Accidental Pilgrims: A serendipitous visit to Corbridge

As St. Andrew's Church celebrates its 1350th anniversary

Oct 02, 2024

*There’s a wealth of history on the streets of Corbridge (Photo by Marie Powell)*

The picturesque village of Corbridge, Northumberland, was a bustling and important point on the route from Newcastle Upon Tyne to Scotland. Kings, troops, and travellers made their way down the same narrow roads that I travelled on a visit through this area of Northumberland last year. This year, the village is setting up to welcome more visitors than usual, as St. Andrew’s Church prepares to celebrate its 1350th anniversary.

A few facts about the village

The village (pop about 4500) is located 16 mi (26 km) west of Newcastle, on the Roman Trail leading to Hadrian’s Wall. The area has been important for communication and travel for eons, with settlements dating back to the Bronze age. It’s named after the Roman bridge across the River Tyne, although it’s been rebuilt and fortified several times, originally built to establish a town about a mile west of the current village to provide supplies for their northern frontier.

After the Third Century, the Saxons began to settle there, eventually using stone from the Roman ruins to establish Corbridge as a thriving settlement. King John named it a royal borough in 1201. In 1235, the old Roman bridge was replaced with a new bridge (later fortified by the present bridge in 1674), and for the next four centuries it became part of major route from Newcastle to Carlisle.

Since Corbridge and nearby Dilston will be major settings in one of my upcoming novels, I was anxious to explore the town in person. By a serendipitous accident, our short pilgrimage around the town proved to have an even more interesting tie-in to local history and culture than we realized at the time.

Becoming an accidental pilgrim

Angel Inn, Corbridge UK (Marie Powell) — *The Angel Inn in Corbridge (Photo by Marie Powell)*

One of the first buildings that caught our attention was The Angel Inn. We stopped in for a light lunch, and discovered this British pub dates back to 1569, making it one of the oldest pubs in Northumberland (maybe the oldest, according to the inn’s website).

Our meal (Marie Powell) — *The website says the meals are homemade with locally sourced ingredients, and this soup certainly tasted like it! (Photo by Marie Powell)*

The hotel owners have chronicled every owner back to the beginning, although they don’t know exactly when or why it gained the name Angel.

After our lunch, as we strolled about town, we discovered the Corbridge Heritage Centre, although it wasn’t open that day. With the help of our photographs and a website search, I was able to track down Ian Wylie and local historian David Waugh, who were generous with their expertise and willingness to discuss the town’s history with me.

A 1350-year-old Church

Ian mentioned the celebrations for the 1350th anniversary of St Andrew's Church to me in one of his emails. This church would have been a place that my characters would have enjoyed attending in 1290. Looking through my photographs, I discovered several of the church snapped by lucky accident during our walk. That got me interested in finding out more about it.

St Andrews's Gate (Marie Powell) — St. Andrew’s Lych Gate, a war memorial (Photo by Marie Powell)

The weekend of October 12-13 marks the start of the festivities, with events and activities continuing throughout the year. October 12th was chosen because it’s thought to be the date of Saint Wilfrid’s death in 709 or 710.

The church was named for Andrew, the first Apostle to follow Jesus. But who was Saint Wilfrid, and how does he fit in? He was mainly known as the saint of Hexham Abbey in Northumberland, but he also founded St Andrew’s Church in 674. During the kick-off weekend, along with a 1350th birthday cake, Canon David Kennedy will give a talk entitled, “God’s Rottweiler, St. Wilfrid, Bishop and Bruiser.” A controversial figure, Wilfrid advocated fiercely for the church and for Benedictine practices in England.

St. Wilfrid began his monastic life at Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, in Northumbria, but he travelled extensively and established several churches and monasteries in England. He was deposed and reinstated by several Anglo-Saxon monarchs over the years, as he worked to help establish the Christian church in England.

St. Andrew's, Corbridge (Marie Powell) — *An accidental pilgrim to St Andrew’s Church, Corbridge (Photo by Marie Powell)*

St. Andrew’s church began as a wooden structure in 674, replaced in 786 with a stone tower and long, narrow nave. It was almost destroyed by the Danes in the Tenth Century and finally rebuilt by the Normans in the Eleventh Century. The worst period of destruction for the church and for Corbridge occurred during King Edward I’s war with the Scots during the 1290s – in my novel’s time period.

St. Andrew’s has been called one of the most important surviving Saxon monuments in Northumberland (along with the Hexham Abbey). The west wall still houses the blocked doorway of the original Saxon Tower. Stones from the nearby Roman forts form the Nave, with its tall round-topped arch and built-in stone Piscina, or shallow basin used by the priests to wash objects like communion vessels.

King's oven (Marie Powell) — The King’s Oven dates back to 1310 (Photo by Marie Powell)

The King’s Oven was built into the churchyard wall as a communal oven. It was first used in 1310 and apparently continued until the 19th Century.

The Lady Chapel (a separate area for prayer dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus) boasts a Lancet window. This tall, narrow window, topped by a pointed arch, is considered characteristic of 13th Century architecture and allows natural light to flow in as a symbol of the Divine.

The year-long festivities planned to date include a Christmas Tree Festival featuring 135 trees and 135 carols, monthly heritage displays, concerts, a summer art exhibition, and a flower festival. Guided tours, special services, and spiritual pilgrimages around St. Andrew’s will help round out the year.

Have you visited St. Andrew’s or the Corbridge area? Have you ever been on a pilgrimage? Subscribe below to leave a comment and share your travel experiences.

Coming Friday:

Anyone for stovies and stotty cake (or stottie bread)?

Discover Northumberland culture through cooking

Marie Powell

October 4, 2024

Discover Northumberland culture through cooking

What do stotty (or stottie) cake, singing hinnies, and pan haggerty have in common? They’re Northumberland’s favourite foods – but don’t worry if you’ve never heard of them...

Read full story

Next week:

Author Ann Marie Ackermann will take you to the sunshine of the Canary Islands, where we will track one of the world’s rarest birds and follow the route Charles Darwin wanted to take, but couldn’t. The post will appear on Wednesday, October 9, followed by a recipe for the Canary Islands’ signature dish on October 11. Ann Marie will show you how to make it at home.

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