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Norham Church of St Cuthbert

In the civil parish of Norham. In the historic county of Durham; North (Modern Authority of Northumberland, 1974 county of Northumberland).

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Ecclesiastical site.
  Confidence: It is probable that this site was a medieval fortification or palace.   Masonry ruins/remnants remains.
Church at other end of village from castle. Suggested by Brookes as possible fortified but has been heavily restored. The present church at Norham was begun in 1165 at the same time as Norham Castle, and was probably designed by the same architect. The earliest parts of the building are the chancel, arches and the wall above the south side of the nave. In 1320 the church was occupied and fortified by Robert the Bruce during a siege of the castle. The east end of the church was damaged at this time and replaced in 1340. The church was restored in 1619 after possibly being roofless for 100 years. The aisle walls were demolished and new aisles built in mid C19. The tower was built in 1837. However, the presence of a large number of Anglo-Saxon carved stones show that an earlier, C9 church stood here. Many of these remains were found when the church was being restored in the 19th century. The stones were probably part of carved stone crosses, though some may have been grave markers. It is probable that this earlier church stood beneath the current one, but a slight platform recorded nearby in the graveyard, may also have been its location.
This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 237935)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NT89684740

Air Photo from multimap logo

Air Photo and general mapping

1st edition OS Map from old maps logo

Mid to late 19th century maps

Modern Map from Ordnance Survey logo

Landscape form and features

Modern Map from streetmap logo

General location and route planning

Geograph British Isles geography.org.uk logo
occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 1319
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is N919 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations. 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. I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself.
The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.
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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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This record last updated on Wednesday, October 28, 2009

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