Ancroft Church of St Ann (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Ancroft Vicars Pele; St Anne Church; Ancrofte

In the civil parish of Ancroft.
In the historic county of Northumberland.
Modern Authority of Northumberland.
1974 county of Northumberland.
Medieval County of County Palatinate of Durham.

OS Map Grid Reference: NU00224518
Latitude 55.70004° Longitude -1.99818°

Ancroft Church of St Ann has been described as a certain Fortified Ecclesiastical site.

There are major building remains.

This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*.

Description

Built as a chapel of ease in the Norman period. A fortified tower was added to the west end of the nave in the late C13. This tower has a tunnel-vaulted ground floor and a spiral stair giving access to the two upper floors. Originally, entry was only possible via the church but a doorway giving onto the churchyard was later inserted. The church was restored in 1836 and again in 1870, when the nave was extended to the east and the chancel rebuilt. The tower was restored in 1886. (PastScape)

Parish church. Nave C12. West end raised into a tower C13. Restored 1836 and again in 1870 when the nave was extended, the chancel rebuilt and the door and windows replaced. Tower restored 1886. Squared stone; Welsh slate roof. Romanesque style. Chancel, nave and west tower. Nave south side is C12 as far as the mid-point buttress. Blocked south door with 3 orders of arches, the outer order with worn beakhead, the whole set slightly forward from wall face under a gable; an C18 sundial on the gable. Original C12 corbel table and large buttress, formerly at south-east corner of nave. Extended to east, new windows and new south doorway added in similar style in 1870. Above the corbel table the tower was raised. On the south side it has 2 lancet windows and 2 slit windows to the newel stair. On the west aide the roof mark of the gable of the original towerless church can be seen, as can the band where the corbel table was cut away. This side has 2 faucets and a C12 window with shafts. The corbel table formerly continued on the north side; one arch remains. 2-bay chancel in similar style. Interior: the tower was built to be defensible. It has a tunnel-vaulted ground floor blocking the C12 doorway, and a stone newel stair in the corner. Nave and chancel entirely C19 inside. Chancel arch quite elaborate with chevron and billet moulding. King-post roofs with arched braces resting on stone corbels with good naturalistic carving. (Listed Building Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1042234
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 6477.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N3967.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- CastleUK.net
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
  Northumberland-tales.com
Books
- Geldard, Ed, 2009, Northumberland Strongholds (London: Frances Lincoln) p. 53
  Harrison, Peter, 2004, Castles of God (Woodbridge; Boydell Press) p. 67, 68 n1
  Brooke, C.J., 2000, Safe Sanctuaries (Edinburgh; John Donald) p. 58-60
  Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 47-48
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 16
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 172
  Graham, Frank, 1993, Northumberian Castles Aln, Tweed and Till (Butler Publishing) p. 3, 5
  Pevsner, N., 1992 (revised by Grundy, John et al), Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p. 146
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 23
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 325
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 178
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 36
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 55
  Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles (1970 Reprint by Frank Graham) p. 27-8
  Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 53 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)
  Wilson, F.R., 1870, An architectural survey of churches in the Archdeaconry of Lindisfarne (Newcastle-upon-Tyne; M. and M.W. Lambert) p. 20-22 online copy
  Raine, J., 1852, History and Antiquities of North Durham (London) p. 215-8
  Hodgson, J., 1828, History of Northumberland Part 3 Vol. 2 (Newcastle-upon-Tyne; John Hodgson) p. 190 online copy
Periodical Articles
- 1904, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (ser3) Vol. 1 p. 186-8 online copy
  Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 53 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- 1561, The Survey Booke of Norham and Ilandshire, taken and made in the 3rd year of our Sovereign Lady Elizabeth, Queen of England, etc. Survey of Norham and Islandshire
  1541 View of the Castles, Towers, Barmekyns and Fortresses of the Frontier of the East and Middle Marches Survey of the East and Middle Marches
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Kelland, C.H., 1982, Ecclesiae Incastellatae: A Documentary and Architectural Study of the Concept of 'Fortified Churches' in England and Wales (M.Phil. Thesis, 2 vols, University College, University of London)

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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