St Mary and St Cuthbert, Chester-le-Street
| St Mary and St Cuthbert | |
|---|---|
| Parish church of St Mary and St Cuthbert | |
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 St Mary and St Cuthbert
Location of church in County Durham
St Mary and St Cuthbert
Location of church in County Durham
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| Coordinates: 54°51′21″N 1°34′19″W / 54.855944°N 1.571972°W | |
| OS grid reference | NZ 274 513 |
| Location | Chester-le-Street, County Durham |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Previous denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | http://www.maryandcuthbert.org.uk/ |
| History | |
| Dedication | St Mary and St Cuthbert |
| Past bishop(s) | Bishop of Lindisfarne |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Durham |
| Clergy | |
| Rector | David Tully |
| Vicar(s) | Judith Ashurst |
| Curate(s) | Dan Christian, Danie Lindley |
The parish church of St Mary and St Cuthbert is a Church of England church in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England. The site has been used for worship for over 1100 years; elements of the current building are over 950 years old. The oldest surviving translation of the Gospels into English was done here, by Aldred between 947 and 968, at a time when it served as the centre of Christianity from Lothian to Teesside.
The church was established to house the body of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, Bishop of Lindisfarne from 684 to 687. After his death he became one of the most venerated saints of the time, with a significant cultus and the Venerable Bede writing both a verse and prose biography of him. So when driven out of Lindisfarne by Viking raids in 875 the monks took St Cuthbert's coffin along with other valuable items. They wandered for seven years before eventually settling at Chester-le-Street (then called Cunecaster or Conceastre), at the site of the old Roman fort of Concangis, in 883, on land granted to them by Guthred.
They built a wooden church and shrine for St Cuthbert's relics, dedicating it to St Mary and St Cuthbert. Though there was no shortage of stone in the ruins of Concangis they did not build a stone church; it has been suggested they did not intend to stay for as long as they eventually did. It was built within the Roman fort, which although abandoned over five hundred years before may have still offered some protection, as well as access north and south along Cade's Road and to the sea by the River Wear.
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