(postally but incorrectly 'Chester le Street') is the main town in the
Chester-le-Street District of
County Durham ,
England . It has a history going back to Roman times when it was called
Concangis . The town is located 8 miles 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 113 years before being transferred to
Durham Cathedral , and is the site of the first translation of the
Bible into
English .
The
Riverside Ground at Chester-le-Street is home to
Durham County Cricket Club which became a first class county in
1992 .The Riverside Ground is overlooked by
Lumley Castle an impressive fortified mansion house, which is currently used as a
Hotel , and has a golf course.
Famous sons of the town include former
England Football captain
Bryan Robson as well as
Football manager and former
England international,
Colin Todd .
Jock Purdon , the folk singer and poet, lived in the town for most of his life, although he was born in Scotland.
Bruce Welch of pop group
The Shadows was brought up in the town.
An old version of
Football was once played in the town. The game was played until 1932 between the "Upstreeters" and "Downstreeters". Play started at 1pm and finished at 6pm. To start the game, the ball was thrown from the Queen's Head hotel 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. The game was finally stopped in 1932, when a number of players were fined under the Highways Act for obstructing the highways and causing an annoyance to pedestrians!
Chester-le-Street is the home of
Durham County Cricket Club .
