Church of St Peter and Paul, Longhoughton

Longhoughton

Last Updated:

19 Dec 2025

Longhoughton

55.429128, -1.617289

Site Type:

Church, Place of Worship

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1303950

Origin:

11th century

Status:

Extant

Designer (if known):

Thomas E C Streatfield (19th century reconstruction)

Grade I listed

What a beautiful example this is of an early Northumbrian chapel. Places of worship this far north are defined not just by their faith but by their insecurities, which is clear in shed loads when we take a deeper look into St Peter and Paul at Longhoughton.

The church is one of multiple generations. As per my annotated sketch on the 2nd shot it features various reconstructions and extensions. At its core though its its simplicity and defensive focus. Like Lesbury, villages near the borders were in constant unease due to raids from beyond the border. Churches doubled as refuges when the sires rang of the reivers, so everyone and their dog would congregate in the safety of the tower with thick walls and limited openings. It even features a battlemented parapet and small narrow windows to take a peek outside.

Its history supposedly goes even further back though, built upon an earlier Saxon church. The chancel was constructed in the 11th century as a chapelry of Lesbury, though became its own parish after the Dissolution. The tower came at the end of the century, with the ground floor composed of red sandstone and the higher half of grey (also down to a reconstruction after fire).

Round on the east side there's a chancel extension which dates from the 1200s, with a vestry added 150 years ago alongside general restoration. This was completed by Thomas Edward Champion Streatfield. His works dot the whole country, from Eastbourne to Eastbury with this one a fairly rare northern example.

Overall though, the beauty of these frontier churches are the honesty and the adaptation. Worship came on par with survival, which is well reflected in the chunkiness of its tower.

It's still used for worship, though when I visited I was saddened to find communion was being held up at Rock that day. I grit my teeth!

Listing Description

Parish Church. Nave and west part of chancel probably mid-C11; west tower early C12; south aisle, chancel extension and perhaps upper part of tower c.1200; porch remodelled C18; upper part of tower remodelled c.1840 after a fire; restoration with partial rebuilding of aisle and chancel, and addition of vestry, 1873 by Streatfield. C11 parts coursed rubble; tower large squared sandstone blocks, red in lower part and grey above; chancel extension squared stone; aisle large rubble; porch squared stone except for older rubble on west; 1873 parts squared stone with ashlar dressings. Welsh slate roof. Plan: nave with large west tower, 3-bay south aisle and south porch, chancel with north vestry. Broad squat west tower in two stages divided by chamfered setback. Later medieval stepped buttresses on south and west and narrow round-headed lights in each wall. C19 two-light belfry openings in Saxon style, except on east where there is an old blocked opening and weatherings of 2 levels of nave roof; string below C19 embattled parapet. West end of aisle has old chamfered plinth and C19 two-light window. South wall largely C19 except for old stepped buttress at each end. Porch has plain round-headed arch and coped gable with finial cross; wood-topped rubble benches and C19 south door: studded, with foliate hinges in moulded pointed arch. Two windows, each of 2 trefoiled lights, to east. East end of aisle shows C15 two-light window with panelled square head, under head of C13 lancet. North wall of nave shows three 1873 trefoil-headed lancets, and jambs of blocked medieval door. Chancel shows medieval masonry in lower parts of walls only; all windows C19: paired and single lancets on south, single lancet on north, and 3 stepped round-headed lights in east end. Incorporated in east wall C12 chevron- moulded voussoir and head of C12 cross slab. Gabled vestry with 2-light window. C19 coped gables and finial crosses. Interior: Plastered. Moulded semicircular tower arch with chamfered imposts on stepped jambs. Arcade of double-chamfered pointed arches, with chamfered hood to nave, on octagonal piers with moulded capitals and bases, and corbel responds. South aisle east window has shouldered round rear arch. C11 slightly-stilted round chancel arch of one square order, with chamfered impost band; large squint to south. Chancel has double-chamfered segmental-pointed arch to vestry/organ chamber and two small recesses with pointed arches, one trefoiled, south of sanctuary. C19 roofs: nave with arch-braced collar-beam trusses and scissor braces, chancel with similar trusses and wagon vault. Font has older octagonal bowl on C19 panelled shaft and moulded base. Monuments: various C18 and early C19 wall tablets in south aisle. Old candelabra in nave now fitted with electric lights.

Seen here are two plans of Longhoughton through the 19th century - the 1844 tithe plan (shared by Northumberland Communities) and the 1890s Ordnance Survey. Longhoughton is a fine example of a linear village, tightly controlled by the estate which is slightly offset the main lane in the Old Hall. We know it was planned thanks to the tight cluster of buildings rather than a sprawling and unorganised layout. The church, like the hall is central to the village, occupying a privileged spot on the crossroads to the coast. It made it the spiritual centre as well as a stabiliser for an estate anxious of northern marauders in medieval times.

There is modest, incremental growth over the course of the next half century with the main street more densely lined with cottages. The village now also has its school, reflected the demand for compulsory education after the 1870s reforms. Combined with the Old Hall and the school, the village "square" sits within a modest administrative cluster.

The 1923 Ordnance Survey shows only modest change - improved roads, stricter property boundaries and a wider footprint of cottages and dwellings along the main lane. It still very much retains its historic layout as a strict single spine village, with the church at its core.

An annotated version of my photo above, showing the generational changes to the church. Taken in November 2025

Mid 19th century illustration of the church taken from the south - much familiar to the view today. Source: Northumberland Communities

An (unfortunately very low quality) of the church from a similar perspective to my shot from the south in 1910. Source: Northumberland Communities