An Old English translation of the Gospels was made in the 10th century: a word-for-word gloss of the Latin Vulgate text, inserted between the lines by Aldred the Scribe, who was Provost of Chester-le-Street.

[12][nb 1] 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").

[19] After the Romans left, there is no record of who lived 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.

In 1080, most of the huts in the town were burned and many people killed in retaliation for the death of Walcher, the first prince-bishop, at the hands of an English mob.

The town's location on the road played a significant role in its development, as well as its name, as inns sprang up to cater for the travelling trade.

This trade reached a peak in the early 19th century as more people and new mail services were carried by stagecoach, before declining as railways became more popular.

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.

The viaduct to the northwest of the town centre was completed in 1868 for the North Eastern Railway, to enable trains to travel at high speed on a more direct route between Newcastle and Durham.

It was built over 250 years ago when Front Street formed part of the main route from Edinburgh and Newcastle to London and the south of England.

It opened in 1936 and is unusual in that it is one of a handful[32] of post offices that display the royal cypher from the brief reign of Edward VIII.

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.

[35] The small United Reformed Church on Low Chare, just off the main Front Street, was built in 1814 as the Bethel Congregational Chapel and remodelled in 1860.

[37][38] Chester-le-Street Amateur Rowing Club is based on the River Wear near the Riverside cricket ground and has been there for over 100 years.

who were founded in 1972 and compete in the Northern Football League Division Two and based just outside Chester-le-street in Chester Moor.

Chester-le-Street railway station is a stop on the East Coast Main Line of the National Rail network between Newcastle and Durham; it opened in 1868.

The town is mentioned in the 1963 song "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann:No churns, no porter, no cat on a seat, At Chorlton-cum-Hardy or Chester-le-Street.

[45] The town is the original home of The Northern General Transport Company, which has since grown into Go North East; it operated from the Picktree Lane Depot until 2023 when it was demolished.

Car traffic is now banned from the northern part of Front Street and it is restricted to buses, cyclists and delivery vehicles.

Hac campana data Cuthbertus sic cocitataMaster Robert Ashburn, Dean of the fort, made me.