Thockrington Northumberland
Church of St Aidan, Thockrington Northumberland , 
The east end is 13c, the chancel Norman with 12c windows, walls, 2 arches and frieze.   Later work can be dated to the 17c when the bellcote was added.  The nave was partly rebuilt in the 19c. 
This is one of the oldest sites of Christianity, and there was a church here which can be traced to the 1200s.  It is believed it was actually founded c 1100 by the Umfravill family 

 In 1246 it was acquired from Richard de Umfravill by Archbishop Gray of York, 'in compensation for his having violated the liberty and peace of the Priory of Hexham, and for having inflicted injury upon the Archbishop's land'.    Documentary evidence of the village population dates back at least to 1296 when 18 tax payers are recorded in the Lay Subsidy Roll 
The Archbishop assigned the church and its revenues as an endowment for a prebend in his cathedral .  This arrangement lasted 625 years, until the death of the last prebend in 1851, when it was merged into the diocese of Durham, and later transferred to Newcastle.  

The dedication to St Aidan is relatively modern, and any earlier dedication is unknown 

A 14c sandstone lady wearing kerchief, wimple and kirtle, with left hand clutching at the cord which fastens her mantle lies in effigy on the floor .  <a href="https://flic.kr/p/LFUtD" rel="noreferrer nofollow">flic.kr/p/LFUtD</a>

The base of a medieval preaching cross stands in the churchyard <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/hxH7Ezk258">www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/hxH7Ezk258</a>

There are many members of the famous Shafto family buried here,.  They lived at nearby Bavington until their support of the Jacobite cause in 1715 led to their lands being confiscated by the Crown and sold to the Admiral George Delaval who on his death in 1723, bequeathed the estate to his brother-in-law George Delaval Shafto, thus restoring it back to the family,

The church was surrounded by 25 - 30 village houses as well as farms, until 1847, when a returning sailor brought cholera with him: the village was wiped out and all its houses burned, leaving the church in splendid isolation 

As well as the Shaftoes, the graveyard has many stones bearing the names of Border Reiver families: Armstrong, Milburn &amp; Robson .   The imposing Shaftoe obelisk, incongruous for its pink granite, contrasts with the modest round-headed stones of Sir William Beveridge &amp; wife, who produced the Beveridge Report in 1942 which influenced the founding of the welfare state and formed the basis of the post-war social security system. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/wX4538Y560">www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/wX4538Y560</a>
A plain initialled lump of rock marks the grave of Connie Leathart, one of the first British female pilots. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/KU9d23VjJg">www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/KU9d23VjJg</a>


Picture with thanks - copyright Andrew Curtis CCL <a href="https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6668405" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6668405</a>

<a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=afSqBgAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA184&amp;lpg=PA184&amp;dq=He+made+important+agreements+with+Hexham+Priory;+and,+following+a+violation+of+the+liberty+by+Richard+Umfraville,+Gray+obtained+as+compensation+the+vill&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=ooOIWLBAgr&amp;sig=ACfU3U1nE_uULbWts7Gh3NI-hnjyxgKzXQ&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjHzZrYmsf7AhUfQEEAHd5ZD6QQ6AF6BAgFEAM#v=onepage&amp;q=He made important agreements with Hexham Priory; and, following a violation of the liberty by Richard Umfraville, Gray obtained as compensation the vill&amp;f=false" rel="noreferrer nofollow">books.google.co.uk/books?id=afSqBgAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA184&amp;amp...</a>
thockrington church northumberland