AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Hexham Abbey is one of the earliest seats of Christianity in England, with more than 1,350 years of history written into its walls. Founded on land granted by Queen Etheldreda to Bishop Wilfrid around 674 AD, today's church is partly the Early English Augustinian priory that replaced Wilfrid's monastery, and partly a living parish church filled with rare Saxon and medieval treasures. Simon Jenkins rated it among the finest churches in the north of England, and few visitors disagree once they have descended into the 7th-century crypt.↗↗
The abbey is free to enter and easy to reach on foot from Hexham's station, with an interactive exhibition, a café and a well-stocked gift shop housed in the restored monastic buildings. Whether you come for the ancient artefacts, a quiet hour of prayer or one of the celebrated candlelit concerts, Hexham Abbey rewards a slow, curious visit.↗↗
Thirteen centuries in stone
The story begins in 673-674, when Queen Etheldreda granted the lands of Hexhamshire to Wilfrid, Bishop of York, to found a Benedictine monastery. Wilfrid's church was completed in 678, and by 681 Hexham had become a cathedral in its own right. Viking raiders smashed parts of the monastery in 875, but the community survived, and in 1113 the Archbishop of York re-formed it as a priory of Augustinian canons.
