Kirk Merrington Church of St John (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Merrington Church Tower

In the civil parish of Spennymoor.
In the historic county of Durham.
Modern Authority of Durham.
1974 county of County Durham.
Medieval County of County Palatinate of Durham.

OS Map Grid Reference: NZ26233146
Latitude 54.67753° Longitude -1.59472°

Kirk Merrington Church of St John has been described as a probable Fortified Ecclesiastical site.

There are no visible remains.

This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*.

Description

Church of St John the Evangelist. Parish church; 1850-1851 rebuilding by George Pickering of Norman church, incorporating part of original north wall. Sandstone rubble, most roughly coursed and squared, with ashlar plinth (except for chancel) and quoins and dressings. Historical note: remarkable for having withstood siege, in 1143-6, when the intruding bishop William Cumyn is said to have dug a ditch around the church. (Listed Building Report)

The aptitude of Merrington church tower for a post of observation seems to have incited William Cumyn, the Scottish intruder in the bishopric in 1143-4, to seize upon it for that purpose. "On the eve of the assumption of the Virgin," says Simeon, "William gathered together his men at the chapel of St. John (of Merrington), distant about five leagues from Durham, and began to turn the same church into a castle. Three barons of the bishopric, to wit, Roger de Coismers (Conyers), Gaufred Escolland, and Bertram de Bulmer, understanding of this sacrilege, and preferring death to the profanation of God's altar, collecting what force they hastily might, pricked to the spot to stay this lewd enterprize. William's men did not sustain the onset. Some fled headlong; the other part barred themselves into the church, round which they had nearly completed the fosse; and, manning the tower and the outworks which they had finished, vainly strove to drive off the assailants with darts and arrows; but the besiegers, reckless of wounds or death, forced their way through the windows, and hurling firebrands on the offenders, were speedily masters of the place." Cumyn's nephew, it is added, as a judgment, became insane the first day of the enterprize; and a wicked stone-mason, who worked harder than the rest, went mad the day the place was retaken, and died raving before he reached Durham. The destruction of the Norman chancel may be attributed to this engagement, as well as that of the pitched roof of the nave, the form of which is still distinctly visible against the west wall of the tower. There are now no traces of the fosse said to have been dug around the church by Cumyn's men. (Fordyce)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1310889
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 24189.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) D1335.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Ferryhill Local History
Books
- Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles and Tower Houses of County Durham (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 39
  Jackson, M.J., 1996, Castles of Durham and Cleveland (Carlisle)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 139 (possible)
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 242
  Page, Wm (ed), 1907, VCH Durham Vol. 2 p. 141 online copy
  Whellan, F., 1894 (2edn), History, Topography and Directory of the County of Durham p. 381
  Fordyce, W., 1857, History and antiquities of the county palatine of Durham (Durham) Vol. 1 p. 579 online copy
  Surtees, R., 1816 (1972 Reprint), The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham (London) Vol. 3 p. 279-84 online transcription
  Brayley, E. and Britton, J., 1803, Beauties of England and Wales; Durham Vol. 5 p. 79-80
  Hutchinson, Wm, 1785-94, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham Vol. 1 p. 197 online copy; Vol. 3 p. 392-3 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Arnold, T. (ed), 1882, 'Historia Dunelmensis ecclesiae, A. D. 635-1096' Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia (Rolls Series 75) Vol. 1 p. 158
  Arnold, T. (ed), 1885, 'Historia regum, A. D. 616-1129' Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia (London; Rolls series 75) Vol. 2 p.316
  Raine, J. (ed), 1864, 'The Chronicle of John, Prior of Hexham' The priory of Hexham, its chroniclers, endowments, and annals (Surtees Society 44) p. 147 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Constable, Christopher, 2003, Aspects of the archaeology of the castle in the north of England C 1066-1216 (Doctoral thesis, Durham University) Available at Durham E-Theses Online

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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