Lanchester is a pleasant, small town, beside the A691
It's between Durham City
and
Consett
in North East England.
The church of All Saints has a Roman altar in the porch. The quoins and monolithic pillars were
taken from the nearby fort and are thought to be as early as 122AD.
Bishop Bek raised the church to collegiate status in 1283, he left a legacy of
stained glass and carving.
The nearby ruins of the Roman Fort are on Dere Street
which was the main Roman Road from Yorkshire to Hadrian's Wall and beyond that to the Firth of Forth.
Directions to Lanchester Roman fort ruins:
From the A691 at Lanchester turn near the church onto the B6296
towards Satley and
Hall Hill Farm
The fort ruins are a short way up the steep bank, they can be partly seen from the first layby on the left, with its small information sign. There isn't much of a view of the fort from the layby! Photograph taken 2006.
IMPORTANT THE RUINS ARE ON PRIVATE LAND - NO TRESPASSING!
Dr William Greenwell, archivist and archaeologist was born and lived for years in this parish.
He was the originator of the trout fishing fly "Greenwell’s Glory".
