Description

BLANCHLAND BLANCHLAND VILLAGE
NY 9650
24/14 Church of St. Mary
15.4.69 (formerly listed as Church
of St Mary the Virgin)

GV I

Parish church, formerly part of church of Premonstratensian abbey founded 1165
by Walter de Bolbec. Chancel c,1200-1210, north transept and tower mid C13
except for belfry stage of tower, C14. Repaired and adapted as parish church
1752 by Lord Crewe trustees, transept aisle rebuilt 1854, east end rebuilt 1881.
Squared stone with dressings; stone slate roof. L-plan, with tower at end of
north transept. Early English style.
Tower in 4 stages: chamfered plinth, set-backs and string courses; clasping
buttresses, north-western with newel stair (lit by chamfered loops) rising to
belfry, north-eastern with gabled heads below 2nd stage. Boarded doors on west
and east; western has pointed arch of 2 moulded orders with trefoil-headed
recess to north, beneath roof weathering of pre-1752 village chapel; eastern
has double-chamfered arch beneath steeply-pitched roof tabling of contemporary
chantry chapel. Lancet on north in triple-chamfered surround; similar window,
its head widened, above west door. Belfry stage has openings of 2 trefoiled
ogee-headed lights with quatrefoil over, and plain parapet. To south of tower,
4-bay west wall with central buttress formed from stub of north wall of abbey
nave. 2-light windows with Y-tracery, the southern C18 copies. 2-bay east
aisle of transept has 2-light windows in C14 style and lancet to north (blocked
pointed windows above aisle roof date from use of an upper floor as schoolroom,
1828-1851). Chancel has 2 lancets on north and south and a C19 triplet, with
shafted jambs, on the east.
Interior. Tall triple-chamfered tower arch; aisle arcade of pointed double-
chamfered arches with broach stops and chamfered hood, corbels and round column;
triple-chamfered transept arch on triple-shafted jambs, the broader central
shaft with fillet. Shouldered doorway to tower stair. Chancel lancets, have
lost jamb shafts; rear arches of east lancets form part of 5-bay wall arcade.
Triple sedilia on south largely C19; further west quirked jambs of blocked
sacristy door. Plain C12 or C13 font. 6 complete medieval grave slabs in
transept floor, including 2 to abbots and 2, with appropriate emblems, to
foresters. Small panels of C15 glass, 2 with figures of Premonstratensian
canons, in chancel windows. C18 arched commandment, creed and pater boards:
Old wall safe in transept aisle. Carved and panelled chancel ceiling of 1881;
sanctuary panelling, and reredos of 1890, carved screen and seating 1913.
'The Premonstratensian Abbey of St. Mary, Blanchland, Northumberland',
W.H. Knowles. Arch. J. LIX (1902) 328-41.

Listing NGR: NY9662550398

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17527773

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas