Inspired by a tweet from Dan Jackson, earlier this week, I headed south into County Durham on the Scrambler:
County Durham was among the saddest of the ‘sad shires’ of WW1 (with the Durham Light Infantry alone losing 13,000 men killed), but the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Hunstanworth in the North Pennines was lucky, and is the county’s only ‘thankful village’.
According to Wiki: The church, dedicated to St James the Less, was built in 1781 on a medieval site. The village was designed and built around the original parish church. The Reverend Daniel Capper commissioned architect Samuel Sanders Teulon to create the village in 1862-3; as well as rebuilding the church, Teulon delivered a vicarage and stable block, school and school-house and a mix of terraced, semi-detached and detached houses, all constructed of sandstone.
The church is also home to a hand-blown organ by Gray & Davison which was on display at the Great Exhibition of 1851.
A charming video is also available on the Thankful Villages website.
The church at Hunstanworth
The hand-blown organ by Gray & Davison which was on display at the Great Exhibition of 1851.
The stained glass windows, Hunstanworth Church
Ancient gravestones – one of many
The road home – to the right of my highest mirror is College Farm (near Edmundbyers), abandoned many years ago.
northumbrian : light 
It’s a Beautiful little church.
It is, and sited in the very centre of nowhere 😉
Magnificent photos of the church, Robin. I know I’ve been there but I can’t recollect exactly where it is.
Thanks Jo – a couple of miles from Blanchland on a single-track road you would never normally take. It takes you over the high moorlands to Rookhope. Perfect for the Scrambler 🙂
Sounds wonderful 🤗💕
What an organ! 🙂
Beautiful, isn’t it.
Oh yes!