dialling code | 0191 |
Police | Durham |
Fire | County Durham and Darlington |
Ambulance | North East |
EU Parliament | North East England |
UK Parliament | |
Chester-le-Street (/ˈtʃɛstər li ˈstriːt/) is a town in County Durham, England. Its history goes back to the building of a Roman fort called Concangis. This Roman fort is the "Chester" (from the Latin castra) of the town's name; the "Street" refers to the paved Roman road that ran north–south through the town, and which is now called Front Street (shown at right).
Chester-le-Street is located 7 miles (11 km) south of Newcastle upon Tyne and 8 miles (13 km) west of Sunderland on the River Wear. The parish church of St Mary and St Cuthbert is where the body of St Cuthbert remained for 112 years before being transferred to Durham Cathedral, and the site of the first translation of the Gospels into English, Aldred writing the Old English gloss between the lines of the Lindisfarne Gospels there.
A market town, markets are held on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Until 2009 the town had its own local government district. This was formed by the amalgamation in 1974 of the former Chester-le-Street Urban and Rural Districts. It was abolished in 2009 when Durham became a unitary authority as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, a move that was controversial at the time.