Church of St Mary and St Cuthbert
CHURCH OF ST MARY AND ST CUTHBERT, CHURCH CHARE
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1120955
- Date first listed:
- 29-Jul-1950
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Mary and St Cuthbert
- Statutory Address:
- CHURCH OF ST MARY AND ST CUTHBERT, CHURCH CHARE
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2000-08-01
- Reference:
- IOE01/00192/05
- Rights:
- © Mr Bob Cottrell. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1120955
- Date first listed:
- 29-Jul-1950
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Mary and St Cuthbert
- Statutory Address 1:
- CHURCH OF ST MARY AND ST CUTHBERT, CHURCH CHARE
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- CHURCH OF ST MARY AND ST CUTHBERT, CHURCH CHARE
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- County Durham (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- NZ 27603 51316
Details
CHESTER-LE-STREET CHURCH CHARE NZ 25 SE (East side) 4/27 Church of St. Mary 29/7/50 and St. Cuthbert I
Large parish church. Mid C13 chancel, nave arcade, lower stage of tower and possibly vestry; c.1383 anchorage extended in mid C16; c.1400 belfry and spire; mid C16 east section of north aisle; 1742 porch; 1829 Lambton pew (chapel) by Ignatius Bonomi; 1862 restorations (including new chancel arch). Squared sandstone; ashlar porch and Lambton pew; graduated green slate roofs. Engaged west tower with spire; aisled nave with south porch (porch now choir vestry), anchorage in west bay of north aisle, Lambton pew on site of north transept; chancel with north vestry. Early English and Decorated; Gothick porch.
West tower: square lower stage with pointed doorway, 3-light window and twin lancets, flanked by buttress and stair turret; octagonal belfry has bell openings with Y-tracery and embattled parapet; very tall, slender octagonal spire. 6-bay nave with high-pitched roof. Buttressed south aisle on grave- slab footings; original 2-light window at west; pointed 2-order doorway in porch. North aisle: some Decorated and Perpendicular windows; similar doorway; 2 blocked pointed arches of demolished transept (third arch on chancel wall). Aisles have moulded plinths and low pent roofs. 4-bay chancel: 2 plate-tracery windows on south; east end has clasping buttresses and 1877 window; high-pitched roof. 2-storey anchorage under pent roof: cross window and single light (cut from one slab) on west; chamfered doorway and window on extension. Vestry under steep pent roof: Tudor-arched doorway; 2-light mullioned window with arched lights; diagonal buttress. Gabled Lambton pew has 4-light window and stone stairway on west. Porch: pointed doorway beneath stepped embattled gable; blank cinquefoil-headed windows on returns.
Interior. Double-chamfered pointed tower arches on 3-shaft responds. Similar 5-bay nave arcade on cylindrical piers with octagonal caps (2 west bays slightly later). Opening and squint on anchorage wall. South aisle: west end Baptistery with C15 font and ecclesiastical effigy; east end former chantry chapel with piscina and aumbry. North aisle: 14 effigies (5 are genuine) installed c.1595 by John Lord Lumley; six C16-17 Lumley wall monuments. Chancel: double-chamfered 1862 arch; late C13 trefoil-headed piscina and 3-seat sedilia on south; one south window has 2-order rear-arch with nailhead (colonnettes missing); 1883 rood screen, pulpit and choir stalls; 1927 reredos, panelling and Bishop's throne by Sir Charles Nicholson; three 1927 painted panels (Journey of St. Cuthbert's body) by A.K. Nicholson. Sculptural fragments, including grave slabs, in porch, anchorage and tower. Mid C19 roofs.
(I. Bunting and J. Brewster, A guide to the Parish Church, Chester-le-Street, 1983).
Listing NGR: NZ2760051315
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 109374
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Bunting, I, Brewster, J, A Guide to the Parish Church Chester Le Street, (1983)
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 09-Jun-2026 at 22:08:40.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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