Norham Church of St Cuthbert (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Norham.
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: NT89684740
Latitude 55.72002° Longitude -2.16575°

Norham Church of St Cuthbert has been described as a probable Fortified Ecclesiastical site.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

The Church of St Cuthbert was originally built in the 12th century but has been rebuilt in places and been the subject of two restorations in the 17th and 19th centuries. For example, the east end of the chancel was rebuilt in the early 14th century after being damaged during a siege of the castle by Robert the Bruce, who occupied and fortified the church. Towards the end of the medieval period, the church seems to have fallen out of use and may have been roofless for 100 years before it was restored in 1619. The church which stands today is largely the result of restoration from 1837-52, the earliest elements being the chancel arches, parts of the south nave wall, and three pillar bases on the north side of the nave. The dedication to St Cuthbert is a reminder of its connections with Durham. The south arcade has been described as "truly majestic for a parish church (Pevsner 1992, 523). (Northumberland Extensive Urban Survey)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1303605
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1319.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N919.

Books
- Brooke, C.J., 2000, Safe Sanctuaries (Edinburgh; John Donald) p. 60-1
  Pevsner, N., 1957, Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p. 266
  Tomlinson, W.W., 1888, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle) p. 523-4, 551
  Wilson, F.R., 1870, An architectural survey of churches in the Archdeaconry of Lindisfarne (Newcastle-upon-Tyne; M. and M.W. Lambert) p. 27-33 online copy
Periodical Articles
- 1856-62, History of the Berwickshire Naturalist Club p. 121-2
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Northumberland County Council, 2009, 'Norham' Northumberland Extensive Urban Survey doi:10.5284/1000177 download copy

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

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.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

*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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