St Andrew's Church, Bywell Castle & Bywell Hall
The remaining buildings of note in Bywell include the Hall, the Castle, St Andre's Church, the Old Vicarage and residences on the estate including the former White Horse pub.
These are all privately occupied and not open to tbe public - except for St Andrew's Church, which is in the care of Churches Conservation Trust and some committed Friends of St Andrew's.
Bywell St Andrew
The church of Bywell St Andrew is considered to be one of the most beautiful in Northumberland, as well as being one of the oldest. The tower, 55 feet high, built of sandstone and incorporating some Roman stone, is rated by Pevsner as being ‘a first rate Saxon tower, the best in the county. The lower levels of the tower, built of large stone masonry, some walling in the nave, the two-storeyed western porch and the circular graveyard all appear to be earlier than 850 AD. This date accords with the view that St Andrew's was a 'capella ex porta' - a chapel at the gate - built both for local inhabitants and to allow pilgrims visiting the monastery on the site of St Peter's to worship without disturbing the monks' daily routines.
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The upper part of the tower is of a later date, possibly late 11th century. Its formidable nature indicates the importance in those troublesome times of having a strong defensive building in which local inhabitants could shelter. The font dates from about 1300 and the two church bells from about 1400 and 1550.
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There is evidence that the church formerly had aisles which may have been destroyed in a Scots raid. A capital from the former nave arcade lies outside the north wall of the nave. The present south transept is of later medieval date.
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Like so many old churches, Bywell St Andrew was altered and added to in the nineteenth century, initially by the local architect John Dobson in 1830 and again in 1850. Another architect, William Slater, continued the alterations in 1871 by adding a transept and chapel to the north side and a porch to the south. All the windows are nineteenth century creations though some of the Saxon and thirteenth century structures have been retained in the nave and south transept.
There are two other notable features of Bywell St Andrew. Firstly, part of the shaft of a Saxon cross and its base of carved Roman altar stone have been preserved in the chancel near the east window. Secondly, there is a fine collection of twenty-five medieval grave covers, most of which were set into the north wall in the nineteenth century whilst others were re-used as lintels. To prevent further damage by weathering some were moved inside the church in 1991-1993. What makes them so interesting are the designs on the slabs, all of which have the sign of the cross, in most cases dating them to the 12th and 13th centuries. The emblem of a sword or shield indicated the rank of the men whereas the women were denoted by a pair of shears.
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Bywell St Andrew was called the White Church because it was given by Walter de Bolbec to assist the Abbey of Blanchland, the canons of which belonged to the Premonstratensian Order, who had arrived in England in 1140. They wore a white cassock, a long white cloak and cap made from undyed wool. Walter had founded and endowed Blanchland in 1165 and as part of the arrangement, the Abbot had to provide a vicar to conduct the services at Bywell St Andrew. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536- 40 by order of Henry Vlll, the lands and churches of Bywell passed through several different patrons including Queen Elizabeth l, the Radcliffe, Witham, Thornton, Fenwick and Beaumont families.
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Blanchland, Shotley and Slaley were once in the parish of St. Andrew but each was established as a new parish due to the efforts of Canon Dwarris, Vicar of Bywell St Peter from 1845-1901.
On 16 April 1975, Bywell St. Andrew passed to the Redundant Churches Fund for preservation and maintenance (now called the Churches Conservation Trust. Visit https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/). At the same time the Chapel of Ease, St. James’ Riding Mill, became the parish church of what had become a very much-reduced parish of Bywell St. Andrew.
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The information in this article is largely based on the book produced for the Millennium A Pleasant Retreat by Robert Browell & Dennis Harding, with updates from Peter Ryder.
1Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries. Vol.3. New Series “Bywell” pp.89-166.
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Bywell Hall
The impressive Bywell Hall was built by James Paine in 1760 for the Fenwick family, with alterations and additions being made in 1817 by the famous architect John Dobson. There are remains of an earlier building incorporated in the stable block.The hall was purchased by the Beaumont family in the early nineteenth century, in whose hands it remains today. It is a private residence.
See http://www.allendale-estates.co.uk/bywell-hall/ for further information and details of tours during the summer months.
Bywell Castle
Following the fall of John de Baliol in 1296 the lands of Bywell passed to the Earl of Richmond and the Neville family of Raby and Richmond. Ralph de Neville became the 1st Earl of Westmorland and commenced the building of the castle, but it was never finished.
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​The only part of the project built was the gatehouse tower; it remains without a roof but is otherwise fairly complete. The gatehouse entrance, about ten feet wide was originally protected by a portcullis and the retaining grooves at each side can be seen in the stonework. It leads into a passageway with a vault on each side, one of which has a stairway to the upper floors. The top floor, with its four corner turrets that project outwards and battlements gives a fine view of the river. The gatehouse entrance faces the river and has the beginnings of a curtain wall, which projects from the south east corner. This extension was the castle gunroom, complete with a vaulted basement and was described in 1810. On the site of this gunroom and over the basement was built Bywell Castle House, which still stands today as the residence of Lord Allendale. It is not open to the public although the grounds are sometimes opened for Charity fundraisers.
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