Treasures of Blanchland project
Lord Crewe’s Charity and Blanchland with Hunstanworth Parochial Church Council gain support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for plans to conserve and share our medieval Abbey village.
Lord Crewe’s Charity and Blanchland with Hunstanworth PCC have received initial support* from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for the Treasures of Blanchland project, it was announced today. Made possible thanks to National Lottery players, the project aims to conserve and research the significance of the Abbey’s treasures, investigate the landscape setting and orientate the Abbey to create a warm, welcoming communal space where heritage treasures and memorable experiences can be shared. The project aims to connect people and nature while conserving and celebrating the history of this unique medieval monastic village.
Development funding of £235,027 has been awarded by the Heritage Fund to help Lord Crewe’s Charity and Blanchland with Hunstanworth PCC progress their plans to apply for a full National Lottery grant of £1.4 million at a later date.
On the border between Durham and Northumberland, nestled on the wooded banks of the River Derwent, Blanchland is in the North Pennines National Landscape and is a unique Conservation Village. Blanchland developed from the remains of the Premonstratensian Abbey founded in 1165 and is the most complete remaining example in England. The remains of the monastic complex, both cloister and outer court, were recast in a ‘model village’ in the 18th century by the Lord Crewe Trustees, reusing the foundations and masonry from the ruins made by the Dissolution.
Significant areas of the Abbey precinct and lands were untouched, and features are visible on LIDAR and early maps, including ox-drawn rigg and furrow, the infirmary, and medieval fishponds which might overlie ancient terracing. Later industrial archaeology linked to lead mining, is evident in possible water mill leats, saw pits and trackways on old maps.
Blanchland Abbey parish church is Grade1 listed, and the churchyard is part of a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Edward III camped his 60,000 strong army in 1327 here after it was burned by Scots raiders. Demolished at the Reformation in 1539, its north transept and choir were rebuilt in 1752 and 1815 to form the parish church, which had a timber ceiling, pews and screens installed in the 1880s.
Blanchland Abbey
Without this funding the fabric and treasures of the Abbey would continue to suffer from structural degradation, with the viability of continued community use being increasingly at risk.
The project will conserve, display and interpret the Abbey’s Treasures, including from the 15th to the 19th centuries, working with academics to research the significance of each. An archaeological watching brief for the building works to the Abbey will be extended to investigate landscape features in the wider landscape within and beyond the village. Stories from over 860 years of village history will be researched and connected to surviving objects, archives, landscape, built heritage and archaeology, and retold through reenactment, performance, permanent interpretation and digitally.
You can keep in touch with the project by visiting https://www.blanchland.org/the-treasures-of-blanchland-project/ where news of the project’s progress will be updated and opportunities to get involved will be announced.
