Church of St Aidan

St Aidan’s Church, Bamburgh is a Grade I listed Church of England building in the Diocese of Newcastle.

History

According to Bede, St Aidan built a wooden church outside the castle wall in AD 635, and he died here in AD 652; (a wooden beam preserved inside the church is traditionally said to be the one on which he rested as he died). The present church dates from the late 12th century (though some pre-conquest stonework survives in the north aisle). The chancel, said to be the second longest in the country (60 ft), was added in 1230; it contains an 1895 reredos in Caen stone by W.S. Hicks, depicting northern saints of the 7th and 8th centuries.

Memorials

The church contains a 14th-century tomb recess with an effigy of a Knight. There are wall monuments to: Sir Claudius Forster, 1st Baronet of 1623, the Forster family of 1711, the Sharpe memorial 1839 by Chantrey.

The north aisle contains an effigy of local heroine Grace Darling dating from 1844 by Charles Raymond Smith. A second memorial in the churchyard, in such a position that it can be seen by passing ships, is by Anthony Salvin and Charles Raymond Smith, 1844.

The churchyard contains one Commonwealth war grave, of an airman of World War II.

Organ

The church had a two manual pipe organ by Harrison and Harrison dating from 1883. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.