Memorials of old Durham

by Unknown

In the churchyard is a large tomb, which was formerly enclosed within the walls of the ancient chancel, before the latter was taken down. It is generally ascribed to the De Bruses, and the armorial shields on the sides, each charged with a lion rampant, confirm the suggestion.

Durham possesses another very good example of Early English architecture in the parish church of Darlington, dedicated to St. Cuthbert. It consists of a chancel, north and south transepts, a nave with aisles, and a central tower crowned by a spire. That it stands on a site of great antiquity is proved by the discovery, in 1866, during restoration, of fragments of three pre-Conquest crosses, which are now preserved in the church. In the charter of Styr, son of Ulf, which is included in a record called by Symeon, the "Ancient Chartulary of the Church," there is given to St. Cuthbert "the vill which is called Dearthingtun, with sac and soc," and Symeon again mentions Darlington as one of the places to which the secularized monks of Durham were removed in 1083 by William de St. Carileph. On the authority of Geoffry de Coldingham, the erection of the church has been ascribed to Bishop Pudsey, and the date to 1190-95.

The principal entrance is in the west front, set in a richly moulded arch, with a trefoil-headed niche above. In the second stage of the front is an arcade of five arches, and the third stage has three arches, all with dividing shafts. The arches in the second stage are pierced alternately with lancet lights. The walls of the aisle were greatly altered about the middle of the fourteenth century, and all the square-headed windows belong to this period, no features dating from the original erection of the church remaining except the doorways. The north doorway has been greatly restored, and the south doorway was originally covered by a porch; it has a niche above. The clerestory has an arcade of twelve arches pierced with four lancet windows on each side. Both transepts and the chancel are of two stages, divided by string courses; but the south transept is more enriched than the north, both internally and externally. Buttresses divide the walls of the chancel into three bays, and the walls and ends of the transepts are similarly divided into two bays each. Those buttresses at the junctions of the transepts and the chancel, owing to their great proportion, have much the appearance of corner turrets. The spire and the higher stage of the tower are of the same date as the walls of the aisles. Longstaffe says of the spire: "On July 17, 1750, this beautiful spire, considered the highest and finest in the North of England, was rent.... The storm occasioned fifteen yards of the spire to be taken down and rebuilt in 1752.... Unfortunately the mason omitted the moulding at the angles of the new part."

Incidentally it should be noted that Durham is one of the counties in which spires are comparatively rare.

The tower is supported by four arches on clustered shafts, and the nave is divided from its aisle by four arches on each side. The east wall of the chancel is modern. Three sedilia of the Decorated period occupy the usual position in the chancel. In one of the windows on the east side of the south transept occurs the only instance of the dog-tooth ornament in the interior of the church, and there is a piscina in both of the side walls of the same transept.

Darlington is the only church in the county which retains a rood-loft.

On the south of the chancel is the vestry, which has been greatly modernized. The only monumental effigy is that of an unknown lady with a book in her hand. It dates from the early thirteenth century, and is placed at the west end of the nave.

After the two churches last mentioned, the church at Sedgefield, dedicated to St. Edmund the Bishop, but formerly dedicated to the Virgin, is probably the finest in the county. The nave and chancel date from the Early English period. The tower is very fine, of Perpendicular date and of three stages, crowned by battlemented parapets and small spirelets standing on angle buttresses. The Rev. J. F. Hodgson is of the opinion that it was intended to crown the tower with an open lantern, as at St. Nicholas’ Cathedral, Newcastle.

There are two transepts; the south contains the chapel of St. Thomas, and in its east wall are two piscinas, one of which is trefoil-headed; and in the south wall are two pointed recesses occupied by much mutilated male and female effigies, the latter dating from the later fourteenth century. The north transept contains the Chapel of St. Katherine, and is now known as the Hardwick porch. Two of its ancient windows still remain, and fix its date as 1328. The east window is filled with Late Decorated tracery. The nave is divided from the aisles by three pointed arches, supported by clustered pillars on moulded bases. The capitals are richly carved and very interesting.

The font is octagonal and of Frosterley marble, dating from the end of the fifteenth century, and charged on each side with armorial shields, most likely carved in the seventeenth century. The stall work of the chancel is ascribed to the latter part of the seventeenth century, and the rich chancel screen to a slightly earlier date.