Talk:Northumberland Towns and Villages B

Bamburgh

St Aidan's stands on the coast in the shadow of Bamburgh Castle. The graveyard contains the family plot of the Darling family and a memorial to Grace Darling, (famous for her efforts to rescue the crew of a ship struck by a fierce storm). Grace was born in Bamburgh

The church itself has parts which date to the 1190's, (north transept and north aisle) An intricate and stunning stone reredos (a screen behind the altar) depicts a total of thirteen saints of the seventh and eight centuries, the scale of the stone, the quality of the work and the detail it contains alone makes the church worth visiting.

Additional images of the church are available from Glen in Tinsel Knickers

Belford

The Parish Church of St Mary. There has been a church at this site from around 1100 but the first stone building erected is recorded about a hundred years later. A chancel arch from the original stone building survives, extensive repair and alteration to the building has taken place several times, the last period of work being in the late 1820's. A rather gruesome tale relates to a watch tower built in the south west corner of the graveyard. Although Edinburgh sits some 80 miles to the north of Belford it has a significance, the medical schools would pay a keen price for cadavers and grave robbers were known to frequent the region.

Benwell

St James bears little resemblance to the original 1830's design by John Dobson. Many additions and alterations were made over the years, during 1864 Dobson himself was responsible for extending the building. It wasn't until the mid 1890's however that the spire, porch and choir vestry were added. The graveyard contains several noted figures of nineteenth century Newcastle. One such grave is the resting place of Richard Grainger, the man who built the church originally.

Berwick Upon Tweed

Holy Trinity Church, also known as The Parish Church, was built during the period of 1650-1652 by Colonel George Fenwicke, father in law to Oliver Cromwell.. Believed to be the only parish church during the Commonwealth it was originally constructed without many of the usual attributes expected of a church. When completed the church lacked a steeple, bells, altar, stained glass, font and organ. Restoration and extension to the church took place in the mid 1850's and the glass in the west window was taken from the chapel at Cannons Park in Middlesex. Visually the church remains much as it did when first built with the exceptions being the vestry and chancel which were added during the 1850's work.

The Methodist Church, situated on Walkergate, stands on the site of an earlier Methodist Chapel. The church was built in 1878, the original chapel was dates to 1797. The congregation arose after several visits to Berwick by the preacher John Wesley in the mid to late 1700's. In 1920 the Primitive Methodist church amalgamated with the Wesleyans at the Walkergate site.

Wallace Green Church sits alongside the Holy Trinity Church, built in the late 1850's for the congregation of the Golden Square (Presbyterian) Church. In 1971 it left the Presbyterian Church of England and joined the Church Of Scotland, during the latter part of the 1980's the church was united with St Andrew's Church, (formerly found in Greenside Avenue) and the building is now known as St Andrew's.

The Golden Square Church was established in 1770, the Greenside Avenue Church stood from 1897 to 1987, both buildings have long since been demolished. These two buildings were known as the High and Low Meetings, the Low Meeting can be traced back to the reign of Edward VI

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