The village proper sits at the intersection of the A694, which runs from Consett to Swalwell, and the B6309, which connects the A696 north of Belsay and runs through Whittonstall and Newlands, across the River Derwent (forming a border between County Durham and Northumberland), up Chare Bank then through Ebchester itself then past Medomsley into the A691 immediately south of the village of Leadgate.

Chopwell and Blackhall Mill lie to the north, on the opposite side of the River Derwent.

There have been some attempts to identify the first element with a Roman place name but on the available evidence it is safest to regard it as coming from an Old English personal name Ebba, thus 'Ebba's fortification'.

Æbbe founded monasteries at Ebchester and St Abb's Head, near Coldingham, in Scotland.

[2] It is thought that the church of St Ebba was originally a monastery founded about this time by Æbbe of Coldingham, the daughter of Æthelfrith, the first king of Northumbria.

[3] Consequently, there are no remains of this date, and the present church was mainly built in the early 11th century, using stone re-used from the Roman fort.

The parish church is dedicated to St. Ebba, being of partly Norman construction with a foundation, described as being pre-Conquest.

Much of the stone in the walls and doorway had been taken from Roman rubble of the fort of Vindomora, on which most of the village is located.

[4][5] Until the creation of the separate parish of Shotley Bridge in the 19th century, many people from there were christened, married and buried in St Ebba's Church.

Ebchester Hall (an 18th-century house with 19th century additions) is now St Mary's Convent and old people's home served by the Order of the Good and Perpetual Succour.

The remains of several post-medieval buildings still survive, such as Demesne Farm and West Law and the large St Mary's Convent, formerly called Ebchester Hall.

The house was full of guests paying their last respects and the body lay in a coffin in the front room.

There is just one tier of local government covering Ebchester, the unitary authority of Durham County Council.