Memorials of old Durham — Background and Themes

The Ruins of Finchale Priory

The chapter on Finchale Priory moves through the site with an archaeologist's eye, noting how the 'Prior’s kitchen' was actually a 'spacious entertainment room' built for picnic parties in the 1830s. The text traces the name 'Douglestour' to a possible association with a 1328 raid by Douglas and his Scots, though it admits uncertainty. The upper storey of the tower, the Prior's camera, had an embayed window overlooking the river and Cocken woods. A local tradition called the window-base the 'wishing-chair,' a charm that 'was broken when the monks left the convent at the Reformation.' The priory was suppressed in 1536 as a lesser monastery and later used as a stone-quarry, yet the author notes it remains 'a more perfect and picturesque ruin than many of higher importance.'

Monkwearmouth and Jarrow: Twin Foundations

The essay on Monkwearmouth and Jarrow emphasises their inseparable history: 'their foundations were laid within the short period of ten years' and they have 'arisen and decayed and revived almost simultaneously.' The churches are presented as witnesses to the antiquity of Christianity in England, with parts still standing from Bede's time. The text points to the 'singular height' of Monkwearmouth as evidence of early Saxon stonework, built by masons brought from the Continent. It notes that 'the light shines clearly enough upon their early days,' linking Monkwearmouth to Bede's birth and Jarrow to his death. The author insists that much of their history 'must be sought for and read in the buildings themselves,' a recurring theme in the volume.

Movement Between Scenes: From Cathedral to Quarry

The book's structure moves readers from grand ecclesiastical centres to neglected ruins, often within the same chapter. At Finchale, the narrative shifts from the Prior's camera with its 'charming prospect' to the Dissolution, when the buildings were 'left neglected' and treated as a stone-quarry. This pattern of rise and decay echoes the description of Monkwearmouth and Jarrow, which 'have known much of both' darker and lighter periods. The editor's preface acknowledges the difficulty of selecting subjects from a county with a rich historiography, and the essays themselves often juxtapose architectural description with historical decline, creating a rhythm of glory and ruin that mirrors the physical state of the sites.

Recurring Images: Stone, Water, and Witness

Throughout the excerpts, stone architecture and water features recur as motifs. The Finchale chapter describes the 'embayed window' overlooking the river Wear and Cocken woods, while the Monkwearmouth essay highlights the 'singular height' of the Saxon stone church. The 'stone-quarry' image appears as a symbol of neglect. Water—the Wear, the Tyne—frames the locations: the priory's prospect, the riverbanks where picnic parties gathered, and the 'mouths of the Wear and the Tyne' where the twin churches were planted. The buildings themselves are described as 'witnesses' to history, a word used explicitly for Monkwearmouth and Jarrow, which 'stand as witnesses of the antiquity and continuity of the Christian faith.' This language of testimony ties the physical remains to the historical narrative.

Readers interested in the interplay between architectural description and historical narrative will find this collection rewarding. The essays assume familiarity with English ecclesiastical history, but the editor's preface positions the volume as an introduction to larger county histories. Pay attention to how each author balances physical detail—window bases, tower heights, quarry scars—with the broader story of rise and dissolution. The illustrations, including measured drawings and sketches, complement the text's focus on material remains.

Sitting with Memorials of Old Durham, among its quiet ruins and patient stonework, I felt something familiar stirring—a longing for how histories pile gently upon each other. That mood carried me back to Chronicles (1 of 6): The Historie of England (6 of 8) The Sixt Booke of the Historie of England — Themes and Context, where the same sense of slow, layered time seemed to breathe between the lines.