Church Of St Maurice

Church of St Maurice, Eglingham

Parish church with fabric of uncertain medieval date in the nave, north chapel and chancel. The west tower dates to the later 13th century. The nave and chancel were partly rebuilt around 1650, and the south wall of the nave was rebuilt again in the late 18th century. A vestry dated 1826 is inscribed on its lintel. Around 1837, J. Green carried out significant works including the addition of a south transept, rebuilding of the east end, and partial rebuilding of the north chapel. The porch was added in 1865, designed by Archdeacon Coxe. The tower parapet and spire were rebuilt in 1870. An east window was replaced in the early 20th century.

The medieval and 17th-century parts are constructed of rubble, except for the tower which is built of large squared stone. The 18th and 19th-century parts are of squared stone. The roofs and spire are covered in Welsh slate.

The building comprises an aisleless nave with a west tower, north-west porch, north chapel (known as the Ogle Pew), and south transept, with a chancel containing a north vestry.

The nave has two 2-light windows on the south, which were altered in the 18th century and again around 1837. On the north side are two 18th-century lancets and a 19th-century stepped buttress. Two small blocked lancets flank the west tower on the west wall. The tower itself has a tall chamfered plinth and a set-back below the belfry, with a stepped stair projection on the north. The tower features a west lancet with a square-headed window above, a high-set lancet on the south above a blocked loop, paired lancet belfry openings, a parapet and octagonal spire with slate-hung lucarnes and a wrought-iron finial cross.

The porch has a plinth, moulded sill string and linked hoodmoulds. It contains a 2-light window on the north and a boarded door on the west beneath gables. The north chapel has a 19th-century 2-light window on the north and a moulded doorway on the west. The south transept has a chamfered plinth, angle buttresses, a 4-light south window, and 2-light east and west windows.

The chancel has a priests' door flanked by windows of three round-headed lights, all beneath hoodmoulds, and a 3-light east window. The vestry has a blocked doorway on the east and a 3-light window on the north. The building features coped gables on moulded kneelers with ring-cross finials.

The interior is plastered except for the east wall of the nave. The chancel arch is chamfered and round on chamfered imposts, probably representing a 17th-century reuse of older material. 19th-century arches appear elsewhere. The nave, chapel and transept have collar-beam roofs on moulded corbels. The chancel has an early 20th-century boarded barrel ceiling with a moulded wall plate on carved corbels. Inside the tower is a rebated arched cupboard on the first floor. A blocked lancet on the east may represent the early 13th-century west window of the original nave prior to the addition of the tower.

The church contains old box pews in the south transept, two of which have brass nameplates. The pulpit, reading desk and lectern date to 1905 and feature carved panels with linenfold and tracery. There is a carved and moulded octagonal font dated 1663. A cross slab of around 1530 bearing the arms of Henry Ogle is set in the floor of the north chapel. A wall tablet of 1808 in the south transept commemorates Reverend James Somerville, '24 Years Minister of the Dissenting Congregation of Branton'. Some old ledger stones remain in the chancel, with 19th-century wall tablets in the nave. The east window, dated 1908, depicts the Transfiguration.

The tower contains two medieval bells. One is a treble from the 13th or early 14th century inscribed 'AIRAM EVA'. The other is a tenor from Old Bewick inscribed '+ Antonises minen name ic ben gemacet int iaer MCCCCLXXXIX', though this has not been seen in recent times.

The porch contains a 12th-century font bowl from Branton, the head of a 15th-century cross slab, and an 18th-century headstone.