The Churches and Chapels
of Alston Moor
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By Barry Dent
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From
before the Conquest to the
present day, the churches and chapels of the district have not only been centres
of Christian worship, but have (for the last few centuries at least!) maintained
records which are the principal source of information about the lives of our
ancestors. In addition, they are architectural and historic monuments in their
own right.
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These
few pictures are not a comprehensive collection, let alone a scholarly
illustration, but I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Barry Dent
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Click on photographs to
see enlargements
Saint
Augustine of Canterbury, Alston
The
principal church of the district is St Augustine of Canterbury at Alston,
records of which go back to 1154 when Henry II of England appointed Galfrid as
Rector. However, William the Lion of Scotland seems to have been in on the act,
as the Lord of the Manor, William de Vetri-Ponte* was his man. One thing is certain - while the Scottish kings might have
held sway over the souls and taxes of the peasants, the King of England held
very firmly to the mineral rights!
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There
was probably a Saxon church, but no traces remain. In 1763 the medieval church
was declared to be "ruinous in every part" by the Venerable John
Sharp, Archdeacon of Northumberland, and in 1769 / 70 it was demolished and
replaced. This building was no great success and lasted only 100 years. Its
organ and altar rails were moved to Nenthead. The church we see today is at
least the third on the site and dates from 1870, its handsome spire having been
added in 1886.
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Anyone today named Vipond can claim William as their
ancestor!
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Saint John, Garrigill.
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Saint
John's, Garrigill has a history almost as long as St Augustine's Alston, of
which it has always been a daughter chapel. The medieval chapel was demolished
in 1790 and the present building was erected. Unlike Alston, this building has
lasted to the present day.
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From Garrigill, the
"Corpse Road" leads over Cross Fell to Kirklands. Legend has it that
the mountain was known as "Fiends Fell" until St Augustine of
Canterbury exorcised the devils from it around 600 AD. Historians
object on the grounds that there is no evidence that the Saint ever traveled
north of the Thames...
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However...
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His boss, Pope Gregory the Great, did actually
admonish him for boasting of his success in quelling demons, and as he was one
of the era's great correspondents, I like to think he sent them a stiff letter
which did the trick!
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St John the Evangelist, Nenthead.
Compared
to Alston and Garrigill (Aldhun's "Tun" and Gerard's Ghyll or valley
of pre-medieval origin), Nenthead is modern, and only starts to appear in
records in the 18th Century, expanding rapidly in the early 19C. While Methodist
and Dissenting chapels had been built in the area to serve the growing
population, followers of the Established Church had to trek the six fairly level
miles to Alston or take the shorter but steep track up the Dow Gang Hush and
over to Garrigill. So in 1845, the church of St John the Evangelist was built
and consecrated on land given by the London Lead Company.
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Designed by local, distinguished architects,
Ignatius Bonomi and John A. Cory (Bonomi had built the Catholic Church at Wigton
and Cory went on to become Cumberland County Architect in 1862) it was financed
by public subscription and built by local labour. It is (geographically
speaking!) the highest church in England. Nenthead Primitive Methodist Chapel,
which had the distinction of being the highest place of worship, is now a
private house.
Friends'
Meeting House, Alston
Perhaps the most influential religious group in the
area were the Society of Friends, or Quakers. The creation of Nenthead is
certainly due to the Quaker-owned London Lead Company, but their history in the
area goes back at least to the early 18th Century. A Friends Meeting House was
built at Wellgill in 1724 but it had fallen into disuse before 1793.
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That
at Alston was built in 1732 and restored in 1759. The workers' houses built by
the London Lead Company represented an enlightened step in social reform.
Hillersdon Terrace in Nenthead is a particular example. The Quaker owners of the
Company did not impose their own religious principles on their workers but did
insist that all should worship regularly in accordance with their own rites.
They also laid great stress on education, not only amongst the children but, by
the provision of reading rooms, for the adults as well.
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While labour in the mines was hard, and life
expectancies correspondingly low, many of us with roots in Nenthead no doubt owe
our existence to the fact that life there was a little better than in other
industrial areas!
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Methodist
Churches and Chapels
Methodism
came to Alston Moor at 8 am on Thursday, 28th July, 1748, when John Wesley
himself preached at Nenthead. This is one of the first clear references to the
village. At noon he reached Alston and preached at the Market Cross: "to a
quiet, staring people, who seemed to be little concerned one way or the
other". History suggests that he rather underestimated his influence, given
the number of churches and chapels built by his followers over the next hundred
years! He had stayed the previous night at Hindley Hill, about 2½ miles north
west from Allendale Town as a guest of the Broadwoods, a Quaker family of
considerable local influence. As it's a good ten miles over a 2000 feet climb
from Hindley Hill to Nenthead, we can only guess what time he set out for his 8
o'clock appointment!
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John Wesley visited Nenthead again on the 5th May
1770 when he was 67. While there does not appear to have been a chapel at
Nenthead by that time, Alston had had one since 1760, and the old Congregational
Chapel at Loaning Head (Garrigill) had been taken over by the Methodists around
1765. (see Redwing Chapel)
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Most of the buildings we see
today date from after Wesley's death in 1791, The Alston circuit having been
formed in 1807. The buildings are more or less equally divided between Wesleyan
and Primitive Methodist establishments.
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The Two Sides
of Methodism
After
the death of the John Wesley in 1791, growing divisions between Methodists led
to the creation of splinter groups. Many of these fizzled out, but the Primitive
Methodists were successful and by the time that the building boom of the mid
19th century got under way, they formed a considerable movement.
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Most
villages ended up with two chapels, usually spaced tactfully apart as in
Garrigill, where they are at opposite ends of the village and on opposite banks
of the South Tyne! The two branches of Methodism were finally reunited in 1932.
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Redwing
Congregational Chapel, c.1754
Just
outside the village of Garrigill stands one of the area's secret treasures.
Redwing Congregational Chapel, now privately owned, is a monument to 18th
Century Christian enterprise.
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The
Dissenting voice of Christianity was heard loudly in the area from the 1662 Act
of Uniformity onwards. Garrigill rather than Alston was the core; Alston toed
the Anglican party line! Many of the leading citizens of Alston Moor in the late
17th Century were Dissenters or Independents, but preaching was in
the open or in private houses; licensed places of worship did not come into
being until after the Toleration Act of 1689. The first chapel was at Loaning
Head or Upper Dodberry, above Garrigill, built around 1690. While little more
than a heather-thatched bothy, it served the community until the 1750s.
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In May 1749, the Redwing Estate was purchased for the Dissenters by
Joseph Emerson; the first Minister being Rev. James Richey. The old chapel is
believed to have been used as a mine shop by Ralph Watson and Co. before being
taken over by the Methodists around 1765.
Redwing Chapel is an example of simple but
competent architecture and its tiny churchyard has fine 18th and 19th
Century monuments.
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