Lanchester, County Durham

Lanchester is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England, and was in the former district of Derwentside (1975–2009). It is 8 mi to the west of the city of Durham and 5 mi from the former steel town of Consett, and has a population of slightly more than 4000, measured at the 2011 Census as 4,054.

Although there was a small drift mine 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. The village centre now has three pubs and a small shopping centre. Thanks to the Lanchester Partnership, a cycle track was opened on 25 April 2009.

History
The earliest occupation on the site is the Roman auxiliary fort located just southwest of Lanchester (. Longovicium lay on the Roman road leading north from Eboracum (York), known as Dere Street. It is situated between the forts of Vindomora (Ebchester), and Vinovia (Binchester). The fort dates to AD 140, covers almost 6 acre, and housed around 1000 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 (one of many found in or near the fort) which was found near the fort in 1893 in its porch.

Andrew Breeze has argued that the Battle of Brunanburh took place at the Roman fort of Longovicium. He interprets Brunanburh as meaning 'stronghold of the Browney.'

Governance
An electoral ward 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 and Derwentside College's Sixth Form Centre. There are also two primary schools: Lanchester All Saints' RC Primary School and Lanchester Endowed Parochial (E.P) This latter has since relocated about 50 yd to new premises and the old school is now the village hall. The school has a nursery, an infant department and a junior department.

Religious sites
There are three churches in the village including the Anglican parish church of All Saints, which overlooks the village green. It is predominantly Norman and Early English, with the tower dating 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. Before the Reformation the church was collegiate and the parish of Lanchester was the second largest in the Diocese of Durham.

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 (1820–1918), inventor of the Greenwell's Glory fly-fishing fly.
 * Dorothy (Dora) Greenwell (1821–82), poet, born at Greenwell Ford.
 * Henry Nicholas Greenwell (1826–91), developer of Kona coffee