Ponteland Church of St Mary

Has been described as a Questionable Fortified Ecclesiastical site

There are major building remains

NamePonteland Church of St Mary
Alternative Names
Historic CountryNorthumberland
Modern AuthorityNorthumberland
1974 AuthorityNorthumberland
Civil ParishPonteland

Parish church. C12 - C15. Restored 1810, 1851 by Wardle, 1861 by F.R. Wilson and again in 1881. Squared sandstone and Welsh slate roof. West tower, nave, with aisles and porch, transepts and chancel.

Tower: C12. West door with one order of columns and chevron moulding in the arch. 2 small original windows above. Several other C12 windows on returns also several C14 cusped windows. Bell stage added C14.

Nave and aisles. 3 bays. Vestiges of C12 masonry; extended C13 (see masonry at west end) and again in C15. South aisle has two 3-light segmental-headed Perpendicular windows. South porch C13, reset; slightly-pointed doorway; pointed tunnel vault inside with 3 chamfered transverse ribs. North aisle rebuilt 1810 using old masonry. Low parapets and shallow,pitched roofs.

Transpets: South transept rebuilt late C15 with Perpendicular east window. North transept C13, the gable rebuilt in C19; 3 tall lancets on north and east sides.

Chancel: Long C13 chancel withchamferedsill string rising to form hoodmould over segmental priest's door. 2 original lancets on north side, C14 Decorated windows elsewhere.

Interior: C15 south arcade with octagonal piers and double-chamfered arches dying into imposts. Similar north arcade of 1810. C13 chancel arch has re-cut corbels of Adam and Eve, before the fall on the south, after the fall on the north. North transept north windows have shouldered rere-lintels; the east windows have shouldered rere-arches. C14 glass fragments in chancel window heads. Trefoiled piscina in frame of dogtooth.

Many wall monuments, including:- Richard Newton Ogle, 1794 by Coade; John Dixon, 1716 - extremely rustic; Anne Byne, mother, and Anne Byne, daughter 1769 and no date, with interesting inscriptions. (Listed Building Report)

Gatehouse Comments

Although heavily restored Brooke writes the church was defensible. As with other churches so described by Brooke the actual evidence for anything unusual is obscure.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

This is a Grade 1 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 ReferenceNZ165729
Latitude55.0508117675781
Longitude-1.74196004867554
Eastings416580
Northings572960
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

Books

  • Brooke, C.J., 2000, Safe Sanctuaries (Edinburgh; John Donald) p. 168-70
  • Salter, Mike, 1997, The Old Parish Churches of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications)
  • Knowles, David and Hadcock, R. Neville, 1971, Medieval religious houses in England and Wales (Longman) p435
  • Pevsner, N., 1957, Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p. 277
  • Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1926, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol. 12 p. 412

Journals

  • Briggs, H.D., Cambridge, E. and Bailey, R.N., 1983, 'A New Approach to Church Archaeology: Dowsing and Excavation and Documentary Work at Woodhorn, Ponteland and the Pre-Norman Cathedral at Durham' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser5) Vol. 11 p. 80-2, 88-90