England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Newbiggin St Bartholomew

The Parish

The chapelry of Newbiggin lies on Northumberland's eastern North Sea coast about 7 miles east of the market town of Morpeth. Newbiggin chapelry was within the parish of Woodhorn. Newbiggin by the sea, the present village sits a mile east of the coastal A189 road which connects Newcastle with the length of the Northumbrian coast. As a coastal community Newbiggin would have benefited not only from the land, where pastoral farming dominated, but also from the sea, a fishing fleet specialised in crabs and herring as well as a wide range of white fish. In medieval times Newbiggin was a much more important place, for a while it was sufficiently important to merit a market but that status has since lapsed. Today Newbiggin's primary source of income is from the tourism potential of the Northumbrian coast, its curving smooth beach stands in sharp contrast to the industrial sites just inland. As a coastal community most drainage heads through underground systems to the nearby North Sea. Newbiggin is sited at sea level with the inland suburbs rising to just over 10 metres. The chapelry was tiny in extent covering little more than the village, itself, the total acreage of barely 500 acres would have supported close to 700 parishioners. Like all of northern England north of the Tees Newbiggin is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Bartholomew's church has a spectacular setting on the edge of the sea on the sandy headland of Newbiggin Point. It has been suggested that the church was founded by the community from nearby Lindisfarne and whilst that may be the case there is no physical evidence of the church having pre-Conquest fabric. Nevertheless the long and narrow nave is characteristic of that early period and those origins may be lost following later changes. Pevsner scours the church and finds a single capital of 12th century design but the majority of the church is of the 13th century when an undoubtedly extensive rebuild took place. The arcades and most of the chancel are clearly of the Early English Gothic tradition using lancet windows. The balance of the chancel and the spired tower are 14th century and Decorated in style. Sadly by the 19th century both aisles had been removed and the chancel was a roofless shell, a major restoration took place in 1845 which not only rebuilt much of the chancel but also expanded the nave to the east. Further work followed in 1898 to reach the state shown by today's church. Newbiggin Point sits to the northeast of the village and has extensive parking as a major tourist asset. The church has local stone boundary wall but is treeless and with no obstacles to photography.