St Hilda's Church (Lucker)

Trip No.75  Entry No.1  Date Added: 21st May 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2018. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Cross base, St. Hilda's Church, Lucker: We had a walk around the churchyard, but were unable to find a cross base amongst the gravestones. We wandered down as far as the river, Waren Burn, which flowed to the east of the church. Not finding anything, we wandered into the church. There was no guide book, but there were laminated sheets detailing the history of the church and St. Hilda, which I photographed.

Having found the cross base on Pastscape, with the grid reference, I was very reluctant to give up the search. It did indeed take some finding, as it was completely buried under ivy in a very overgrown section of the churchyard. Typically, not having the gps with us when we needed it, common sense said that the cross base should ideally be at the eastern end of the church at the highest point of land before it started to drop down to the river below. I had to clamber over brambles and force my way through trees to get to this part of the churchyard. The cross base was next to the grave of a lady called ‘Janet’.

Long Nanny

Trip No.75  Entry No.2  Date Added: 21st May 2018
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Saw from a distance on 20th May 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Long Nanny Standing Stone, Tughall: On our way into Beadnell, on the B1340, husband Andrew screeched the car to a halt on the busy road, telling me there was a standing stone in the field that only had a couple of photographs on the Portal. We could only see this from a distance, as there were large cattle and a BIG bull in the field. I took a couple of photographs from the side of the road, although the stone was so far away, even resting the camera on the fence and the window ledge of the car, the shot was hazy.

Like wayland, I can’t find anything on Pastscape or Historic England. Intriguing. Need to go back and have a look when the bull and his ladies have been moved out of the field.

Tughall Chapel

Trip No.75  Entry No.3  Date Added: 22nd May 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2018. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Socket stone and cross shaft fragment, Tughall: Continuing along the busy B1340 from the Long Nanny standing stone, we turned right off the road towards Tughall Farm. There, the remains of the chapel stood above the road. We parked at a small layby just off the main road at NU 21427 26478, where there was a small gate into the field. This had been wired shut, so we walked round to the main gate at NU 21224 26486. There was absolutely no-one around to ask, and as the cattle were at the far end of the field, we let ourselves in.

The chapel is raised above the surrounding land. Only the tiniest bit of masonry remains (part of the apse, according to HE). The cross base is to the south of the chapel, almost next to what we initially thought might have been a hogback, but is only an old grave stone. I couldn’t see any writing on it.

The portion of cross shaft fragment remaining in the socket stone is very small and thin. I wonder what happened to the rest of it? [Note, this is on private land, but we didn't find anyone around in all the buildings on the farm to ask if we could take a look.]

Next stop, but not recorded on the Portal, was the lime kilns and harbour at Beadnell (too recent in time!)

St Ebba's Chapel

Trip No.75  Entry No.4  Date Added: 22nd May 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2018. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: St Ebba's Chapel/Early Christian Monastery site: I have long wanted to come to this spot, ever since seeing the Time Team Excavation of this in July 2013. Whilst the rest of Northumberland had a hot day with blue, cloudless skies, this part of the coast was murky. Still, this was a very enigmatic place.

We’d stopped off at a café/restaurant in Beadnell village for refreshments before arriving here, and I’d looked at their guide book “Limekilns and Lobsterpots” before arriving, which intrigued me further.

A lonely spot, largely surrounded by sea on a narrow promontory. I wish I’d been able to see the excavations, but found the Wessex Archaeology report.

St Maurice's Well (Ellingham)

Trip No.75  Entry No.5  Date Added: 22nd May 2018
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2018. My rating: Condition -1 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: St. Maurice's Well, Ellingham (destroyed): This church was in a glorious spot amongst old houses. The church looked relatively modern, and as it was still open, we popped our heads in. There was some really great stained glass windows. They also had a book sale, so we bought a couple of books on cathedral architecture for a £2 donation.

Inside, we spotted the head of an old font, dating (according to the church guide) to the Norman or Early English Church (but looked 16th/17th century in style to me). On either side of the path from the lych gate to the church were the old pinnacles from the previous church, dating to 1805.

Finding the right footpath from the church proved interesting, as it had a number of footpaths running from/around it, but we eventually orientated ourselves. Back to the Long Nanny stream.

From the description, we found the footbridge and the gorge/bank, but couldn’t really find any structures. I asked a lady (about 40ish) walking her dog if she knew where the well was. She replied “They used to come from the school to get the water. There used to be steps, but they’re gone, and no-one knows where the well was. It’s lost.”

We tried to find the location, which needed to be in a slight ravine (hence the reference to steps), and any old stonework. We thought we might have spotted something. But, then again, perhaps not! It was worth it to see the wonderful stone-flagged footbridge.