St John’s Church, Escomb

This tiny church is the end of the 22-mile Finchale Camino Inglés, taking in the rather larger Durham Cathedral on its way, and is also on the Way of Life route

Highlights:

• Intact Saxon building

This is one of the best places to imagine what Saxon worship felt like. The building is more or less unchanged since it was built in the 7th century. Few Saxon churches are as early as this one, and none so well preserved.

There are plenty of stone fragments to admire, particularly a beautiful cross displayed behind the altar. It was probably once painted in vivid colours. A Saxon sundial, the oldest in its original church setting, can be seen on the exterior wall next to the porch. It has a serpent’s head above and divides the day into the three segments of a monk’s worship: Terce, Sext, and None.

Only stonework survives from Saxon times. The interior walls are now painted in whitewash, which makes a change from the usual bare stone seen in ancient churches today. However, to be truly authentic, it would need icons, candles, and wall paintings in abundance to capture the sense of reverence instilled by these narrow and intimate buildings.

A lot of the building material was taken from an old Roman fort at Binchester, a couple of miles to the east. The Venerable Bede doesn’t refer to the church. It is too small to be of regional significance perhaps, but only 23 miles from his monastery at Jarrow.

The churchyard is circular, usually taken as a sign of Celtic origins – in other words, dating from before 664 in this part of the world. The church’s original consecration cross, still visible on the wall behind the pulpit, is also said to have Celtic influences. An extensive modern display in the porch describes the history and artefacts of the building in detail.

Archaeologists believe the church was built sometime between 670 and 690, perhaps on the site of an earlier settlement. This is only a decade or so later than the ancient church at Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex.

Saxon Church, Saxon Green, Escomb, Bishop Auckland DL14 7SY

www.escombsaxonchurch.co.uk

W3W: teams.joins.dishes GPS: 54.6659N 1.7082W

Directions:

The church is at the north end of the village, clearly signposted. It is kept locked, but a key is available nearby; details are on the website.