 Archeological evidence suggests a history of settlement in the area since roughly 2000 BC.The present city can clearly be traced back to AD 995, when a group of monks from Lindisfarne chose the strategic high peninsula as a place to settle with the body of Saint Cuthbert, that had previously lain in Chester-le-Street, founding a church there.Local legend states that the city was founded in A.D. 995 by divine intervention.