Thockrington Church of St Aidan

Has been described as a Possible Fortified Ecclesiastical site

There are no visible remains

NameThockrington Church of St Aidan
Alternative NamesThrockrington; Thokeryngton
Historic CountryNorthumberland
Modern AuthorityNorthumberland
1974 AuthorityNorthumberland
Civil ParishBavington

Parish church. C12. Bellcote probably C17. Nave partly rebuilt mid C19 at same time as south porch was added. Dressed stone. Porch ashlar. Welsh slate roof. Stone slates on bellcote.

Nave, chancel, south porch, north vestry and west bellcote.

West end has massive offset buttress in centre of wall. Gabled double bellcote above is slightly projecting and projects again below square-headed chamfered bell openings.

3-bay nave with 2-light Victorian Perpendicular windows.

Chancel has blocked priest's door and one small C12 window north and one south. East end has angle buttresses with offsets and one lancet window.

Interior: Unmoulded C12 chancel arch on simple chamfered imposts. Similar arch, formerly apse arch, frames east end. Chancel is tunnel-vaulted with the deeply- splayed C12 windows cut into the vault. Plain chamfered frieze, also C12, marks base of vault. Shouldered rere arch to east lancet. Door to loft above chancel arch.

C13 round bowl font on circular stem with C17 font cover. C14 stone effigy of a lady and a medieval grave cover with foliated cross. (Listed Building Report)

Small church, without a tower, sited on knoll. Has a stone vaulted chancel with a chamber over which would have served as a refuge. (Brooke 2000)

Gatehouse Comments

All churches can and did serve as refuges but few have specific architectural features that suggest they were specifically built with such a function in mind. However, in this case, there is a small chamber over a stone vaulted chancel which could have acted as a strong room for the parish

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law

Historic England Scheduled Monument Number
Historic England Listed Building number(s)
Images Of England
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceNY957789
Latitude55.1049003601074
Longitude-2.0684700012207
Eastings395720
Northings578940
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Brooke, C.J., 2000, Safe Sanctuaries (Edinburgh; John Donald) p. 132-4
  • Pevsner, N., 1992 (revised by Grundy, John et al), Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p. 296-7