St Giles
Birtley, Northumberland
A church has stood here since the 7th century, the current church was consecrated in 1090.
A 12th century which was burned down by Border Reivers, and rebuilt with rare barrel vaulted stone roof. When St Cuthbert came to Bellingham he blessed a natural spring, Cuddy's Well, which appears to have remarkable healing properties. St Cuthbert's Well has never dried up and its water is used for baptism in the church. Part of the church dates back to 1180, but not much of it because the Border Reivers kept burning it down.
Eventually the local people decided to rebuild it entirely in stone, including the barrel vaulting inside and the enormous slabs on the outside of the roof. After that the building remained standing as a place of shelter and worship. There was more violence though, during restoration in 1861 three cannonballs were found in the roof where they had probably been since 1597 when the Duke of Buccleuch's men attacked Bellingham. In the churchyard is the 'Lang Pack' marking the burial of an audacious and cunning raider of 1723.
Today Bellingham people with old Reiver surnames worship in St Cuthbert's. The church now has a remarkably peaceful atmosphere. In the words of local people, it is 'a straightforward and honest church in which you can be yourself'.
