Ebchester, Durham

Description
Ebchester, a village, a township, and a parish in Durham. The township lies on Watling Street, the Consett railway, and the river Derwent, at the boundary with Northumberland, 11 1/2 miles SW by W of Gateshead, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office (R.S.O.), and a railway station. Acreage, 600 ; population, 382. A monastery was founded here before 660 by Ebba, afterwards Abbess of Coldingham, and was destroyed by the Danes. Ebchester was known as the Derventio of the Notitia, and afterwards as Vindomara, and it retains traces of Watling Street. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Durham; net value, £338 with residence. The church stands within an ancient camp where many Roman remains have been found. The communion table rests on an ancient altar slab marked with the three crosses. The font, according to Bishop Westcott, is formed from a Roman altar. A perfect specimen of the latter is at the SW porch. There is a Wesleyan chapel.