INTEREST is mounting after a replica of a symbol of Chester-le-Street's history went on public display.

The Lindisfarne Gospels spent 110-years at Chester-le-Street Parish Church before being carried with the remains of St Cuthbert, by monks fleeing the Vikings, to the site of what became Durham Cathedral, in 995AD.

During the period in Chester-le-Street the manuscript, produced by monks on Holy Island, was first translated into Anglo-Saxon English.

A fundraising drive is under way to pay for a replica copy of the gospels to be permanently displayed at the parish church, St Mary's and St Cuthbert's.

In the meantime, the British Library, where the original gospels remain in the permanent collection, has sent an accurate facsimile copy to be displayed at Chester-le-Street Library. The replica forms the centrepiece of an exhibition which opened on Monday.

Library group manager Helen Thompson said it immediately captured the imagination of library users.

The exhibition was officially opened by Patrick Conway, the county council's director of culture and leisure services. It remains on show in the library until June 4.

Author Michelle Brown, the curator of the gospels and other ancient manuscripts at the British Library, will give a talk, The Lindisfarne Gospels: Making and Meaning, at the library, on Friday, May 28, at 6pm.