Description

NEWBIGGIN-BY-THE-SEA HIGH STREET
NZ 38 NW (East end, off)

3/88 Church of St.
Bartholomew
14/3/49
I

Parish church. Pre-C13 fabric may survive in the nave walls; 4 eastern bays of
arcades early C13, 2 western bays and west tower late C13; chancel rebuilt
c.1300; spire C14. Aisles demolished and chancel a roofless ruin in C18; 1845
restoration of nave and chancel, further restoration with new chancel arch and
organ chamber 1898 by W.S. Hicks; north aisle rebuilt 1912. Squared stone,
rough-faced in C19 and early C20 parts; roof of mixed purple and green slate.

South wall of nave 6 bays; porch near west end is probably C19, with boarded
double doors under double-chamfered arch and coped gable with moulded kneelers;
small lancets in porch returns are probably re-set medieval work. 1845 nave
windows each of 2 pointed lights with quatrefoil over. East gable coped with
moulded kneelers and cross finial. North aisle has chamfered plinth, stepped
buttresses and hollow-chamfered cornice below moulded parapet; 2-light windows
on north and 3-light west window, with cinquefoil-headed lights in C15 style.
Unbuttressed west tower has small C19 west door within larger blocked opening,
with blocked trefoil-headed window and trefoiled round window over; north and
south walls each have trefoiled spheric triangle light with lancet over. String
course below belfry; belfry opening of 2 lights with quatrefoil in spandrel.
Octagonal stone spire with small slatted openings, weathercock finial.

Chancel has two 3-light windows on south, western of lancet lights and eastern
with intersecting tracery; east window of 5 stepped lancets under one arch.
Lancet on north (re-sited from west end of wall in 1898) and blocked doorway.
Coped east gable with moulded kneelers. Organ chamber with boarded door and
two 2-light windows.

Interior: Arcades of double-chamfered pointed arches with broach stops to
chamfers and head stops to hoodmoulds, on octagonal piers with moulded capitals
and bases; western arches broader and differing in detail. South wall of-nave
built outside arcade; in length of medieval wall at east end of arcade is
blocked lancet with square-headed piscina below. Blocked pointed arch to
tower with set-back and blocked doorway above. Nave roof has arch-braced
principal-rafter trusses with collars, north aisle flat panelled ceiling.

Tall double-chamfered chancel arch; 1845 chancel arch, with grotesque head
stops, re-set as organ chamber arch. Chancel has piscina with moulded bowl and
sill of adjacent window lowered to form sedile; blocked doorways at west end
of south wall and to east of 1912 vestry door on north. C12 carved capital
re-set as corbel on south of east window.

Interior of tower, now boiler house, shows inserted segmental barrel vault with
newel stair, cutting across tower arch.

Fittings and furnishings largely C20, except for C18 Pater, Creed and Commandment
boards in nave. Important collection of C12 and C13 cross slab grave covers
include 8 complete examples re-set in walls of north aisle.

The dramatic headland site, away from the village; suggests early origins. The
unusual length of the nave (even allowing for its 1845 extension into the old
chancel) and the apparent insertion of the C13 tower arch in an earlier west
wall may point to the survival of Pre-Conquest fabric; re-used C12 architectural
fragments indicate a predecessor to the present building.

Listing NGR: NZ3178588024

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• St Bartholomew's Church, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea at Wikipedia
• St Bartholomew's Church, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea official website
• Wikidata Q15979323

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.

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