St Mary's Church, Holy Island. Photo by Northumberland County Council.

[NU 12564177] St Mary's Church. (1)

13th century incorporating late 12th century internal remains. (2)

In normal use. (3)

Church of St Mary. Part of a very important group with the Priory. Mainly a 13th century church of grey stone. Very tall pointed arch in west wall. North arcade of round arches on cylindrical piers, south arcade of pointed arches on octagonal piers. Earlier chancel arch visible above the present arch. Small splayed windows in chancel. 18th century font. Victorian Gothic arch on south wall contains Himsworth mural tablets. Grade I listed building. (4)

Church of St Mary, Grade I. Parish church. 12th and 13th century incorporating earlier masonry. Bellcote 18th century. Nave, aisle, chancel, south porch and north vestry. 19th century lancet at west end of nave. Victorian south porch. Blocked priest's door on south side of chancel.
Interior: 13th century south door. North arcade c.1200. West bay pointed arch is 13th century extension. Double chamfered 13th century chancel arch. Remains of Saxon chancel arch visible above; also Saxon masonry. Medieval grave cover in chancel north wall. East window by Mayer of Munich. Chancel south window by Atkinson. (5)

St Mary's Church stands immediately west of the priory church [NU 14 SW 11] on almost the same alignment. Research at other sites has shown this positioning of two churches is characteristic of important Anglo-Saxon minsters. Also suggested that the churches at Lindisfarne reflect the influence of formal pre-Conquest planning.
Chancel, south arcade and external walls are 13th century. Three bays in the north arcade date to c.1180-1200 from an earlier aisle. The nave was probably shortened slightly in the 13th century. The 12th century nave was probably 19.5m long internally. A dowsing survey in 1985 claimed to have located an earlier church beneath St Mary's although this has not yet been investigated through excavation. (6)

A small excavation was carried out in 1986 by Leicester University near the centre of the south aisle. No evidence of any earlier buildings was found but a large stone-lined burial vault was revealed. It pre-dates the 1860 restoration of the church and contained the remains of at least eight individuals. (7)

An evaluation was carried out in December 1998 by the Archaeological Practice on behalf of Scottish Power. A single trench was cut in three sections between the north- west corner of the church and the northern gateway to the cemetery. The ground into which the trench was cut, was heavily disturbed but no features or deposits were discovered other than surface layers probably associated with the constuction of a foot path. Any archaeology appears to lie significantly deeper then the levels threatened by this cable trench. (8)

Additional reference. (9)

Mainly early English style. Remains of an earlier building can be seen in three of the four arches separating the nave from the north aisle. The arches are round-headed. The chancel is early English and measures 49ft long; there are two aumbries (recesses) and an ancient tomb slab. (10)

The positioning and alignment with the Priory Church points to early origins. There are several Saxon features but the date of this fabric is uncertain. Could the shell of an early church have survived the Viking raids, or is the fabric 10th or 11th century in date and representative of a church not mentioned by Norman chroniclers. Detailed description given of the development of the medieval church. The main restoration was by F R Wilson in 1860. (11)

Wathing brief undertaken in January and February 2007 within the Church of St Mary. Areas A and B, located at the western ends of the nave and north aisle respectively, were examined in the removal of church pews and flooring. These revealed shallow depsths to the archaeology of possible wall footings, a pier base and door sill sealed beneath a variety of flooring thought to be 19th century, over a number of desposits. In places the 19th century deposits used for levelling of the floor have been disturbed by 20th century service trenches. (12)(13)

A trial trench and watching brief in 2010 on the site of a new vestry and works associated with conversion of the xistinct vestry to a WC revealed discrete groups of flagstones outside the thresholds of surviving medieval doorways. The function of other stonework in Trench 1, outside the south wall of the chancel, may possibly have formed the stone base for one side of a timber porch. A paved threshold was also revealed in the gate in the west wall of the churchyard. The jambs have a double-chamfer externally and are probably medieval. It is uncertain whether the jambs are in their original location although the fabric of the adjoining wall does reveal other possible traces of a structure (a gatehouse or porch perhaps) to which the door may originally have belonged. (14)

Church contains a series of war memorials as:
* a prie-dieu located in the chancel with small inscribed plaque "TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ IN LOVING MEMORY OF/ OUR DEAR SON/ SGT. GEORGE C. DOUGLAS, R.A./ DIED IN ACTION/ AT TOBRUK, 20TH JUNE 1942/ "THY WILL BE DONE".
*a wall-mounted black and white marble monument plaque inscribed "TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE OF/ PRIVATE GEORGE DOUGLAS CROMARTY,/ EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT/ DEARLY BELOVED SON OF THE LATE/ THOMAS AND SARAH CROMARTY,/ WHO FELL IN ACTION AT HARRICOURT/ 21ST MARCH 1918/ AGED 19 YEARS AND 8 MONTHS./ "HE DIED: IF IT BE DEATH TO GIVE/ HIS LIFE THAT ALL HE LOVED MIGHT LIVE."
* a white marble tablet inscribed "TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE OF/ JAMES BRIGHAM PATTERSON/ (PRIVATE) DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY,/ DEARLY BELOVED SON OF/ JOHN AND JANE ISABELLA PATTERSON,/ WHO FELL IN ACTION NEAR ST. QUENTIN, FRANCE/ 18TH SEPT. 1918 AGED 18 YEARS AND 9 MONTHS./ "GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS, THAT/ A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS."
*a shield-shaped wall-mounted wall tablet inscribed " IN/ LOVING MEMORY OF/ MY DEAR HUSBAND/ JAMES MARKWELL,/ R.N.R.,/ WHO LOST HIS LIFE SERVING HIS/ COUNTRY IN THE GREAT WAR/ ON THE MINESWEEPER/ H.M.S. HOLDENE,/ 2ND FEBY 1917,/ AGED 47 YEARS./ "I HAVE FOUGHT A GOOD/ FIGHT, I HAVE KEPT/ THE FAITH".
* a roll of honour. (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)

A photographic survey in 2017 suggests three successive construction phases for the east wall of the nave. One or more phases could be an Anglo-Scandinavian rebuilding but this may allow for the earliest work to survive from a stone rebuilding phase during the existence of the original Anglian monastery, before the AD 830s. (20)

Additional Reference (21)