Warkworth Castle Hermitage (Warkworth)
The hermitage and chapel of Holy Trinity is situated in a peaceful, retired place, overshadowed and surrounded by trees upon the left bank of the River Coquet a mile or so above the castle, in that part of the manor of Warkworth anciently called Sunderland park. It can be approached by boat up the river from the landing place below the castle or by a pleasant footpath through woods and meadows up the right bank and across by ferry from the upper boat landing.
Nothing is known as to the date of its foundation except what can be surmised from its architectural details. It may be assumed that it was founded by one of the 14th century Percy lords of Warkworth and dedicated by him in honour of the Holy Trinity, but of the occasion or reason for its foundation nothing is known.
Legends have been told of it, and poetry, such as the ballad of The Hermit of Warkworth, has been written about it, but these are vain tales with no historical basis of fact.
It is one of the cave hermitages of which there are other examples in England, though, with its carefully planned chapels and fine architectural detail, it is very different from the rough-hewn caverns used elsewhere for a like purpose. It was the dwelling place of a hermit who, unlike an anchorite who never left his cell or anchorage, was at liberty to move about the country supporting himself by the alms of the faithful or, as at Warkworth, by the produce of his little farm and garden. The Hermitage is first mentioned in records in the year 1487, when one Thomas Barker, was appointed for life by the 4th earl of Northumberland, 'chaplain of the chantry in Sunderland park' to celebrate mass in the chapel there at a yearly stipend of 66s-8d.
He was succeeded by John Greene, who was chaplain there in 1506, whilst in the year 1515 Edward Slegg, chaplain, is called 'hermit in the chapel of Holy Trinity in Warkworth park'; he received an annuity of 5 marks from the 5th earl of Northumberland. In the year 1531, on account of 'the diligent and thankful service' of his chaplain, Sir George Lancastre, the 6th earl appointed him to 'myn armitage bilded in a rock of stone within my parke of Warworth'. He was there to pray daily for the 'good estate of all such noble blode as be now levynge' and for !the soules of such noble blode as be departed!; in return for this he was to receive 20 marks yearly, pasture for twelve cattle, one bull and two horses, also two loads of wood and a draught of fish every Sunday.
The hermitage and chapel had ceased to be occupied by the year 1567. In a survey made in that year it is described as 'one howse hewn within a cradge which is called the harmitadge chapell, in the same hath bene one prest keapid which did such godly service as that tyme was used and celbrated; the mantion-howse is now in decaye, the closes that apperteaned to the said chantry is occupied to his lordship's use'. In another survey of the Percy lands made in 1586 it is called 'a house in which hath been kept in times past an heremity or priest to doe and celebrate divine service.'! Nothing more is known of its history; the house gradually became ruinous, but the chapels, hewn from the living rock, remain still in good condition to testify to the fervent pity of our 14th century forefathers.
DESCRIPTION:
Warkworth Hermitage is approached from the landing place by a path which ascends on the narrow margin between river and cliffs and passes on the right the hermit's spring, now seldom running. It can also be reached from above by a flight of steps cut through the cliff.
As first constructed, early in the 14th century, it consisted of three chambers hewn out of a projecting salient of cliff on the north side of the River Coquet.
THE LIVING ROOMS: Later in the 14th, or early in the 15th century, living rooms were added on the face of the cliff, and these were altered about 100 years later. The ground floor, partly set in under the overhanging cliff, has a central doorway with a small internal lobby. To the right was a kitchen about 15ft square, with an oven the base of which remains. To the left was the hermit's Hall, 15ft by 18ft, with a fireplace, a large window towards the river, a small loop commanding the entrance, an aumbry, and a door at the north-east corner opening from a two-storied annexe which seems to have been a later addition. The jambs of the lobby doors are scarred where tools, or weapons, have been sharpened upon them.
Some sort of passage crossed over the kitchen from the stpes hewn out of the cliff to the door of the chapel and perhaps to a door in the solar above the hall, and there must have been a stair from the ground floor to this passage, but it has disappeared and the existing
steps are modern.
The Solar, on the first floor over the Hall, had a window towards the river, a garderobe in its north west corner, and a fireplace at its south end; its plan is now very irregular as its back consists of part of the much smaller rock-hewn chamber which preceded it, the west end of which was either removed when the house was built or had already fallen away. Near the floor of this inner chamber a row of four small loopholes overlooks the chapel, while a door at the back led to the sacristy. The rock-hewn floor is much above the level of the solar floor, the connection between them seems to have been by steps at the north corner where there was also an opening into the upper floor of the annexe.
THE CHAPEL: Chapel and sacristy are both set parallel with the river face of the upper cliff and so at an angle of 45 degrees to the house. They lie south east and north west, but for convenience of description they are here considered as lying east and ??? .
A miniature porch, with a stone seat on each side, led from the passage or gallery into the west bay of the chapel. Above the tiny inner door of the porch there was carved on the outside a crucifix between figures of Our Lady and St John, and on the inside there is said to have been a shield bearing an object which resembled a gauntlet: but there are no traces of carving, and the shield may have been painted on the rock. Under the shield was written in black-letter 'Fuerunt mihi lacrymae meae panes die ac nocte' ('My tears have been my meat day and night'. Psalm xlii,3).
The chapel measures only 7ft 6ins by 20ft 6ins, and is covered by three groined bays of imitation vaulting supported by semi-octagonal shafts with moulded caps and bases, all of which are cut out of the rock.
At the east end is a rock-cut altar with a small cusped recess above it, no doubt for relics as there was no provision for them in the altar itself. Three of the consecration crosses of the altar top still remain. On the north side of the east bay is a four-light barred but unglazed window with flowing tracery, serving as a borrowed light for the sacristy, and on the south side an arched recess with two single-light windows. In this recess is a curious piece of sculpture representing a reclining woman; her head is supported on a square ledge with a nimbus above, and her feet rest against a piscina-like bowl with no drain, on a pillar projecting from the sill. The inner sills of the two little windows are curiously cut away, leaving two much weather-worn lumps of rock; one might be taken for a human figure beside the woman's shoulder, the other, above the basin, has been likened to a bull's head. On the woman's breast another mass of rock might pass for an infant. In an ogee-headed niche in the west jamb of the recess is the upper part of a kneeling man in an attitude of grief or contemplation; he wears a heavy gown with short sleeves and his long curled hair is crowned with a round hat. The whole may be a Nativity, but in the present condition of the work it is not possible to state either its date or purpose with any certainty.
In the centre bay on the south side is a quatrefoil opening with a hemispherical basin cut in its inner sill; and on the north side are three narrow trefoil-headed slits forming the front of a squint which allow the chapel altar to be seen from the west part of the sacristy.
The west bay has a door to the sacristy, opposite the entrance door, and above it is carved in high relief a shield bearing the Instruments of the Passion, with the text formerly traceable. The shield is suspended by a carved riband from a small ornamental corbel.
The sacristy measures about 5ft by 28ft, including a lobby formerly screened off at its west end, and has two cupboards on its north side. At its east end are two steps and an altar, now much hewn away; unlike that in the chapel, it had a separate altar slab, and a breach in its
reredos opens into a natural cleft in the rock which extends right through the cliff. Near the borrowed light referred to above, is a small recess as if for a lamp; it cannot be a piscina for it has neither basin nor drain. The sacristy ceiling is a plain unribbed barrel vault, cut out of the rock, and the two vaulting shafts at the north west end of the chapel have been left in the rough while the bosses of its vault ribs have never been carved. Apparently the work was interrupted by the Scottish raid of 1341, when Warkworth was sacked, and an opportunity of engaging fresh carvers did not arise before the plague of 1349; and the work was finally abandoned on the death of Henry Percy, the most probable patron of the work, in 1352.
The whole interior has formerly been decorated in white and colours, and traces of a painted cruciform nimbus were visible in the last century at the top of the reredos of the chapel.
The steps ascending the cliff pass through a rock-cut doorway where there is a neatly hewn gutter which prevents surface water from flowing down the stair. At the top of the cliff was the hermit's orchard, and his pastures. (1)
Hermitage; probably best preserved example now existing [1852]. (2)
Hermit's Chapel, measures c.18ft long by 7ft wide x 7ft high. Hewn from rock. Pillars suggest 14th century date. (3)
NU 2414 0594. Warkworth Castle Hermitage. Scheduled RSM No 23232. The monument comprises Warkworth Castle hermitage and is situated on the River Coquet in an area formerly part of the manor of Warkworth known as Sunderland Park. Originally the hermitage consisted of three chambers carved out of a projecting part of the riverside cliff. No documentary evidence for the foundation of the hermitage has been found, but the architectural detail of the rock-cut features indicates an early 14th century date. The three chambers include the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, a sacristy to the N of this and, to the W, a small room interpreted as the early living quarters of the hermit. Access was via a porch leading through the cliff face into the SW corner of the chapel. The walls and roof of the chapel were carved to imitate a structure of three vaulted bays, but the work was interrupted by the Scottish raid on Warkworth in 1341 and never completed. The chapel measures 6.2m by 2.3m and has a rock-cut altar at the E end with a recess for relics above. On the N side is the door into the sacristy, a squint which allowed the chapel altar to be seen from inside the sacristy, and an unglazed traceried window which allowed light into the sacristy from outside. On the S side is a basin carved inside a bay lit by a quatrefoil opening, and a second recess containing a carved religious scene lit by two single-light windows. Carvings depicting the crucifixion and the instruments of Christ's Passion appear over the doorways into the chapel and sacristy, both accompanied by inscriptions taken from the Psalms. The sacristy measures 8.5m by 1.6m and was formerly partitioned at the W end to create an additional room. At the E end is an altar with a small recess for a lamp, while two aumbries are cut into the rock on the N side. Formerly, the interior of the three chambers included painted decoration throughout.
At some point in the late 14th or early 15th century, the hermitage was extended by the construction of more spacious and comfortable living quarters comprising a hall, kitchen and solar or private room. The latter was built onto the W side of the original rock-cut living chamber whose outer wall must have already collapsed or been demolished for the purpose. The solar contained a garderobe, a window overlooking the river and doors leading to the sacristy and to the rock-cut stairs leading up to the chapel. The hall and kitchen lay below the solar and chapel, set partly beneath an overhang in the cliff. A central doorway led into a small lobby which gave onto the hall on the left and kitchen on the right. The hall, or living area, measures 5.5m by 4.6m and includes a large window overlooking the river, a fireplace, a cupboard and, in the NE corner, a doorway into a two-storey annexe which was added to the hermitage in the
late 15th or 16th century. The kitchen is 4.6m square and contains the base of an oven. The doorway into the kitchen was blocked in the relatively recent past. To the E of the kitchen, near the steps leading up to the chapel, is another flight of stairs which rise through a tunnel to the site of the hermitage farm on the cliff-top above.
The founder of the hermitage is believed to have been Henry, second Lord Percy of Alnwick, who was granted Warkworth Castle in 1332 and died in 1353. The hermitage is not mentioned in records, however, until 1487 when Thomas Barker was appointed for life by the fourth earl of Northumberland to be 'chaplain of the chantry in Sunderland Park'. Both hermitage and chapel had fallen out of use by 1567 when it is recorded that the buildings were in decay and that the fields belonging to the hermitage had reverted to the earls of Northumberland. The monument has been in State care since 1923. (4)
Additional Bibliography. (8)
(Note: On NRHE record it states The OS record for NU 20 NW 6 is missing up to the Field Recorder below and is thus derived from the latest Scheduled entry)
Condition unchanged, drip well surveyed at 1/2500. (9a)
Warkworth Hermitage. Grade I. (9b)
Probably founded about 1400 by the first Earl of Northumbria, possibly as a chantry chapel rather than a true hermitage. The rock cut chapel and living quarters date from the 14th and 15th centuries. It comprises three vaulted bays. The interior features a nativity scene. It was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and its internal ornament- the Nativity Scene- suggests in addition devotion to the Virgin Mary. The doorway to the innner chamber has a shield carved over it on which are the instruments of Christ's crucifixion. The chapel had fallen out of use by 1567 and was the subject of a romantic and fanciful poem published in 1771. The Hermitage is in the care of English Heritage. (9c)
General association with HER 5404. (9)
Nothing is known as to the date of its foundation except what can be surmised from its architectural details. It may be assumed that it was founded by one of the 14th century Percy lords of Warkworth and dedicated by him in honour of the Holy Trinity, but of the occasion or reason for its foundation nothing is known.
Legends have been told of it, and poetry, such as the ballad of The Hermit of Warkworth, has been written about it, but these are vain tales with no historical basis of fact.
It is one of the cave hermitages of which there are other examples in England, though, with its carefully planned chapels and fine architectural detail, it is very different from the rough-hewn caverns used elsewhere for a like purpose. It was the dwelling place of a hermit who, unlike an anchorite who never left his cell or anchorage, was at liberty to move about the country supporting himself by the alms of the faithful or, as at Warkworth, by the produce of his little farm and garden. The Hermitage is first mentioned in records in the year 1487, when one Thomas Barker, was appointed for life by the 4th earl of Northumberland, 'chaplain of the chantry in Sunderland park' to celebrate mass in the chapel there at a yearly stipend of 66s-8d.
He was succeeded by John Greene, who was chaplain there in 1506, whilst in the year 1515 Edward Slegg, chaplain, is called 'hermit in the chapel of Holy Trinity in Warkworth park'; he received an annuity of 5 marks from the 5th earl of Northumberland. In the year 1531, on account of 'the diligent and thankful service' of his chaplain, Sir George Lancastre, the 6th earl appointed him to 'myn armitage bilded in a rock of stone within my parke of Warworth'. He was there to pray daily for the 'good estate of all such noble blode as be now levynge' and for !the soules of such noble blode as be departed!; in return for this he was to receive 20 marks yearly, pasture for twelve cattle, one bull and two horses, also two loads of wood and a draught of fish every Sunday.
The hermitage and chapel had ceased to be occupied by the year 1567. In a survey made in that year it is described as 'one howse hewn within a cradge which is called the harmitadge chapell, in the same hath bene one prest keapid which did such godly service as that tyme was used and celbrated; the mantion-howse is now in decaye, the closes that apperteaned to the said chantry is occupied to his lordship's use'. In another survey of the Percy lands made in 1586 it is called 'a house in which hath been kept in times past an heremity or priest to doe and celebrate divine service.'! Nothing more is known of its history; the house gradually became ruinous, but the chapels, hewn from the living rock, remain still in good condition to testify to the fervent pity of our 14th century forefathers.
DESCRIPTION:
Warkworth Hermitage is approached from the landing place by a path which ascends on the narrow margin between river and cliffs and passes on the right the hermit's spring, now seldom running. It can also be reached from above by a flight of steps cut through the cliff.
As first constructed, early in the 14th century, it consisted of three chambers hewn out of a projecting salient of cliff on the north side of the River Coquet.
THE LIVING ROOMS: Later in the 14th, or early in the 15th century, living rooms were added on the face of the cliff, and these were altered about 100 years later. The ground floor, partly set in under the overhanging cliff, has a central doorway with a small internal lobby. To the right was a kitchen about 15ft square, with an oven the base of which remains. To the left was the hermit's Hall, 15ft by 18ft, with a fireplace, a large window towards the river, a small loop commanding the entrance, an aumbry, and a door at the north-east corner opening from a two-storied annexe which seems to have been a later addition. The jambs of the lobby doors are scarred where tools, or weapons, have been sharpened upon them.
Some sort of passage crossed over the kitchen from the stpes hewn out of the cliff to the door of the chapel and perhaps to a door in the solar above the hall, and there must have been a stair from the ground floor to this passage, but it has disappeared and the existing
steps are modern.
The Solar, on the first floor over the Hall, had a window towards the river, a garderobe in its north west corner, and a fireplace at its south end; its plan is now very irregular as its back consists of part of the much smaller rock-hewn chamber which preceded it, the west end of which was either removed when the house was built or had already fallen away. Near the floor of this inner chamber a row of four small loopholes overlooks the chapel, while a door at the back led to the sacristy. The rock-hewn floor is much above the level of the solar floor, the connection between them seems to have been by steps at the north corner where there was also an opening into the upper floor of the annexe.
THE CHAPEL: Chapel and sacristy are both set parallel with the river face of the upper cliff and so at an angle of 45 degrees to the house. They lie south east and north west, but for convenience of description they are here considered as lying east and ??? .
A miniature porch, with a stone seat on each side, led from the passage or gallery into the west bay of the chapel. Above the tiny inner door of the porch there was carved on the outside a crucifix between figures of Our Lady and St John, and on the inside there is said to have been a shield bearing an object which resembled a gauntlet: but there are no traces of carving, and the shield may have been painted on the rock. Under the shield was written in black-letter 'Fuerunt mihi lacrymae meae panes die ac nocte' ('My tears have been my meat day and night'. Psalm xlii,3).
The chapel measures only 7ft 6ins by 20ft 6ins, and is covered by three groined bays of imitation vaulting supported by semi-octagonal shafts with moulded caps and bases, all of which are cut out of the rock.
At the east end is a rock-cut altar with a small cusped recess above it, no doubt for relics as there was no provision for them in the altar itself. Three of the consecration crosses of the altar top still remain. On the north side of the east bay is a four-light barred but unglazed window with flowing tracery, serving as a borrowed light for the sacristy, and on the south side an arched recess with two single-light windows. In this recess is a curious piece of sculpture representing a reclining woman; her head is supported on a square ledge with a nimbus above, and her feet rest against a piscina-like bowl with no drain, on a pillar projecting from the sill. The inner sills of the two little windows are curiously cut away, leaving two much weather-worn lumps of rock; one might be taken for a human figure beside the woman's shoulder, the other, above the basin, has been likened to a bull's head. On the woman's breast another mass of rock might pass for an infant. In an ogee-headed niche in the west jamb of the recess is the upper part of a kneeling man in an attitude of grief or contemplation; he wears a heavy gown with short sleeves and his long curled hair is crowned with a round hat. The whole may be a Nativity, but in the present condition of the work it is not possible to state either its date or purpose with any certainty.
In the centre bay on the south side is a quatrefoil opening with a hemispherical basin cut in its inner sill; and on the north side are three narrow trefoil-headed slits forming the front of a squint which allow the chapel altar to be seen from the west part of the sacristy.
The west bay has a door to the sacristy, opposite the entrance door, and above it is carved in high relief a shield bearing the Instruments of the Passion, with the text formerly traceable. The shield is suspended by a carved riband from a small ornamental corbel.
The sacristy measures about 5ft by 28ft, including a lobby formerly screened off at its west end, and has two cupboards on its north side. At its east end are two steps and an altar, now much hewn away; unlike that in the chapel, it had a separate altar slab, and a breach in its
reredos opens into a natural cleft in the rock which extends right through the cliff. Near the borrowed light referred to above, is a small recess as if for a lamp; it cannot be a piscina for it has neither basin nor drain. The sacristy ceiling is a plain unribbed barrel vault, cut out of the rock, and the two vaulting shafts at the north west end of the chapel have been left in the rough while the bosses of its vault ribs have never been carved. Apparently the work was interrupted by the Scottish raid of 1341, when Warkworth was sacked, and an opportunity of engaging fresh carvers did not arise before the plague of 1349; and the work was finally abandoned on the death of Henry Percy, the most probable patron of the work, in 1352.
The whole interior has formerly been decorated in white and colours, and traces of a painted cruciform nimbus were visible in the last century at the top of the reredos of the chapel.
The steps ascending the cliff pass through a rock-cut doorway where there is a neatly hewn gutter which prevents surface water from flowing down the stair. At the top of the cliff was the hermit's orchard, and his pastures. (1)
Hermitage; probably best preserved example now existing [1852]. (2)
Hermit's Chapel, measures c.18ft long by 7ft wide x 7ft high. Hewn from rock. Pillars suggest 14th century date. (3)
NU 2414 0594. Warkworth Castle Hermitage. Scheduled RSM No 23232. The monument comprises Warkworth Castle hermitage and is situated on the River Coquet in an area formerly part of the manor of Warkworth known as Sunderland Park. Originally the hermitage consisted of three chambers carved out of a projecting part of the riverside cliff. No documentary evidence for the foundation of the hermitage has been found, but the architectural detail of the rock-cut features indicates an early 14th century date. The three chambers include the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, a sacristy to the N of this and, to the W, a small room interpreted as the early living quarters of the hermit. Access was via a porch leading through the cliff face into the SW corner of the chapel. The walls and roof of the chapel were carved to imitate a structure of three vaulted bays, but the work was interrupted by the Scottish raid on Warkworth in 1341 and never completed. The chapel measures 6.2m by 2.3m and has a rock-cut altar at the E end with a recess for relics above. On the N side is the door into the sacristy, a squint which allowed the chapel altar to be seen from inside the sacristy, and an unglazed traceried window which allowed light into the sacristy from outside. On the S side is a basin carved inside a bay lit by a quatrefoil opening, and a second recess containing a carved religious scene lit by two single-light windows. Carvings depicting the crucifixion and the instruments of Christ's Passion appear over the doorways into the chapel and sacristy, both accompanied by inscriptions taken from the Psalms. The sacristy measures 8.5m by 1.6m and was formerly partitioned at the W end to create an additional room. At the E end is an altar with a small recess for a lamp, while two aumbries are cut into the rock on the N side. Formerly, the interior of the three chambers included painted decoration throughout.
At some point in the late 14th or early 15th century, the hermitage was extended by the construction of more spacious and comfortable living quarters comprising a hall, kitchen and solar or private room. The latter was built onto the W side of the original rock-cut living chamber whose outer wall must have already collapsed or been demolished for the purpose. The solar contained a garderobe, a window overlooking the river and doors leading to the sacristy and to the rock-cut stairs leading up to the chapel. The hall and kitchen lay below the solar and chapel, set partly beneath an overhang in the cliff. A central doorway led into a small lobby which gave onto the hall on the left and kitchen on the right. The hall, or living area, measures 5.5m by 4.6m and includes a large window overlooking the river, a fireplace, a cupboard and, in the NE corner, a doorway into a two-storey annexe which was added to the hermitage in the
late 15th or 16th century. The kitchen is 4.6m square and contains the base of an oven. The doorway into the kitchen was blocked in the relatively recent past. To the E of the kitchen, near the steps leading up to the chapel, is another flight of stairs which rise through a tunnel to the site of the hermitage farm on the cliff-top above.
The founder of the hermitage is believed to have been Henry, second Lord Percy of Alnwick, who was granted Warkworth Castle in 1332 and died in 1353. The hermitage is not mentioned in records, however, until 1487 when Thomas Barker was appointed for life by the fourth earl of Northumberland to be 'chaplain of the chantry in Sunderland Park'. Both hermitage and chapel had fallen out of use by 1567 when it is recorded that the buildings were in decay and that the fields belonging to the hermitage had reverted to the earls of Northumberland. The monument has been in State care since 1923. (4)
Additional Bibliography. (8)
(Note: On NRHE record it states The OS record for NU 20 NW 6 is missing up to the Field Recorder below and is thus derived from the latest Scheduled entry)
Condition unchanged, drip well surveyed at 1/2500. (9a)
Warkworth Hermitage. Grade I. (9b)
Probably founded about 1400 by the first Earl of Northumbria, possibly as a chantry chapel rather than a true hermitage. The rock cut chapel and living quarters date from the 14th and 15th centuries. It comprises three vaulted bays. The interior features a nativity scene. It was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and its internal ornament- the Nativity Scene- suggests in addition devotion to the Virgin Mary. The doorway to the innner chamber has a shield carved over it on which are the instruments of Christ's crucifixion. The chapel had fallen out of use by 1567 and was the subject of a romantic and fanciful poem published in 1771. The Hermitage is in the care of English Heritage. (9c)
General association with HER 5404. (9)
N5405
HERITAGE ASSESSMENT, English Heritage Coastal Estate: risk assessment 2011; English Heritage
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