Chester-le-Street

Chester-le-Street, is a market town on Wearside in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea at Sunderland to the east. The town holds markets on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. In 2011 it had a population of 24,227. The town's history is ancient, records go back to a Roman-built fort called Concangis. The 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, now the route called Front Street. The parish church of St Mary and St Cuthbert is where the body of Anglo-Saxon St Cuthbert remained for 112 years before being transferred to Durham Cathedral and site of the first Gospels translation into English, Aldred writing the Old English gloss between the lines of the Lindisfarne Gospels there. From 1894 until 2009, local government districts were governed from the town. From 1894 to 1974 it had a rural district, which covered the town and outlying villages. In 1909 the inner rural district formed an urban district, which covered the town as it was at that time. By 1974 the town expanded out of the urban district, during that year's reforms the urban and rural districts as well as other areas formed a non-metropolitan district. It was abolished in 2009 reforms when the non-metropolitan county became a unitary authority. History