Get to know: St Andrew's Church, Bywell

This month we turn to the Northumbrian village of Bywell, where the echoes of a once-thriving medieval market town can still be felt in the fabric of its two remarkable Saxon churches.

Though the town’s industries and population have long faded, St Andrew’s Church remains a powerful presence. Nestled beside the River Tyne, this church is one of the finest surviving examples of late Anglo-Saxon architecture in the country, and it tells a layered story of Christian continuity, Victorian revival, and medieval craftsmanship.

History

Tradition suggests the site may even have been founded by Wilfrid of Hexham in the 7th century. Bywell’s name — byge-wella, meaning “spring in the river bend” — reflects its early roots. The site grew into an industrious market town, bustling by the 11th century with ironworking and other trades. The strategic river crossing, possibly first constructed by the Romans, helped solidify its local importance.

St Andrew’s stands on deeply historic ground. A church existed here before 850 CE, and in 803, Egbert was consecrated bishop here, after the Danish sack of Lindisfarne. 

This is a time when the Danes (or Vikings from Denmark) launched devastating raids on Northumbria from the late 8th century, most famously the sack of Lindisfarne in 793 — a seismic moment in Christian Britain.

The raid on Lindisfarne was not an isolated event. Danish incursions continued throughout the 9th century, targeting monasteries and churches, which were repositories of both wealth and spiritual authority.

After the fall of Lindisfarne, Egbert was consecrated bishop at Bywell in 803, suggesting the church was seen as a safe and spiritually resilient alternative to the devastated coastal religious houses.

Northumberland at the Time

Northumbria was once one of the most powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, renowned for its saints (like Cuthbert and Wilfrid) and its monasteries.

But by the 9th century, the kingdom was politically unstable and repeatedly invaded, contributing to the decline of ecclesiastical centres and the rise of localised, defensible churches like Bywell.

St Andrew’s likely served both defensive and liturgical functions — the 5-metre-thick walls of the tower suggest it doubled as a refuge during times of attack.

Unusually, Bywell has two pre-Conquest churches: St Andrew’s and nearby St Peter’s. Their positions reflect an ancient division of land between two baronies. In the 12th century, they became known locally as the “white church” (St Andrew’s, given to the white-robed Premonstratensians of Blanchland Abbey) and the “black church” (St Peter’s, associated with Benedictines).

Today, the remains of the medieval town are minimal — a scattering of homes, Bywell Castle, a market cross, and the Hall — but St Andrew’s still dominates its setting, rising from the gentle bend in the Tyne. Its churchyard is roughly circular, hinting at its Saxon origins, and the building nestles into a deeply atmospheric riverside site.

Exterior

The tower is the church’s crowning glory — widely recognised as one of the finest Anglo-Saxon towers in Northumbria.

Dating from before 850 CE in its lower stages and from the 10th or early 11th century above, it is constructed from coarse-grained sandstone in hues of cream, yellow, brown, and occasional red. The walls are up to five metres thick — built for both defence and devotion.

The tower holds two bells: the smaller cast around 1400, and the larger around 1550.

Note the characteristic small, rounded windows and Saxon belfry openings. Remarkably, the structure incorporates reused Roman stone, which is not uncommon in Anglo-Saxon churches. But it’s particularly significant here because of Bywell’s location close to Hadrian’s Wall and the Roman infrastructure of northern Britain.

Likely Sources:

Corbridge Roman Town (Coria) is the most probable source of these stones. Just 5 miles north-west of Bywell, Corbridge was a major Roman settlement, supply base, and granary town linked to Hadrian’s Wall.

As Corbridge declined post-Roman rule, Anglo-Saxon builders likely repurposed dressed stone blocks from collapsed Roman buildings.

The presence of Roman roads and a possible Roman bridge or crossing at Bywell supports this theory - such infrastructure would have encouraged trade and building reuse during the early medieval period.

Reusing Roman stone wasn’t just practical — it was symbolic. Early Christian builders asserted spiritual dominance over Rome’s imperial past, just as medieval kings and emperors like Charlemagne and Louis IX did when housing relics like the Crown of Thorns in imperial churches. By incorporating Roman material, Bywell’s founders rooted Christian worship in the continuity of imperial grandeur.

Interior

Step inside, and much of what you see today reflects the Victorian restoration of 1871, likely by R. J. Johnson of Newcastle. The north transept, vestry, arcaded sanctuary, and stone pulpit and lectern all date from this period.

The sanctuary floor is laid in mosaic, and the dazzling reredos — in mosaic, tile and opus sectile — was created by James Powell and Sons of Whitefriars, London. These same designers produced the church’s later stained glass, while earlier windows are by William Wailes, a significant figure in the Victorian Gothic Revival who is buried at St Peter’s next door.

Font 

Under the tower, you’ll find the font, dating from around 1300 with a later 17th-century cover. Notably, Robert Surtees, creator of the Jorrocks books, was baptised here.

Medieval Cross Slabs

Perhaps the most fascinating feature of St Andrew’s is its extraordinary collection of medieval grave covers.

Twenty-five 12th- and 13th-century cross slabs are built into the church’s external and internal walls — the finest such collection in Tynedale. These were once used as coffin lids or grave markers, often inside the church.

Many bear emblems denoting status or trade:

• Swords and shields mark noble or military status.
• Shears, typically worn by women, signal female burials.
• A hunting horn, a book, and even what may be a lady’s work-box appear alongside crosses.

Conservation work in the 1990s brought many of these indoors, protecting them from weathering.

A Church in Layers

St Andrew’s is a church of layers — from its Saxon tower to its Norman foundations, from its medieval slabs to its glittering Victorian glass. It reflects the changing rhythms of English ecclesiastical life: Saxon missionary zeal, medieval piety, Victorian reinterpretation — and now conservation.

Though declared redundant in 1973, it was rescued by The Churches Conservation Trust in 1975, ensuring its survival and continued public access.

If churches matter to you as much as they do to us, please consider supporting the Churches Conservation Trust.

You can donate online at visitchurches.org.uk/donate, or text BYL to 70191 to donate £10. Thank you.