Chester-le-Street
Encyclopedia
Chester-le-Street is a town in County Durham
, England
. It has a history going back to Roman times when it was called Concangis
. The town 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
was laid to rest for some 112 years before being transferred to Durham Cathedral
, and is 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.
It is 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.
use of the River Wear
near the town, but the history of Chester-le-Steet starts with the Roman fort of Concangis
. This was built alongside the Roman road Cade's Road
(now Front Street) and close to the River Wear, around 100 A.D., and was occupied till the Romans left Britain in 410 A.D. At the time the Wear was navigable to at least Concangis, and may also have provided food for the garrisons stationed there.
After the Romans left there is no record of who lived there (apart from some wounded soldiers from wars who had to live there), until 883 when a group of monks, driven out of Lindisfarne
seven years earlier, stopped there to build a wooden shrine and church to St Cuthbert, whose body they had borne with them. While they were there the town was the centre of Christianity for much of the northeast, because it was the seat of the Bishop of Lindisfarne, making the church a cathedral. There the monks translated into English the Lindisfarne Gospels, which they had brought with them. They stayed for 112 years, leaving in 995 for the safer and more permanent home at Durham
.
The church was rebuilt in stone in 1054, and despite the loss of its bishopric
seems to have retained a degree of wealth and influence. In 1080 most of the huts in the town were burned and many people killed in retaliation for the death of William Walcher
, the first Prince-Bishop
, at the hands of an English mob. After this devastation wrought by the Normans
the region was left out of the Domesday Book
; there was little left to record, and the region was by then being run from Durham by the Prince-Bishops so held little interest for London.
Cade's Road did not fall out of use but was hidden beneath later roads which became the Great North Road, the main route from London
and the south to Newcastle
and Edinburgh
. The town's location on the road played a significant role in its development, as well as its name, as inns sprung up to cater for the travelling trade: both riders and horses needed to rest on journeys usually taking days to complete. This trade reached a peak in the early 19th century as more and more people and new mail services travelled by stagecoach
, before falling off with the coming of the railways. The town was bypassed when the A167 was routed around the town, and this was later supplanted by the faster A1(M).
The coal
industry also left its mark on the town. From the late 17th century onwards coal was dug in increasing quantities in the region. Mining was centred around the rivers, for transportation by sea to other parts of the country, and Chester-le-Street was at the centre of the coal being dug and shipped away down the Wear, so a centre of coal related communication and commerce. At the same time the growth of the mines and the influx of miners supported local businesses, not just the many inns but new shops and services, themselves bringing in more people to work in them. These people would later work in new industries established in the town to take advantage of its good communications and access to raw materials.
One of the most tragic episodes in the town's history and that of the coal industry in NE England occurred during a miners' strike during the winter of 1811/12. Collieries owned by the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral were brought to a standstill by the strike, causing much hardship amongst the people of the town. The strike was broken on New Year's Day, 1st January 1812, when the Bishop of Durham, Shute Barrington
, sent a detachment of troops from Durham Castle to force a return to work. It is thought that this uncharacteristic act by Barrington was due to pressure from the national government in Westminster who were concerned that the strike was affecting industrial output of essential armaments for the Napoleonic Wars
.
stopped at the town centre after their first day's walk. The church hall was used to house them before they continued onward the following day.
. The precise name is uncertain as it does not appear in Roman records, but Concangis is the name most used today.
In Anglo-Saxon times the settlement was called Cuneceastra or Conceastre, the name of the burn combined with the English word for a Roman fort. This shortened over time to Chester, the name used locally for the town, or Cestria in Latin
.For example the old bell in St Mary and St Cuthbert is inscribed in Latin But "Chester" is a common name for towns in England, and in the Middle Ages "Street", for the Roman road, was added. The Universal etymological English dictionary of 1749 gives the town as "Chester upon Street" (and describes it as "a Village in the Bishoprick of Durham"). At some point this was shortened to the modern form.
s. To the east of the town the Riverside cricket ground and Riverside park were built on the flood plains of the River Wear, and are often flooded when the river bursts its banks.
The town centre is subject to occasional flash flooding, usually after very heavy rain over the town and surrounding areas, if the rain falls too quickly for it to be drained away by Cong Burn. The flooding occurs at the bottom of Front Street where the Cong Burn passes under the street, after it was enclosed in concrete in 1932.
Daniel Defoe
echoed the sentiment.
, an extreme form of hermit. His or her walled-up cell had only a slit to observe the altar and an opening for food, while outside was an open grave for when the occupant died. It was occupied by six anchorites from 1383 to c. 1538, and is now a museum known as the Anker's House.
The north aisle is occupied by a line of Lumley family effigies, only five genuine, assembled c. 1590. Some have been chopped-off to fit and resemble a casualty station at Agincourt, according to Sir Simon Jenkins in his England's Thousand Best Churches. It is Chester-le-Street's only Grade I listed building.
, to enable trains to travel at high speed on a more direct route between Newcastle and Durham. It is over 230m long with 11 arches, now spanning a road and supermarket car-park, and is a Grade II listed building.
on Low Chare, just off the main Front Street, was built in 1814 as the Bethel Congregational Chapel
and remodelled in 1860. It is still in use and is a Grade II listed building.
at Chester-le-Street is home to Durham County Cricket Club
which became a first class county in 1992.
The town also has its own cricket club, Chester-le-Street Cricket Club based at the Ropery Lane
ground. They are the current Champions of the North East Premier League, won the national ECB 45 over tournament in 2009 and reached the quarter final of the national 20/20 club championship in 2009.
between the "Upstreeters" and "Downstreeters". Play started at 1pm and finished at 6pm. To start the game, the ball was thrown from a window in the centre of the town and in one game more than 400 players took part. The centre of the street was the dividing line and the winner was the side where the ball was (Up or Down) at 6pm. It was played from the Middle Ages until 1932, when it was outlawed by the police and people trying to carry on the tradition were arrested. Football support today is largely divided between Sunderland and Newcastle United.
to Edinburgh
. A bypass was built in the 1950s, which still exists today as the A167
. The bypass road itself was partly bypassed by, and partly incorporated in, the A1(M) motorway in the 1970s.
The northern end of Front Street used to be the start of the A6127, which is the road that would continue through Birtley
, Gateshead
, and eventually over the Tyne Bridge
and become the A6127(M) central motorway in Newcastle upon Tyne
. However, when the Gateshead-Newcastle Western Bypass of the A1(M) was opened, many roads in this area were renumbered, following the convention that roads originating between single digit A roads take their first digit from the single digit A road in an anticlockwise direction from their point of origin, and Newcastle Road, which was formerly designated A1, is now unclassified. The A6127 was renamed the A167
.
Car traffic is now banned from the northern part of Front Street and it is restricted to buses, cyclists and delivery vehicles for the shops.
Chester-le-Street railway station
, on the East Coast Main Line
of the National Rail
network, between Newcastle and Durham, opened in 1868. It offers local connections and cross-country train services. , train operators serving the station are CrossCountry
, First TransPennine Express
and Northern Rail
. A local independent company, Chester-le-Track, has operated the station since 1999, as an agent for Northern Spirit
, Arriva Trains Northern
and Northern Rail.
, and the company still operates from the Picktree Lane Depot. It also pioneered the use of Minilink bus services in the North East in 1985
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It has a history going back to Roman times when it was called Concangis
Concangis
Concangis was an auxiliary castra close to Dere Street, in the Roman province of Britannia Inferior . Its foundations are located at Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England...
. The town is located 7 miles (11 km) south of Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
and 8 miles (13 km) west of Sunderland on the River Wear
River Wear
The River Wear is located in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea at Sunderland.-Geology and history:...
. The Parish Church of St Mary and St Cuthbert is where the body of St Cuthbert
Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
Saint Cuthbert was an Anglo-Saxon monk, bishop and hermit associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Northumbria, at that time including, in modern terms, northern England as well as south-eastern Scotland as far as the Firth of Forth...
was laid to rest for some 112 years before being transferred to Durham Cathedral
Durham Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham is a cathedral in the city of Durham, England, the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Durham. The Bishopric dates from 995, with the present cathedral being founded in AD 1093...
, and is the site of the first translation of the Gospels into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Aldred
Aldred the Scribe
Aldred the Scribe is the name by which scholars identify a tenth-century priest, otherwise known only as Aldred, who was a provost of the monastic community of St. Cuthbert at Chester-le-Street in 970....
writing the Old English gloss
Gloss
A gloss is a brief notation of the meaning of a word or wording in a text. It may be in the language of the text, or in the reader's language if that is different....
between the lines of the Lindisfarne Gospels
Lindisfarne Gospels
The Lindisfarne Gospels is an illuminated Latin manuscript of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the British Library...
there.
It is a market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
; markets are held on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Until 2009 the town had its own local government district
Chester-le-Street (district)
Chester-le-Street was a local government district in County Durham, England. Its council was based in Chester-le-Street. Other places in the district included Great Lumley and Sacriston.- Formation :...
. 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
2009 structural changes to local government in England
Structural changes to local government in England were effected on 1 April 2009, whereby a number of new unitary authorities were created in parts of the country which previously operated a 'two-tier' system of counties and districts...
, a move that was controversial at the time.
History
There is evidence of Iron AgeIron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
use of the River Wear
River Wear
The River Wear is located in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea at Sunderland.-Geology and history:...
near the town, but the history of Chester-le-Steet starts with the Roman fort of Concangis
Concangis
Concangis was an auxiliary castra close to Dere Street, in the Roman province of Britannia Inferior . Its foundations are located at Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England...
. This was built alongside the Roman road Cade's Road
Cade's Road
Cade's Road is a postulated Roman Road in north-east England. It is named after John Cade of Durham, an 18th century antiquarian who in 1785 proposed its existence and possible course from the Humber Estuary northwards to the River Tyne, a distance of about a hundred miles...
(now Front Street) and close to the River Wear, around 100 A.D., and was occupied till the Romans left Britain in 410 A.D. At the time the Wear was navigable to at least Concangis, and may also have provided food for the garrisons stationed there.
After the Romans left there is no record of who lived there (apart from some wounded soldiers from wars who had to live there), until 883 when a group of monks, driven out of Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England. It is also known as Holy Island and constitutes a civil parish in Northumberland...
seven years earlier, stopped there to build a wooden shrine and church to St Cuthbert, whose body they had borne with them. While they were there the town was the centre of Christianity for much of the northeast, because it was the seat of the Bishop of Lindisfarne, making the church a cathedral. There the monks translated into English the Lindisfarne Gospels, which they had brought with them. They stayed for 112 years, leaving in 995 for the safer and more permanent home at Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
.
The church was rebuilt in stone in 1054, and despite the loss of its bishopric
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
seems to have retained a degree of wealth and influence. In 1080 most of the huts in the town were burned and many people killed in retaliation for the death of William Walcher
William Walcher
William Walcher was the bishop of Durham from 1071, a Lotharingian, the first non-Englishman to hold that see and an appointee of William the Conqueror....
, the first Prince-Bishop
Prince-Bishop
A Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent titles of nobility held concurrently with their inherent clerical office...
, at the hands of an English mob. After this devastation wrought by the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
the region was left out of the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
; there was little left to record, and the region was by then being run from Durham by the Prince-Bishops so held little interest for London.
Cade's Road did not fall out of use but was hidden beneath later roads which became the Great North Road, the main route from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and the south to Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
and Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. The town's location on the road played a significant role in its development, as well as its name, as inns sprung up to cater for the travelling trade: both riders and horses needed to rest on journeys usually taking days to complete. This trade reached a peak in the early 19th century as more and more people and new mail services travelled by stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
, before falling off with the coming of the railways. The town was bypassed when the A167 was routed around the town, and this was later supplanted by the faster A1(M).
The coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
industry also left its mark on the town. From the late 17th century onwards coal was dug in increasing quantities in the region. Mining was centred around the rivers, for transportation by sea to other parts of the country, and Chester-le-Street was at the centre of the coal being dug and shipped away down the Wear, so a centre of coal related communication and commerce. At the same time the growth of the mines and the influx of miners supported local businesses, not just the many inns but new shops and services, themselves bringing in more people to work in them. These people would later work in new industries established in the town to take advantage of its good communications and access to raw materials.
One of the most tragic episodes in the town's history and that of the coal industry in NE England occurred during a miners' strike during the winter of 1811/12. Collieries owned by the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral were brought to a standstill by the strike, causing much hardship amongst the people of the town. The strike was broken on New Year's Day, 1st January 1812, when the Bishop of Durham, Shute Barrington
Shute Barrington
Shute Barrington was an English churchman, Bishop of Llandaff in Wales, as well as Bishop of Salisbury and Bishop of Durham in England.-Life:...
, sent a detachment of troops from Durham Castle to force a return to work. It is thought that this uncharacteristic act by Barrington was due to pressure from the national government in Westminster who were concerned that the strike was affecting industrial output of essential armaments for the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
.
The Jarrow March
On the evening of 5 October 1936 the Jarrow marchersJarrow March
The Jarrow March , was an October 1936 protest march against unemployment and extreme poverty suffered in North East England. The 207 marchers travelled from the town of Jarrow to the Palace of Westminster in London, a distance of almost , to lobby Parliament...
stopped at the town centre after their first day's walk. The church hall was used to house them before they continued onward the following day.
Etymology
The Romans called their fort Concangis or Concagium, a Latinisation of the Celtic name for the area, "Place of the horse people", which also gave name to the waterway through the town, Cong BurnCong Burn
The Cong Burn is a small river in County Durham, England. It has its origin in a number of streams, among them Wheatley Green Burn, that rise on the southern and eastern slopes of Wheatley Hill, north of the village of Burnhope, and other streams, principally Whiteside Burn, that have their source...
. The precise name is uncertain as it does not appear in Roman records, but Concangis is the name most used today.
In Anglo-Saxon times the settlement was called Cuneceastra or Conceastre, the name of the burn combined with the English word for a Roman fort. This shortened over time to Chester, the name used locally for the town, or Cestria in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
.For example the old bell in St Mary and St Cuthbert is inscribed in Latin But "Chester" is a common name for towns in England, and in the Middle Ages "Street", for the Roman road, was added. The Universal etymological English dictionary of 1749 gives the town as "Chester upon Street" (and describes it as "a Village in the Bishoprick of Durham"). At some point this was shortened to the modern form.
Climate
The town has a mild climate and gets well below average rainfall relative to the UK. It does though experience occasional floodFlood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
s. To the east of the town the Riverside cricket ground and Riverside park were built on the flood plains of the River Wear, and are often flooded when the river bursts its banks.
The town centre is subject to occasional flash flooding, usually after very heavy rain over the town and surrounding areas, if the rain falls too quickly for it to be drained away by Cong Burn. The flooding occurs at the bottom of Front Street where the Cong Burn passes under the street, after it was enclosed in concrete in 1932.
Landmarks
John Leland described Chester-le-Street in the 1530s as: 'Chiefly one main street of very mean building in height.'Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
echoed the sentiment.
St Mary and St Cuthbert church
St Mary and St Cuthbert church possesses a rare surviving anchorage, one of the best-preserved in the country. It was built for an anchoriteAnchorite
Anchorite denotes someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, and—circumstances permitting—Eucharist-focused life...
, an extreme form of hermit. His or her walled-up cell had only a slit to observe the altar and an opening for food, while outside was an open grave for when the occupant died. It was occupied by six anchorites from 1383 to c. 1538, and is now a museum known as the Anker's House.
The north aisle is occupied by a line of Lumley family effigies, only five genuine, assembled c. 1590. Some have been chopped-off to fit and resemble a casualty station at Agincourt, according to Sir Simon Jenkins in his England's Thousand Best Churches. It is Chester-le-Street's only Grade I listed building.
Chester Burn viaduct
The viaduct to the northwest of the town centre was completed in 1868 for the North Eastern RailwayNorth Eastern Railway (UK)
The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...
, to enable trains to travel at high speed on a more direct route between Newcastle and Durham. It is over 230m long with 11 arches, now spanning a road and supermarket car-park, and is a Grade II listed building.
Bethel United Reform church
The small United ReformUnited Reform
The United Reform Movement or United Reform was an attempt in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, to create a left wing farmer-labour coalition....
on Low Chare, just off the main Front Street, was built in 1814 as the Bethel Congregational Chapel
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
and remodelled in 1860. It is still in use and is a Grade II listed building.
The Queens Head Hotel
The Queens Head Hotel, in a central location on Front Street, was built over 250 years ago when this road was the main route from Edinburgh and Newcastle to the south and London. It is set back from the street and is still one of the largest buildings in the street and so the town centre, and is a Grade II listed building.Cricket
The Riverside GroundRiverside Ground
The Riverside Ground, officially called the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground, is a cricket venue in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England. It is home to Durham County Cricket Club....
at Chester-le-Street is home to Durham County Cricket Club
Durham County Cricket Club
Durham County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Durham. Its limited overs team is called the Durham Dynamos. Their kit colours are blue with yellow trim and the shirt sponsor was...
which became a first class county in 1992.
The town also has its own cricket club, Chester-le-Street Cricket Club based at the Ropery Lane
Ropery Lane
Ropery Lane is a cricket ground in Chester-le-Street, England round the corner from The Riverside Ground. Prior to Durham gaining first-class status in 1992, Durham played six Gillette Cup/Natwest Trophy matches there, while Minor Counties North also used the ground for a Benson & Hedges Cup game...
ground. They are the current Champions of the North East Premier League, won the national ECB 45 over tournament in 2009 and reached the quarter final of the national 20/20 club championship in 2009.
Rowing
Chester-le-Street rowing club is based on the River Wear near the Riverside Cricket ground.Early football
Medieval football was once played in the town. The game was played annually on Shrove TuesdayShrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is a term used in English-speaking countries, especially in Ireland, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Germany, and parts of the United States for the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of the season of fasting and prayer called Lent.The...
between the "Upstreeters" and "Downstreeters". Play started at 1pm and finished at 6pm. To start the game, the ball was thrown from a window in the centre of the town and in one game more than 400 players took part. The centre of the street was the dividing line and the winner was the side where the ball was (Up or Down) at 6pm. It was played from the Middle Ages until 1932, when it was outlawed by the police and people trying to carry on the tradition were arrested. Football support today is largely divided between Sunderland and Newcastle United.
Road
At the time of the football matches 'Front Street' was actually the A1 road from LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. A bypass was built in the 1950s, which still exists today as the A167
A167 road
The A167 is a road in North East England. Most of its route was formerly the A1 as most of it is the original route of the Great North Road until the A1 was re-routed with the opening of the A1 in the 1960s....
. The bypass road itself was partly bypassed by, and partly incorporated in, the A1(M) motorway in the 1970s.
The northern end of Front Street used to be the start of the A6127, which is the road that would continue through Birtley
Birtley, Tyne and Wear
Birtley is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, in Tyne and Wear, England. It is situated to the south of Gateshead town and is physically linked to Chester-le-Street across the County boundary in County Durham. Until 1974, Birtley and the adjoining areas of Barley Mow, Vigo and...
, Gateshead
Gateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
, and eventually over the Tyne Bridge
Tyne Bridge
The Tyne Bridge is a through arch bridge over the River Tyne in North East England, linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. It was designed by the engineering firm Mott, Hay and Anderson, who later designed the Forth Road Bridge, and was built by Dorman Long and Co. of Middlesbrough. At the time...
and become the A6127(M) central motorway in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. However, when the Gateshead-Newcastle Western Bypass of the A1(M) was opened, many roads in this area were renumbered, following the convention that roads originating between single digit A roads take their first digit from the single digit A road in an anticlockwise direction from their point of origin, and Newcastle Road, which was formerly designated A1, is now unclassified. The A6127 was renamed the A167
A167 road
The A167 is a road in North East England. Most of its route was formerly the A1 as most of it is the original route of the Great North Road until the A1 was re-routed with the opening of the A1 in the 1960s....
.
Car traffic is now banned from the northern part of Front Street and it is restricted to buses, cyclists and delivery vehicles for the shops.
Rail
Chester-le-Street railway station
Chester-le-Street railway station serves the town of Chester-le-Street in County Durham, England. The station is on the East Coast Main Line south of Newcastle upon Tyne...
, on the East Coast Main Line
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
of the National Rail
National Rail
National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...
network, between Newcastle and Durham, opened in 1868. It offers local connections and cross-country train services. , train operators serving the station are CrossCountry
CrossCountry
CrossCountry is the brand name of XC Trains Ltd., a British train operating company owned by Arriva...
, First TransPennine Express
First TransPennine Express
First TransPennine Express is a British train operating company. It is a joint operation between First Group and Keolis . It operates regular passenger services in northern England, including services linking the west and east coasts across the Pennines...
and Northern Rail
Northern Rail
Northern Rail is a British train operating company that has operated local passenger services in Northern England since 2004. Northern Rail's owner, Serco-Abellio, is a consortium formed of Abellio and Serco, an international operator of public transport systems...
. A local independent company, Chester-le-Track, has operated the station since 1999, as an agent for Northern Spirit
Northern Spirit
This article is about the railway company Northern Spirit. For the Australian football club of the same name, see Northern Spirit FC.Northern Spirit was a UK train operating company which ran local and regional train services in the north east of England during the late 1990s.-Operations:Created...
, Arriva Trains Northern
Arriva Trains Northern
Arriva Trains Northern was a train operating company that operated passenger trains in Yorkshire and the North East of England. The company had previously been known as Northern Spirit before being taken over by Arriva....
and Northern Rail.
Bus
The town is the original home of The Northern General Bus Company, nowadays Go North EastGo North East
Go North East is the largest operator of bus services in North East England, United Kingdom. Go North East operates services in the counties of Tyne and Wear, County Durham and Northumberland...
, and the company still operates from the Picktree Lane Depot. It also pioneered the use of Minilink bus services in the North East in 1985
Primary schools
- Bullion Lane Primary School
- Cestria Primary School
- Chester-le-Street CE (Controlled) Junior School
- Newker Primary School
- Red Rose Primary School
- South Pelaw Infant School
- St Cuthbert's RCVA Primary School
Notable people
- Former EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
footballFootball (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
captain Bryan RobsonBryan RobsonBryan Robson OBE is an English football manager and a former player. He is best known for playing in midfield for Manchester United, where he was the longest serving captain in club history. He was the manager of Sheffield United, being relieved of his first team duties at the club in February 2008...
and his footballing brothers Justin (Newcastle United and Gateshead) and GaryGary Robson (footballer)Gary Robson is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, he played in the Football League between 1982 and 1996 for West Bromwich Albion and Bradford City, making nearly 300 league appearances.Robson later played non-league...
(West BromwichWest Bromwich Albion F.C.West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
). - Football manager and former EnglandEngland national football teamThe England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
international player Colin ToddColin ToddColin Todd is an English football manager and former player. As a player, he made more than 600 appearances in the Football League, playing for Sunderland, Derby County, Everton, Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Oxford United and Luton Town, and also played in the North American Soccer League...
. - Swansea City's Danny GrahamDanny Graham (footballer)Daniel Anthony William "Danny" Graham is an English footballer who plays for Premier League side Swansea City as a striker. He started his professional career at Middlesbrough in 2003, making his debut for the club in a Premier League match against Manchester United the following year...
. - Leicester City's Steve HowardSteve HowardSteven John "Steve" Howard is a Scottish-English footballer currently playing for Championship side Leicester City.Howard is renowned for his aerial strength...
. - SunderlandSunderland A.F.C.Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
's Grant LeadbitterGrant LeadbitterGrant Leadbitter is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Football League Championship club Ipswich Town. He played for Sunderland from 2003 until 2009 after rising as a product from the team's Youth Academy...
. - ChelseaChelsea F.C.Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
's Carl MagnayCarl MagnayCarl Magnay is a professional football defender who plays for Chelsea. Due to having Northern Irish grandparents, English-born Magnay is eligible to represent Northern Ireland...
. - HartlepoolHartlepool United F.C.Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season...
's Michael BarronMichael BarronMichael “Mickey” Barron was a professional footballer after his retirement in 2008.Micky Barron started his career at Middlesbrough. Despite spending 4 years at the club, Barron only made 3 appearances and found his chances of breaking into the first team limited...
. - HartlepoolHartlepool United F.C.Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season...
's Michael MackayMichael MackayMichael Mackay is a professional footballer.He made the move to Durham City from Birtley Town where he found the net prolifically scoring 29 goals in his first season...
. - Stockport County F.C.Stockport County F.C.Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...
and Wrexham F.C. footballer Peter Ward. - Jock PurdonJock PurdonJock Purdon , a poet and songwriter, was born George Purdon in the village of Nitshill near Glasgow. Although Nitshill had been a coal mining village, the mine had closed before Purdon grew up and it was a strange twist of fate that saw him spend most of his life as a coal miner in a pit in...
, the folk singer and poet, lived here for most of his life although born in Scotland. - Bruce WelchBruce WelchBruce Welch OBE, is an English guitarist, songwriter, producer and singer, best known as a member of The Shadows.-Biography:...
of pop group The ShadowsThe ShadowsThe Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...
was brought up here. - Gavin SutherlandGavin Sutherland (conductor)Gavin Sutherland is a conductor, composer/arranger and pianist.Born in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England, he studied conducting, piano and orchestration at Huddersfield University and graduated with first-class honours, as well as gaining the Kruczynski Prize for Piano and the Davidson...
, the conductor and pianist, was born and brought up here. - Aidan ChambersAidan ChambersAidan Chambers is an award-winning British writer of novels for children and young adults.- Life and work :Born near Chester-le-Street, County Durham in 1934, Chambers was an only child, and a poor scholar; considered "slow" by his teachers, he did not learn to read fluently until the age of nine...
children's author, Carnegie Medal and Hans Christian Andersen Award winner, was born in here. - Paul CollingwoodPaul CollingwoodPaul David Collingwood MBE is an English cricketer. He has been a regular member of the England Test side, was captain of the One Day International team 2007–2008. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting...
, England cricketer and former one-day international captain plays for Durham CCC and lives here. - Jennifer Clark, Big Brother 9 contestant.
- Ross PearsonRoss PearsonRoss Pearson is an English professional mixed martial artist from Sunderland. He is the lightweight division winner of The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom and is a member of Team Rough House.-Background:...
, UFC fighter, winner of The Ultimate Fighter 9 competition in 2009. - Kevin "Geordie" WalkerGeordie WalkerKevin "Geordie" Walker is a rock musician, best known as the guitarist from the post-punk group Killing Joke.-Life and career:...
, guitarist of post-punk group Killing JokeKilling JokeKilling Joke are an English post-punk band formed in October 1978 in Notting Hill, London, England; other sources report the band formed in early 1979.Related news articles: Founding members Jaz Coleman and Geordie Walker have been the only constant members.A key influence on industrial rock,...
External links
- Chester-le-Live community website
- Cestria Primary School
- Chester-le-Street CE(Controlled) Junior
- Chester-le-Street Heritage Group local history society
- Chester-le-Street Railway Station
- Chester-le-Street Scout District
- Chester-le-Street shops
- Chester-le-Street Town Football Club
- Concangis Roman fort or castra
- Durham County Cricket Club
- The Hermitage School
- Newker Primary
- Parish Church of St Mary and St Cuthbert
- Parkview Community School
- Red Rose Primary School
- St Cuthberts RC Primary