St Andrew's Church, Shotley

St Andrew's Church, Shotley, is a redundant Anglican church standing in an isolated position at a height of 960 feet (293 m) on Greymare Hill in Northumberland, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, and is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

1. History

The church was built in 1769 to replace an earlier church on the site. It was superseded in 1837 by St John's Church, Snods Edge, Shotley Bridge, several miles to the south. In the 19th century St Andrew's suffered from subsidence due to mine workings, and it was remodelled in 1892. St Andrew's was declared redundant on 29 October 1971, and was vested in the Trust on 13 April 1973.

1. Architecture

St Andrew's is constructed in coursed rubble with a slate roof. Its plan is cruciform with four equal arms, having a nave and chancel, and north and south transepts. Attached to the south transept is a gabled porch. Above the porch and on the sides of the nave and transepts are single-light round-headed windows. At the west end of the church is a pointed window over which is a plain arched bellcote. In the chancel there are paired lancet windows on the sides, and a two-light east window. Attached to the walls of the church are 18th-century headstones. Inside the chancel are a 19th-century credence table and a piscina. On the walls are memorial tablets. The fittings date from the 19th century and these include a screen across the north transept. In the vestry is a small 18th-century fireplace. There are stone benches in the porch.

1. External features

In the churchyard, to the northeast of the church, is the Hopper Mausoleum, which is a Grade I listed building. Also in the churchyard are three Grade II listed buildings; these are a hearse house, the Chatt headstone, and the Gibson headstone.

1. See also

List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in Northern England

1. References

Nearby Places View Menu

Minsteracres

Minsteracres is an 18th-century mansion house, now a Christian retreat centre, in Northumberland, England. It is a Grade II listed building. The house was built in 1758 by George Silvertop. Originally erected with two storeys, a third storey was added in 1811 and a new North wing was built in 1865. The Silvertops were a Roman Catholic family. George Silvertop was in 1831 the first Catholic appointed High Sheriff of Northumberland following the repeal of the penal law. His nephew Henry Charles Silvertop, High Sheriff in 1859 built a Catholic chapel adjoining the hall, and dedicated to St Elizabeth of Hungary in 1854. The chapel is a Grade II listed building. The Silvertop family sold the House in 1949 for conversion to a Passionist Monastery. A retreat house was opened in 1967, and in the 1970s links were established with the Selly Park sisters and the Sisters of Mercy from Sunderland. Since 2012 Minsteracres has been run by a charitable trust on behalf of the Passionist community. It describes itself as a "Christian place of prayer with a resident community rooted in the Roman Catholic Passionist tradition". In the early 1960s Consett artist Sheila Mackie painted two large murals Agony in the Garden and The Conversion of Saul, each 40 feet (12 m) by 12 feet (3.7 m) for the Minsteracres retreat house; they were known to still exist in 2010 and are listed in the database PostWar Murals Database, last updated 2013. The east and west lodges, stable block, entrance screen with flanking walls and a group of farm buildings are all separately grade II listed.

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Whittonstall

Whittonstall is a hilltop village (altitude 252 metres or 826 feet above sea level) in the civil parish of Shotley Low Quarter, in Northumberland, England.

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Apperley Dene

Apperley Dene is a hamlet in Stocksfield parish, Northumberland, England. It is situated south of the River Tyne between Hexham and Newcastle upon Tyne.

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Hindley, Northumberland

Hindley is a small hamlet, comprising around 20 residences. It is in the parish of Stocksfield and is just to the south of Stocksfield in Northumberland with Broomley to the west and Whittonstall to the east. It is south of the River Tyne. Hindley is composed of a large house, Hindley Hall (now split up into three houses and four flats), a farm (now converted into residences) and a post box.

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