Chester-le-Street

Chester-le-Street, a market-town in the county of Durham, near the left bank of the Wear, 6 miles N. of Durham city. The seat of the Bishop of Bernicia from 883 to 995, it has an old collegiate church (restored 1862), with a spire 156 feet high; whilst in the neighbourhood are Lampton, Lumley, and Ravensworth Castles, the seats of the Earls of Durham, Scarborough, and Ravensworth. Coal-mines and ironworks are numerous. Pop. of township (1851) 2580; (1891) 8623.