Featured: Current Archaeology Book of the Year 2019!

Current Archaeology Book of the Year 2019!

Random Image


Upper Hindhope

Iron Age Britain, Barry Cunliffe

Iron Age Britain, Barry Cunliffe

Who's Online

There are currently, 280 guests and 1 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

More Choices

Contribute to our running costs
Webrings
News Feeds
Megalithic Mysteries
Our Online Shop

<< Our Photo Pages >> St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) - Early Christian Sculptured Stone in England in County Durham

Submitted by Anne T on Tuesday, 11 February 2020  Page Views: 3007

Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
Country: England County: County Durham Type: Early Christian Sculptured Stone
Nearest Town: Hartlepool
Map Ref: NZ5284233679
Latitude: 54.695382N  Longitude: 1.181672W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 5

Internal Links:
External Links:

I have visited· I would like to visit

jeffrep would like to visit

Anne T visited on 5th Feb 2020 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4 St Hilda's, the Headland, Hartlepool: What a magnificent building, with its collection of huge flying buttresses supporting the external walls of the tower. Inside, it is more like a mini-cathedral than a parish church. We had the pleasure of being greeted by Mr. John Hogg, parishioner with responsibility for Visitor Ministry, and the most knowledgeable guide we could wish to meet. We spent almost the full hour and a half looking round the church, the fragments in the Brus Chapel and the old south door, plus admiring the Hildthryth stone in the St Nicholas Chapel. I just wish the opening hours of the church had been longer, as I was really interested to see the display boards located around the south and north walls of the nave. The altar rails are also interesting, as they are made of 1,000 year old oak (but do look Victorian!). A real gem, and well worth a visit.

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : The impressive Hildthryth namestone, on display on the eastern wall of the St Nicolas Chapel, on the southern side of the sanctuary. Also recorded as Hartlepool 01 on the Corpus of Anglo Saxon Stone Sculpture. The stone measures 27cms high, 29cms wide and 11cms deep. Poinds tells us: "The west face is decorated with a plain border which surrounds a large cross whose centre is square rather than ci... (Vote or comment on this photo)
Located on the Headland, a unique part of Hartlepool which is physically quite separate from the rest of the town, the building of the present church was begun in 1190. St Hilda is recorded as having come to Hartlepool to succeed St Bega in around AD647, taking charge of a monastery of both nuns and monks, before moving to Whitby as its first Abbess in around AD657. Displayed against the eastern wall of the St. Nicholas Chapel, on the southern side of sanctuary, can be found the Hildthryth stone, a late 7th/8th century grave marker or name stone. It is surrounded on four sides by golden ammonites, the symbol of Hartlepool.

Abandoned in the late 8th/early 9th century, the location of the monastery is still being debated, but is believed to overlap the north-western end of the church. Time Team excavated here in 1999 (Series 7, Episode 12: Nuns in Northumbria (Hartlepool), finding the remains of 7th century nuns, one of whom is re-interred in the sanctuary; this spot is commemorated with a special plaque.

A total of eight grave markers from this period were also found in and around St Hilda's churchyard; seven others are either in the British Museum, the Great North Museum and the Monk's Dormitory in Durham Cathedral.

There is a display of early Christian and Anglo Saxon stones in the Brus (Bruce) chapel, behind the altar.

For more information see: Pastscape Monument No. 27819, Historic England List Entry No. 1263355, St Hilda's Church Website, and Tees Archaeology: Anglo Saxon Hartlepool. Also refer to Guy Poinds' "A Gazetteer of Anglo Saxon and Viking Sites: Northumberland and County Durham" (book, pages 191/192).

We visited the church between 11.30am and 1pm on a Wednesday, when the Visitor Centre is opened and manned (hours may be extended in summer - please check St Hilda's: Information for Visitors.
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Collection of architectural fragments, including what looks like two hogback fragments, against the north wall of the Brus (Bruce) Chapel. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : I wanted to include this fragment as it is very similar to the carving of the Bywell Cross. In this example, the nail head decoration is very crude and not evenly spaced, which is interesting. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : An architectural fragment found directly underneath the Brus/Bruce effigy, hung against the western wall of the Chapel (immediately behind the altar). It has some finely wrought vine scrolls, similar to those found on A-S fragments, but I believe this is medieval in date. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : A second piece of what might be taken for a tegulated hogback, but which is medieval. Stored on the ledge on the north wall of the Brus Chapel. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Fragment of what looks like part of a tegulated hogback, but is in fact medieval. Stored on the ledge against the north wall of the Brus Chapel, but hidden behind a very heavy and tall speaker/display unit.

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Described by Historic Buildings Consultant Peter Ryder in his "The Medieval Cross Slab Grave Cover in County Durham", this is St Hilda's Hartlepool 12 as it is now: "A magnesian limestone slab 0.76 x 0.41m x 0.36m, now in the Brus Chapel at the east end of the chancel, set against the south wall. Incised design of a medieval ship, depicted in some detail with rigging, pennants, tailcastle and rudd...

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Old photograph, displayed in the Brus Chapel, of what St Hilda's Hartlepool 12 used to look like, before changes in temperature caused the surface to exfoliate. What a shame, as it looked magnificent, and I've not seen any other example like this before.

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Described by Historic Buildings Consultant Peter Ryder in his "The Medieval Cross Slab Grave Cover in County Durham", this is St Hilda's Hartlepool 11: "A free standing cross head of magnesian limestone, 0.27m x 0.32m. Disc form with a cross paté on each face the segments between the arms being sunk. Probably a headstone cross. 12th century or earlier." Poinds also describes this A-S fragment in ...

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Described by Historic Buildings Consultant Peter Ryder in his "The Medieval Cross Slab Grave Cover in County Durham", this is St Hilda's Hartlepool 10: "A free standing cross head or magnesian limestone, 0.40m x 0.29m. Probably a headstone cross. Cross paté with the segments between the arms sunk and partly cut away. Same design on each face. 12th century or earlier." [Note: the fragment was atta...

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Described by Historic Buildings Consultant Peter Ryder in his "The Medieval Cross Slab Grave Cover in County Durham", this is St Hilda's Hartlepool 8: "The head of a magnesian limestone slabs 0.30m x 0.33m (h). Relief design, bracelet cross with cross bands and trefoil terminals to the bracelets. Later 13th century".

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Described by Historic Buildings Consultant Peter Ryder in his "The Medieval Cross Slab Grave Cover in County Durham", this is St Hilda's Hartlepool 7: "The head of a small magnesian limestone slab, 0.21m x 0.25m (h). Relief design, round—leaf bracelet cross head. Late 12th or early 13th century."

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Described by Historic Buildings Consultant Peter Ryder in his "The Medieval Cross Slab Grave Cover in County Durham", this is St Hilda's Hartlepool 6: "Part of the head of a slab of yellowish limestone, 0.16m x 0.19m x 0.18m. Relief design, bracelet head with cross bands and the bracelets opening at right angles to the cross shaft. Late 12th or 13th century."

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Described by Historic Buildings Consultant Peter Ryder in his "The Medieval Cross Slab Grave Cover in County Durham", this is St Hilda's Hartlepool 5: "Part of the head of a slab of yellowish limestone, 0.41m x 0.19m x 0.18m. Relief design, bracelet cross with the bracelets terminating in trefoils, incised line decoration. Later 13th century. "

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Described by Historic Buildings Consultant Peter Ryder in his "The Medieval Cross Slab Grave Cover in County Durham", this is St Hilda's Hartlepool 4: "A section of the centre of a magnesian limestone slab 0.30m x 0.25m x 0.21m. Relief design, cross shaft rising from what appears to have been a stepped base, only a fragment of which remains. Not dateable".

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Described by Historic Buildings Consultant Peter Ryder in his "The Medieval Cross Slab Grave Cover in County Durham", this is St Hilda's Hartlepool 3. "A more or less intact slab of magnesian limestone, it(s) left edge slightly cut away, 0.62m x 0.20m x 0.18m (b). Incised design of straight-arm cross with cross bands and fleur-de-lys terminals, the fleur-de-lys leaves curling back to join those of...

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Described by Historic Buildings Consultant Peter Ryder in his "The Medieval Cross Slab Grave Cover in County Durham", this is St Hilda's Hartlepool 2. "This head of a coped slab of whitish sandstone, 0.25m x 0.36m (h). This has been a small but high quality slab of the type in which the cross head is set on a circular drum which rises from the sloping sides of the slab … The cross head is a bra...

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Described by Historic Buildings Consultant Peter Ryder in his "Medieval Cross Slab Grave Covers in County Durham" as Hartlepool 1. Located in the Brus Chapel, this grave marker is cracked into two pieces. This is the bottom section showing the calvary base of the cross: "A magnesian limestone slab lacking part of its head, 0.41m x 0.23m x 0.19m (b). Incised cross shaft rising from a three step c...

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Described by Historic Buildings Consultant Peter Ryder in his "Medieval Graveslabs of County Durham" as St Hilda's Hartlepool 1. Located in the Brus Chapel, this grave marker is cracked into two pieces. This is the top section: "A magnesian limestone slab lacking part of its head, 0.41m x 0.23m x 0.19m (b). Incised cross shaft rising from a three step calvary base, bracelet head carved in relief ...

St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)
St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool) submitted by Anne T : Recorded as AS Corpus Hartlepool 02, this stone is actually in the Great North Museum in Newcastle, but was found in a field called "Cross Close" near the present church yard in 1833. The lower two quadrants are inscribed with runes, also spelling the name Hildigyth. The Corpus tells us: "The use of the double 'd' in this name is unusual. The inscription is less carefully cut than on [Hartlepool] ...

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.
Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive OS map

Key: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed

Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)

To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.


Turn off the page maps and other distractions

Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 56m WNW 294° St Hilda's Wayside Cross (Hartlepool)* Ancient Cross (NZ5279033701)
 4.4km WSW 241° Catcote settlement Ancient Village or Settlement (NZ490315)
 5.9km WNW 283° Hart Village Erratic* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (NZ47103495)
 5.9km WNW 285° St Mary Magdalene (Hart)* Early Christian Sculptured Stone (NZ4704835105)
 12.0km SSE 152° Foxrush Farm Ancient Village or Settlement (NZ5865123120)
 13.3km SSW 213° St Cuthbert's Church (Billingham)* Ancient Cross (NZ4577722342)
 13.9km NW 305° .Lows Hill Round Barrow(s) (NZ413415)
 14.4km SW 217° St Mary (Stockton on Tees) Ancient Cross (NZ44272213)
 15.1km WNW 285° Old Wingate Long Barrow* Long Barrow (NZ38143745)
 15.1km WNW 286° Old Wingate Round Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (NZ3815937568)
 15.9km WSW 240° Thorpe Thewles cropmark Ancient Village or Settlement (NZ391257)
 15.9km SSE 166° Eston Nab Camp* Hillfort (NZ5679518248)
 16.0km SW 236° Thorpe Thewles settlement Ancient Village or Settlement (NZ39672445)
 16.1km NW 324° Hawthorn Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (NZ433467)
 16.2km SSE 166° Eston Nab Bowl Barrows* Round Barrow(s) (NZ56901802)
 16.2km SSE 167° Eston Moor B2* Round Barrow(s) (NZ5663317920)
 16.2km SSE 167° Eston Moor B3* Cairn (NZ5665817926)
 16.6km SSE 168° Eston Moor Bowl Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (NZ5646117430)
 16.7km S 169° Eston Moor Pond Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (NZ56181732)
 16.7km SSE 168° Eston Moor 3b* Rock Art (NZ5639117343)
 16.8km SSE 167° Moordale Bog 1* Rock Art (NZ5691417364)
 17.3km NW 316° Batter Law Tumulus* Round Barrow(s) (NZ40604599)
 17.3km NW 316° Batter Law Round Barrow(s) (NZ406460)
 17.4km S 171° Mount Pleasant (Eston)* Cairn (NZ55821654)
 18.8km SSW 205° Thornaby Green earthwork Ancient Village or Settlement (NZ45051650)
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< Parkfields Park Stone Circle

St Hilda's Wayside Cross (Hartlepool) >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

Contribute!

· NEW: I have visited
· I would like to visit
· Submit an Image
· Add a description
· Give accurate position
· Add a comment or news about this site

Cures and Curses, Ritual and cult at holy wells

Cures and Curses, Ritual and cult at holy wells

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"St Hilda's Church (Hartlepool)" | Login/Create an Account | 0 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>
We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.