St Mary's Stainsdrop

St. Mary’s, formally dedicated to St. Gregory is over 1200 years old and sometimes referred to as ‘The Cathedral of the Dales’.

Nestled in the valley between Bishop Auckland and Barnard Castle on the main A688, Staindrop has been described as “quite simply one of the prettiest villages in County Durham.”  It stands as one of the gateways into Teesdale, with its long village greens making it a typical rural Durham village.  The village is also one of great antiquity with some evidence of neolithic activity, but it gained importance in the time of King Canute when he gave his manor at Staindrop and its surrounding ‘appendages’ (hamlets and houses) to the newly founded priory at Durham Cathedral in 1031.”

St Mary's Stainsdrop

St Mary's Stainsdrop

St Mary's Stainsdrop

St Mary's Stainsdrop

St Mary's Stainsdrop

St Mary's Stainsdrop

St Mary's Stainsdrop

St Mary's Stainsdrop

St Mary's Stainsdrop

St Mary's Stainsdrop

St Mary's Stainsdrop

St Mary's Stainsdrop

The church itself stands at what was once the Easternmost end of the village next to the Langley Beck, just past the magnificent Raby Castle.

It is a mediaeval gem, based on an 8th Century Saxon foundation with some of the earlier Saxon churches incorporated into the ‘newer’ building.”

St Mary's Stainsdrop

5 Comments CherryPie on Apr 5th 2022

5 Responses to “St. Mary’s Staindrop”

  1. CherryPie says:

    The full history of St Mary’s can be found on the following link:

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/-cherrypie-/51985554810/in/dateposted-public/

  2. Ayush says:

    i enjoyed this post, CP. i am always impressed and amazed with such structures that are over a thousand years old. i wonder if they have been considered for UNESCO listing?

  3. Those Norman columns are amazing!
    They have withstood the test of time.