East Window, Monkwearmouth
East window by Leonard Evetts depicting St Peter flanked by saints associated with the north east, SS Aidan, Bede, Paulinus and Cuthbert.
St Peter's at Monkwearmouth dates back to 674 when it was built as the church of a monastery founded by Benedict Biscop, simultaneously with his new monastic complex at nearby Jarrow with which it was joined. Both these monastic churches were the first in Britain to be glazed with coloured glass when Biscop ordered materials and glass-blowers from France, but nothing now remains of this aside from a few excavated pieces displayed in the church and elsewhere (though more survives in Jarrow).
Only the west wall of the nave and the porch survive from Biscop's church, the porch being extended into the present narrow tower by the end of the 10th century. The rest of the building was rebuilt and enlarged in the 13th and 14th centuries into roughly the form we see today, though there was a heavy restoration in 1875-6 when the north aisle and arcade were completely rebuilt. The foundations of the old monastic buildings have been marked out in the churchyard on the south side of the church.
St Peter's is well worth a visit for its historic significance, its rare Anglo Saxon facade and tower and an attractive interior with some good modern glass by Leonard Evetts and an interesting display about the history of the site. It is happily generally kept open and welcoming to visitors most days (entry via the north door).
East Window, Monkwearmouth
East window by Leonard Evetts depicting St Peter flanked by saints associated with the north east, SS Aidan, Bede, Paulinus and Cuthbert.
St Peter's at Monkwearmouth dates back to 674 when it was built as the church of a monastery founded by Benedict Biscop, simultaneously with his new monastic complex at nearby Jarrow with which it was joined. Both these monastic churches were the first in Britain to be glazed with coloured glass when Biscop ordered materials and glass-blowers from France, but nothing now remains of this aside from a few excavated pieces displayed in the church and elsewhere (though more survives in Jarrow).
Only the west wall of the nave and the porch survive from Biscop's church, the porch being extended into the present narrow tower by the end of the 10th century. The rest of the building was rebuilt and enlarged in the 13th and 14th centuries into roughly the form we see today, though there was a heavy restoration in 1875-6 when the north aisle and arcade were completely rebuilt. The foundations of the old monastic buildings have been marked out in the churchyard on the south side of the church.
St Peter's is well worth a visit for its historic significance, its rare Anglo Saxon facade and tower and an attractive interior with some good modern glass by Leonard Evetts and an interesting display about the history of the site. It is happily generally kept open and welcoming to visitors most days (entry via the north door).