Hopper Tomb Approximately 2 Metres South Of Church Of St Mary

The Hopper tomb, located approximately 2 metres south of the Church of St Mary in Barnard Castle, is a chest tomb dedicated to George Hopper of Black Hedley, Northumberland, who died in 1725. It is constructed from sandstone ashlar and features rich carvings and mouldings. The tomb has a plinth with ovolo and cavetto mouldings that supports four angle piers, each with plinths and cornices, along with intermediate slabs on the north and south sides. The piers are adorned with symbolic foliage and flowers, and the side piers rise as niches into the sides of the chest, featuring flanking and end carved panels.

The north niche contains a high relief figure of a gentleman dressed in detailed early 18th-century attire, complete with a sidecoat and hat, while the returns of the pier display masks, possibly portraits. The south niche features a skeleton. The chest panels on the north side include memento mori motifs with knots, tassels, and drapery, alongside elaborate initials. Inscriptions on the north side read: "Here stands my statue carved in stone/ to mind ye liveing I am gone" and "he cometh forth like a flower and it...". The west side bears the inscription: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord/ I know that my redeemer liveth"; the east side is decorated with carved flowers; the south niche has an eroded inscription surrounding the skeleton, a coat of arms on the left, and angels with trumpets and a crown on the right, along with the inscription from Revelations Chapter 2, verse 10: "be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life."

The tomb is topped with a gadroon moulded cornice featuring enriched corded moulding along the edge, and a raised fielded top adorned with acanthus leaves and putti on a wide border. The inscription on the top reads: "Here lyeth the body of George Son of Humphrey Hopper of Black Headly in Northumberland and Derwentwater, Gentleman, who departed this life March the 30th A.D. 1725 aged 23."