Blanchland Abbey was the church, but also the rest of the village. Today’s houses are built on the footprint of those medieval buildings, allowing you a unique experience.
The abbey was founded in 1165, but very little survives from the 12th century. In the church, the tower is early 13 th century, extended upwards in the 14th century, and the transept is of a similar datem with the choir (round the corner) about a generation later.
Some precious fragments of medieval glass can be seen in the east window of the choir.
Henry Eighth’s agents demolished the main part of the church (the nave) in 1539 – the original church was huge going right back to the modern road. In 1752 the Lord Crewe Charity began to repair the church and built the south wall. The floor you see now, the fine wooden ceiling, pews and other furniture were all introduced in the 19 th century.
Infront of the glazed side chapel, you can see the superb medieval grave markers on the floor (they are not in their original locations, we know they have been moved at least once in the 19 th century). In the late 1400s the canons (the monks) got into trouble for keeping a pack of hounds for hunting, but the grave covers showed they had a great time doing just that – you can even see a bow and arrow and hunting horn!
On the wall above the side chapel, you can also see the outline of window openings for the 18 th century village school, and outside you can spot the roofline of a little church that abutted the outside of the tower, built after Henry VIII’s agents had done their worst.
The wonky windows in the choir are unusual and special – they were made in the 1850’s using zinc instead of lead. The zinc buckled under the weight of the glass, but then set hard!
The building has a wealth of graffiti from the middle ages to the present day.
You can read this Archaeological Assessment of Blanchland Abbey
Chapter 4 of this research report by Dr Sheila Severn Newton describes the Late Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Changes to Blanchland Abbey (to approximately 1970)
Please sign our visitors’ book – and maybe make a donation!
