Church of Mary Magdalene, Medomsley

The Church of Mary Magdalene in Medomsley dates from the 13th Century, thought to be on the site of an earlier church from the 11th century. It was a chapel of ease to All Saints Church in Lanchester, until Medomsley became an independent ecclesiastical (religious) parish. By the mid 19th century the parish church had fallen into disrepair. The roof leaked and timbers were rotting; then to add insult to injury, in 1860, a thief stole the bells from the churches of Medomsley and Ebchester. Work to repair and rebuild the church began in 1877; the work by Austin, Johnson and Hicks was sympathetic to the church's original design. The roof was repaired and a new north aisle was added.[1] Overall the church was largely rebuilt, but it retained it's 13th century chancel and south wall.[2] The church was reopened on the 29th May 1878. The Church of Mary Magdalene is Grade I listed on the National Heritage List for England.

The chapel, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, and built in 1280, stands at the west end of the village, and is in the early English style, consisting of a nave and chancel of equal width, separated by an arch springing from corbels on either side. The roof is of lead, resting on massive oak beams. The windows are lancet-shaped, and of very small dimensions; the east window, which is handsome, is of three lights: there is a piscina in the south wall under a trefoil arch with good mouldings. A porch existed about eighty years since on the south side, but it was taken down, and a vestry built against the south door. The chapel is said to have suffered much from the inroads of the Scots. In the burial-ground are three stone coffins, two having the figure of a cross with a sword suspended, and the other bearing a longitudinal inscription, now illegible

Extract from: A Topographical Dictionary of England comprising the several counties, cities, boroughs, corporate and market towns, parishes, and townships..... 7th Edition, by Samuel Lewis, London, 1848.