Reasons for Designation
A medieval chapel is a building, usually rectangular, containing a range of
furnishings and fittings appropriate for Christian worship in the pre-
Reformation period. Chapels were designed for congregational worship and were
generally divided into two main parts: the nave, which provided accommodation
for the laity, and the chancel, which was the main domain of the priest and
contained the principal altar. Around 4000 parochial chapels were built
between the 12th and 17th centuries as subsidiary places of worship built for
the convenience of parishioners who lived at a distance from the main parish
church. Other chapels were built as private places of worship by manorial
lords and lie near or within manor houses, castles or other high-status
residences. Chantry chapels were built and maintained by endowment and were
established for the singing of masses for the soul of the founder. Some
chapels possessed burial grounds. Unlike parish churches, the majority of
which remain in ecclesiastical use, chapels were often abandoned as their
communities and supporting finances declined or disappeared. Many chantry
chapels disappeared after the dissolution of their supporting communities in
the 1540s.
Chapels, like parish churches, have always been major features of the
landscape. A significant number of surviving examples are identified as being
nationally important. The sites of abandoned chapels, where positively
identified, are particularly worthy of statutory protection as they were often
left largely undisturbed and thus retain important information about the
nature and date of their use up to their abandonment.
Details
The monument includes part of the deserted medieval village and chapel of
Tughall. It is situated on level ground in the arable coastal strip of north
Northumberland. The village earthworks comprise a series of rectangular
crofts, or house platforms, on the south side of a sunken way or old stream
course. To the south of these is a block of medieval ridge and furrow
ploughing which measures 7m from furrow to furrow and stands up to 0.3m high,
with a headland on the southern edge. Along the southern edge of the field
system is a sunken track 7m wide and 0.3m deep. The village of Tughall was a
member of the barony of Alnwick and was held in demesne in 1242. It is
mentioned in documents of 1292, when Edward I stayed there en route to
Scotland.
The 12th century chapel and its graveyard are located at the east end of the
village and are raised above the level of the surrounding land. The chapel is
visible as a rectangular mound and measures 22m north east to south west by
10m north west to south east, stands 0.5m high and contains stone foundations.
Drawings made c.1786 by S H Grimm show the architecture of the chapel was
early Norman and the building consisted of a nave, square chancel and
semicircular apse with vault. At the east end there is a standing section of
an apse; this measures 4m by 3m and stands up to 2.1m high internally with
traces of the internal floor surface and external foundations clearly visible.
An entrance survives above ground in the south wall of the nave, marked by
kerb stones and measuring 1m wide. The chapel is surrounded by a bank 2m wide
which stands up to 1m high internally and 2.5m externally. This demarcates a
chapel graveyard measuring 57m east-west by 40m north-south. On the south side
there is no bank but there is a ditch up to 3m wide and 0.6m deep. One grave
cover and some fragments are visible in the graveyard south of the chapel. The
complete grave cover measures 2m long and 0.2m thick and lies to one side of a
slight depression which probably represents a grave. A stone cross is situated
10m to the south of the chapel and consists of a socket stone 0.7m square and
0.1m high set in the ground, and containing part of a cross shaft 0.2m high.
Tughall, along with other chapels in the parish of Bamburgh, was in the
possession of Nostell Priory, although in 1147 two thirds of the tithes were
given to Alnwick Abbey. It constituted a chapel of ease to Bamburgh and was
last used in 1630. The chapel is said to have been built on the spot where the
body of St Cuthbert rested on 13th December 1069, during its removal from
Durham to Lindisfarne. The cemetery was consecrated c.1217. Against the
western edge of the graveyard is a pond, now dry, which first appears on a map
of 1834. The pond measures 20m north west to south east by 18m north east to
south west. Two telegraph poles and the stone wall around the plantation at
the north of the site are excluded but the ground beneath them is included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
24638
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
