Eglingham Churchyard

THE CHURCH

In the 8^th century, Eagwulfincham, was one of four royal villages, given to the St Cuthbert’s community on Lindisfarne by the Northumbrian King Ceolwulf after he joined them to became a monk. When Holy Island was abandoned in the 9^th century, the monastic land and church at Eglingham was briefly held by Durham, but then granted to the new priory of Tynemouth, which was a cell of the Abbey at St Albans. After the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16^th century, the church at Eglingham reverted again to Durham.

An earlier simply constructed building, was replaced by a stone church in the 12^th century, with the tower added in the mid-13^th century. First sacked by raiding Scots in 1596/7, the church was virtually destroyed in 1640, during Cromwell’s time, at the hands of General Sir Alexander Leslie’s army of the Covenanters who supported the Presbyterian church of Scotland. The imposing tower was the only part of the building which survived intact. The damage was repaired and the church reconstructed later in the 17^th century.

Victorians made further changes, lowering the nave roof, adding a porch and steeple as well as replacing the windows. John Green, a Newcastle architect whose firm designed the Theatre Royal, was criticised for turning St Maurice’s, ‘a valuable post-medieval building into a sham one’. More sensitive alterations were made in later Victorian times by F.R.Wilson of Alnwick, who had previously worked on the Houses of Parliament.

From 1842 to 1980, eleven Vicars of Eglingham were also Archdeacons of Lindisfarne. There is more to discover in the Lindisfarne Legacy exhibition in St Maurice’s Ogle Chapel.

St Maurice

Maurice was a Christian officer in the Roman army. Of North African origin, he was martyred in the 3^rd century for refusing to kill other Christians. Mostly remembered as the patron saint of soldiers, St Maurice is a popular church dedication in Europe and America, but rare in England. There is no image of St Maurice in Eglingham, but at the church at nearby Ellingham, which is also dedicated to this saint, there is a memorial window showing him, as he is traditionally depicted, in full amour. His feast day is 22 September.

GOD’S ACRE

There has been a Christian burial place in Eglingham for more than a thousand years. The surviving gravestones are historical treasures which reveal much about the cultural heritage of this community, and their inscriptions can provide a fascinating insight into past lives. On the south side of the tower, the table top memorial belonging to the Storey family of Beanley records many generations and over 100 years of their family’s history. Other gravestones tell tragic tales of infant mortality, but also positive stories of longevity and faithful service in the parish.

In the Medieval times, the churchyard was used for bustling fairs and noisy markets which were an important source of income for the priest. Those in the parish with power and influence had the privilege of being buried under the church floor and in family vaults. Medieval stone grave slabs were often repurposed for later building work, and some may have been used as foundationstones for St Maurice’s mid-13^th century tower. In contrast, the poor were buried in unmarked graves covered in a simple shroud with no coffin, and it was common for graves to be reused. In a practice which continues today, bodies were laid on their back with the head facing east. The exception was for priests who were buried facing west so they would rise in front of their congregation at the second coming of Christ.

It was only in the 18^th century that rows of grave markers as we know them today became commonplace. However, in this rural community, it was still only those with some wealth who could afford a permanent reminder of their affluence. Of the 1,000 burials in the 18^th century at St Maurice’s, only 40 remain marked with a gravestone. These burials were all on the southside of the church as people believed the northside was associated with darkness and the devil. Carved locally in sandstone, each one is a creative original. The earliest, dated 1717, is a small, simply carved, stone in memory of James Young.Amongst these old stones are some fine examples of “Memento Mori” symbolism – stark reminders of the transience of life and the inevitability of death.

By the 19^th century, local carvers had given way to monumental masons.There are more than 50 headstones from Alnwick masons, Daniel McMillan. Victorian fashion also demanded larger stones in architectural revival styles. Chosen from classical pattern books, there are fine examples in the western section of the churchyard erected by the families of theArchdeacons of Lindisfarne, and the principal landowners: the Collingwoods and Carr-Ellisons.

Since the 20^th century, additional diocesan rules mean that more recent mass-produced stones (mostly in the 1927 eastern extension) are smaller and tend to give little away about the people who lie beneath. However, there are a few exceptions of stones collected from the moors or specially designed by the family, which reflect more individual stories.Now,there are fewer burials as nationally 80% of bodies are cremated. St Maurice’s Remembrance Garden was created in the 1980s.

For more information go to www.eglingham.info/introduction-Community History Project

Carolyn Brewster 2024

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