St Aiden’s Church and Crypt in Bamburgh

St Oswold, king of Northumbria, wanted to spread the new religion of Christianity across the country. He consulted the monastic society of Iona to aid him in this. The monks sent Saint Aiden to establish a monastery in Lindesfarne and a church in Bamburgh. A forked beam in the roof above the font is said to be the original from this timber church. Legend has it that St Aiden was leaning against it when he died in the 7th century!

At the back of the church is a beautiful automaton dramatising the legend of the poor asking King Oswold for alms. The king went a step further, gifting the poor the silver plate to be broken up among them. St Aiden, who was also in attendence was so moved that he grasped the king’s hand and declared, “May this hand never perish!” Bede asserts that this was, in fact, the truth. In his day, the king’s hand (which had been severed in his last battle) was preserved in Bamburgh Church. 

The building still standing dates back to the 12th century when Henry I granted permission to a priory in Yorkshire. Work began a century later to rebuild in stone.

Remarkable things to be seen in this church include the original “squint”- a square window overlooking the chancel, a space too holy for lay people to set foot in. The squint allowed them to glance at the altar and the priest leading the service. 

The chancel itself is a sight to behold, with the memorial of the Forster family. The family of the remarkable Dorothy Forster, who performed one of the most iconic prison escapes in British history by disguising her husband, a Jacobite imprisoned in Newgate, as her maid and escaping unnoticed by the guards. 

The church also holds memorials to the Sharpe family, the philanthropic family who ran Bamburgh Castle as a charitable community centre. Dr Sharpe established a cheap shop allowing villagers to buy wax, corn and other essentials cheaply, as well as schools for boys and girls, providing chances of employment. 

In addition, the church is home to the memorial of the Victorian Heroine Grace Darling, who braved the North Sea to rescue shipwrecked sailors, becoming entrenched in legend. Grace Darling is also remembered in an exquisite stained glass window honouring formidable women, including Elizabeth Fry, a pioneer in prison reform and Florence Nightingale. 

Take a moment to reflect on the countless memorials in the space, many of which are reminders of the deadly nature of the North Sea. 

Outside the church, steps lead down to the crypt, which, via a viewing platform, allows you to catch a glimpse of the ossuaries, which are the final resting place for the hundreds of Christian Saxons buried in a cemetery by the castle. This cemetery was disturbed by a storm in 1817 and laid to rest in 2016 in the crypt.