Description

BAMBURGH CHURCH STREET
NU 1734
(North side)
17/32 Church of St. Aidan
22.12.69
GV I
Parish church. C12, C13 and C14. Restored 1830 and later C19. Squared stone
and ashlar; chancel and north transept have stone slate roofs; other roofs not
visible. West tower, nave, aisles, transepts and chancel.

Tower C13 or early C14. 4 stages with offsets. Y-tracery window on ground
floor, lancet bell openings; top storey C19 with battlements.

Aisles embrace tower. South aisle rebuilt early C14; renewed 2- and 3-light
Decorated windows. C19 south door. Low-pitched roof behind parapet.

South transept also has renewed Decorated windows.

C13, 5-bay chancel with crypt. Paired lancets under continuous dripstone.
Former priest's door in 2nd bay has surround of l83O with high gable. Rainwater.
heads dated 1830 with arms of Lord Crewe. East end has 3 lancets of even
height separated by buttresses. Corbel table, parapet and steeply-pitched roof.

North transept in small squared C12 stone has narrow east lancet (cf interior),
renewed Decorated windows elsewhere. Steeply-pitched roof.

North aisle in larger Medieval ashlar has 4 renewed Decorated windows.

Interior: Indications of earlier Romanesque church include round rere-arch of
north transept east window, masonry of south transept north wall, and uneven
build of east end of nave.
3 triple-chamfered tower arches. 4-bay nave has late C12 - early C13 north
arcade with round piers, simply-moulded capitals and double-chamfered arches;
3rd pier has stiff-leaf capital, east arch is very narrow. South arcade similar
but slightly later. Transept arches have 2 slight chamfers towards nave and
north aisle, unmoulded towards transept; very wide C14 double-chamfered arch
into south aisle.

C16 clerestory windows, now beneath roof; also C16 square newel stair in tower.
Tower ceiling includes old forked beam associated with legend of death of St.
Aidan. North aisle has old arched tiebeams.

Chancel: Double-chamfered chancel arch with large Decorated squint to right.
Arcaded side walls with pairs of arches rising over each pair of lancets and
narrow arch between; they rise from corbels which were formerly the capitals
of shafts which have been removed. C14 sedilia, piscina and aumbry. C14 tomb
recess with effigy of Knight. 2 low-side windows, the south one blocked.
Elaborate C19 open timber roof. C17 altar rails. Wall monuments to:- Claudius
Forster, 1623, a cartouche in aedicule; Forster family, 1711, large and well-
carved. Large stone reredos with statues of saints, 1895 by W.S. Hicks.

North aisle: recumbent effigy of Grace Darling, 1844 by Raymond Smith, formerly
in the churchyard; Sharpe memorial of 1839 by Chantrey. Hatchments in nave.

Vaulted 2-bay crypt with cinquepartite rib vaults rising from corbels.

Listing NGR: NU1784334964

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• St Aidan's Church, Bamburgh at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q15979293

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
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  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
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  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)