<< Our Photo Pages >> Auckland St Andrew Ancient Cross - Ancient Cross in England in County Durham
Submitted by Anne T on Monday, 20 October 2014 Page Views: 4956
Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: Auckland St Andrew Ancient Cross Alternative Name: St. Andrew's Auckland, Ancient Cross at St. Andrew's Auckland, St. Andrew's Church Bishop AucklandCountry: England County: County Durham Type: Ancient Cross
Nearest Town: Bishop Auckland
Map Ref: NZ21752846
Latitude: 54.650777N Longitude: 1.664437W
Condition:
| 5 | Perfect |
| 4 | Almost Perfect |
| 3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
| 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
| 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
| 0 | No data. |
| -1 | Completely destroyed |
| 5 | Superb |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Ordinary |
| 2 | Not Good |
| 1 | Awful |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
| 4 | Short walk on a footpath |
| 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
| 2 | A long walk |
| 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
| 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
| 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
| 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
| 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
| 0 | no data |
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Anne T visited on 17th Oct 2014 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5 Auckland St Andrew Ancient Cross: This church is open during the day between May and the end of September, so I’d had to arrange a special appointment with the Church Warden to visit at 10am. In the event, the ladies were in arranging flowers in the church, so it would have been possible to gain entry today. The warden's wife told me that they hadn’t had the numbers of volunteers this year to open the church on more days this year.
The cross is almost hidden from view when you go in, lost amongst the grandeur of the rest of the church, and nestled underneath the eastern arch. It struck me that if it had been located a few feet further forward, it would have welcomed visitors into the church.
I could only find The AS Corpus artefacts labelled Auckland St. Andrew 1, 3 and 4. No. 2, which measured 9.5 ins by 7.8 ins by 3.9 ins appeared to be missing, despite being allowed to clamber over the barrier to look behind the tomb stones and with 2 of us looking. As this is the piece with a foot on, this was a shame.
There was no guide book at the church but was given a great verbal history. The Warden was very proud of the almost complete list of rectors and deans since the church was first established in 1085, kept in the south transept. He also told me the reason the door in the south west corner of the church was so tall; apparently the lord of the manor used to ride his horse into church, tether it near where the font is now, then take his place in his private pew. Some years ago, some masonry fell internally near the font. The Warden came in and found the rubble - had a service been taking place a the time there would have been injuries.
I was made to feel very welcome here, and invited to come back, if I telephoned in advance to arrange a date and time.
Whilst the present church was established on this site in 1274, it is known the land it sits on was one of the early acquisitions of the church in Durham (pledged sometime between 996 and 1018 AD) and was in use long before this. An archaeological evaluation by Peter F. Ryder in July 2005 cites St. Andrew’s Auckland as “one of the most important of the medieval parish churches in County Durham, and occupies the site of one or more earlier buildings.”
When this church was restored in 1881/82 four large fragments of Anglo Saxon stonework were found which have now been incorporated into a reconstruction of a 3.66 metre tall cross which sits under the tower arch inside the church. The St. Andrew’s church guide sheet dates these to around 650AD, whilst both the archaeological evaluation by Ryder and the University of Durham Corpus of Anglo Saxon Stone Sculptures dates the fragments to the late 8th/early 9th centuries.
A collection of other fragments from the Anglo Saxon and Norman periods are on show in the north-west corner of the nave, including other cross shaft fragments, a section of a hogback tombstone, grave covers and a very early (but mutilated) brass of a priest from the same date, said to be the finest in the country.
St. Andrew’s is situated on high ground between South Church Road, Auckland Road, Main Street and St. Oswald’s Close, just east of the junction between the A688 and A689 in Bishop Auckland. Whilst it is easy to park next to the church, there are steep steps from the south. Visitors needing a more level access can approach from a gate at the junction of Crown Street and South Church Road. The church is open most weekends from May until the end of September although the church warden will arrange for visits between these dates by appointment.
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