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Lanchester is a village and
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in
County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
, England, west of Durham and from
Consett Consett is a town in the County Durham (district), County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of County Durham, Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in ...
. It had a population at the 2011 Census of 4,054. Although there was a small
drift mine Drift mining is either the mining of an ore deposit by Underground mining (hard rock), underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. A drift mine is an underground mine in whic ...
on the edge of the village which closed in the 1970s, Lanchester's economy was mainly based on agriculture. It is now a residential village in which a number of housing estates have been developed since the late 1960s.


Etymology

Lanchester was first known by the name '' Longovicium'' in the 2nd century AD, which is derived from
Common Brittonic Common Brittonic (; ; ), also known as British, Common Brythonic, or Proto-Brittonic, is a Celtic language historically spoken in Britain and Brittany from which evolved the later and modern Brittonic languages. It is a form of Insular Cel ...
''longo-'' ("ship") + ''*wicā-'' ("a Roman
vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...
"). The ''Lan-'' part of the modern name is from
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
''lang'' (> "long"), but that may simply have been a reinterpretation of the British Celtic-derived name by Germanic settlers. The second element is '' ceaster'' ("a fort; old Roman site").


History

The earliest occupation on the site is the Roman
auxiliary Auxiliary may refer to: In language * Auxiliary language (disambiguation) * Auxiliary verb In military and law enforcement * Auxiliary police * Auxiliaries, civilians or quasi-military personnel who provide support of some kind to a military se ...
fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...
located just southwest of Lanchester (. '' Longovicium'' lay on the
Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...
leading north from
Eboracum Eboracum () was a castra, fort and later a coloniae, city in the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the ...
(York), known as
Dere Street Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman roads, Roman road which ran north from Eboracum (York), crossing the Stanegate at Corbridge (Hadrian's Wall was crossed at the Portgate, just to the north) and continuing beyond int ...
. It is situated between the forts of Vindomora ( Ebchester) and
Vinovia Vinovia or Vinovium was a Roman fort and settlement situated just over to the north of the town of Bishop Auckland on the banks of the River Wear in County Durham, England. The fort was the site of a hamlet until the late Middle Ages, but t ...
( Binchester). The fort dates to AD 140, covers almost , and housed around 1,000-foot soldiers and cavalry. The fort foundations are well preserved, but there has only been minor excavation work carried out in 1937. Stone from the fort was used in the construction of All Saints' Church, which has a Roman altar in its porch. It is one of many altars found in or near the fort, and was found in 1893.
Andrew Breeze Andrew Breeze FRHistS FSA (born 1954), has been professor of philology at the University of Navarra since 1987. Early life Breeze was born in 1954 and educated at Sir Roger Manwood's School, Emmanuel College, Cambridge (where he took a fi ...
has argued that the
Battle of Brunanburh The Battle of Brunanburh was fought in 937 between Æthelstan, King of Kingdom of England, England, and an alliance of Olaf Guthfrithson, King of Kingdom of Dublin, Dublin; Constantine II of Scotland, Constantine II, King of Scotland; and O ...
took place at the Roman fort of Longovicium. He interprets ''Brunanburh'' as meaning 'stronghold of the River Browney.'


Governance

An
electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...
in the same name exists. The population of this ward taken at the 2011 Census was 7,446.


Education

The schools at Lanchester include St Bede's Catholic School and Sixth Form College. There are also two primary schools: Lanchester All Saints' RC Primary School and Lanchester Endowed Parochial School. The latter has since moved about to new premises and the old school is now the village hall. The school has a nursery, an infants department and a juniors department.


Religious sites


All Saints Parish church

The main Parish church is now known as All Saints but was once called St. Mary the Virgin. The original building dates from the mid 12th Century but was extended in 1284 by Antony Bek, the bishop of Durham. The tower dates from c.1430. Features of interest include the Norman chancel arch, the monolithic columns of the nave (presumably from the Lanchester Roman station) and a Roman altar in the porch.


College of Lanchester

The parish of Lanchester was originally very large, covering sixty-eight miles². To profit from this Anthony Bek created a
Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...
and
College of Canons According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...
at the church in 1284 and extended it to accommodate the increased numbers of clergy. The college consisted of a Dean and seven Prebendaries who each held a share in the church's revenues. Bek created a set of statutes and ordinances for the College which were confirmed by
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
in 1293. The church supplemented its income by monopolising the sale of religious items such as
holy water Holy water is water that has been blessed by a member of the clergy or a religious figure, or derived from a well or spring considered holy. The use for cleansing prior to a baptism and spiritual cleansing is common in several religions, from ...
to the surrounding villages. By the 15th century, the college was falling out of use and the church fell into a poor state of repair with "gaping ruins" in the church, Deanery and the canons' houses. By the time
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
dissolved the monasteries the College and Deanery were abolished and the church returned to
perpetual curacy Perpetual curate was a class of resident Parish (Church of England)#Parish priest, parish priest or Incumbent (ecclesiastical), incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland (name of the combined Anglican churches of England an ...
.


St Margaret's chapel, Esp Green

To the north west of Lanchester was the site of a chapel at Esp Green dedicated to the Blessed Margaret. It is first mentioned in 1402-3 when it was held by Blanchland Abbey. After the dissolution of the abbey in 1539 the chapel fell into disuse and became a ruin. It was later used as a cattle shed and in 1750 work was carried out on the "chepple byre". Some of the stone was used to build the current farm house at Esp Green. The chapel is noted on the 1857 Ordnance survey map (NZ146491) just north of the "Lady Well".


Other churches

The other churches within Lanchester are the All Saints' Catholic church and the Methodist Church which is centred in the heart of the village.


Notable residents

*Canon
William Greenwell William Greenwell, (23 March 1820 – 27 January 1918) was an English archaeologist and Church of England priest. Early life William Greenwell was born 23 March 1820 at the estate known as Greenwell Ford near Lanchester, County Durham, Lanchest ...
(1820–1918), archaeologist and inventor of the Greenwell's Glory fly-fishing fly. * Dorothy (Dora) Greenwell (1821–82), poet, born at Greenwell Ford. *
Henry Nicholas Greenwell Henry Nicholas Greenwell (9 January 1826 – 18 May 1891) was an English merchant credited with establishing Kona coffee as an internationally known brand. His family became major land-holders in the Kona District of the island of Hawaii. The ...
(1826–91), developer of Kona coffee * George Hedley (1882-1937), professional footballer, born in Lanchester * Steven Sproat (born 1960), ukulele player * Peter Dunphy (born 1966), Film Producer * Ginger Johnson, drag queen *Stuart Sillars, (born 1951), professor, WWI and Shakespearean scholar


References


External links


Lanchester All Saints Archaeological AssessmentLanchester All Saints Listed Buildings EntryLanchester Parish CouncilSubterranea Britannica entry on Lanchester Station

Historic England Info on Roman FortSt. Bede's Catholic School and Sixth Form CollegeLanchester Bowling ClubLanchester Community Centre
{{authority control Villages in County Durham Civil parishes in County Durham