Church of St Michael is a Grade I listed building in the Northumberland local planning authority area, England. First listed on 15 April 1969. A Medieval Church.

Church of St Michael

WRENN ID
patient-sentry-sable
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
Northumberland
Constituency
Hexham MP: Joe Morris (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
15 April 1969
Type
Church
Period
Medieval
Address
Church of St Michael, Warden
OS grid reference
NY 913 664
Coordinates
54.99293, -2.13656
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St. Michael is a parish church with a Saxon west tower, 13th-century transepts, a nave and south porch built in 1765, and a chancel added in 1889. The tower is constructed of coursed sandstone with irregular large quoins, while the rest of the church is made of coursed squared sandstone and topped with a slate roof. The church has a cruciform shape, featuring a west tower and a south porch.

The tall tower includes small round-headed windows that vary in detail, a stepped-in 18th-century belfry stage with a broad pointed opening on each side, and a low pyramidal cap. The nave features 19th-century windows designed in a 13th-century style. The transepts have a tall chamfered plinth, clasping buttresses at the corners, and stepped buttresses along the sides beneath gable windows. The side walls contain single and paired 13th-century lancet windows, with a hollow-chamfered string linking the hoodmoulds. The gables are adorned with three-light windows, mostly from the 19th century. The chancel has lancet windows on the sides, a priests' door on the south side with an enriched shouldered arch, and a three-light window on the east side. The south porch features 19th-century inner and outer arches, a notable 18th-century sundial in the gable, and a blocked square-headed window in the west wall.

Inside, there is a low round-headed tower arch with moulded imposts, possibly made from Roman stones, and an arch of rough rubble that may be a post-medieval reconstruction. The transept arches are pointed and double-chamfered from the 19th century, resting on medieval jambs. The south transept contains a piscina in its south wall, and there is a square-headed aumbry rebated for a door in the north wall of the north transept.

In the chancel against the north wall, there is a 12th-century coped and regulated gravestone, a medieval cross slab in the sanctuary floor, and various 18th- and 19th-century floor slabs and wall monuments. Additionally, there is an important collection of carved stones lying loose in the porch.

Traditionally, Warden Church is believed to be located on the site of an oratory used by St. John of Beverley during his time as Bishop of Hexham from 685 to 704. The west tower, despite its 18th-century belfry stage reconstruction, is a significant example of the Northumbrian group of Saxon towers.

Local climate

Church of St Michael receives an average of 920 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 70% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 70% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 48 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 90% of listed buildings. Of these, 29 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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