St Cuthbert's Church, Darlington is a parish church in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

Diocese of Durham in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

History

The church dates from the early 12th century. The church became collegiate when Richard Whitton was appointed by the

Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...

Rt Revd Robert Neville as the first Dean of Darlington in 1439. To support the dean, there were four prebendaries, Cockerton, Newton, Blakwell and Darlington. The college survived until 1550 when it was dissolved. Following a lightning strike on the spire on 17 July 1750, the crossing tower was rebuilt in 1752. A major restoration took place in 1864-65 by the architects

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

of London and

James Pigott Pritchett James Pigott Pritchett (14 October 1789 – 23 May 1868) was an English architect. He lived in London and York and his practice stretched from Lincolnshire to the Scottish borders. Personal life Pritchett was born on 14 October 1789 to Charl ...

of Darlington. The estimated costs of the works were £1,590 () and

William Vane, 3rd Duke of Cleveland William John Frederick Vane, 3rd Duke of Cleveland (3 April 1792 – 6 September 1864), styled The Hon. William Vane from 1792 to 1813, The Hon. William Powlett from 1813 to 1827 and Lord William Powlett from 1827 to 1864, was a British polit ...

gave £500 () towards the restoration. The work involved removal of the galleries and ceilings, the opening out of the gable windows in the nave and transepts, the rearranging of the pews, and the replacing of several stalls which had been destroyed. The main work was the restoration of the chancel where the piscina and armoury were restored, the sedilia restored to their original depth, the floor laid with encaustic tiles and eleven stained glass windows inserted. A font was presented by R.H. Allan, of grey polished marble. A lectern by Messrs King and Collie of Durham was presented by Miss Topham. The organ was restored and the bells in the tower were recast. The church was reopened for worship on 14 December 1865.

Incumbents

Vicars 1309 - 1436

* Robert de Royeston 1309 * Richard de Hadyngton 1344 * William de Welton 1354 * Robert de Hunmandby 1361 * William Hoton 1398 * William Hesel 1411 * Stephen Austell 1416 * Richard Wytton 1428 * Richard Bicheburn 1436 * Richard Witton

Deans 1439 - 1550

* Richard Witton 1439 * Roland Hardgyll 1451 * Robert Symson 1466 * Ralph Lepton 1497 * Cuthbert Marshall ca. 1548

Vicars 1550 onwards

* Sir John Claxton 1561 * James Thornton, 1571 * John Welshe 1571 * John Woodfall 1584 * Robert Gesford 1601 * Robert Tomlinson 1602 * Isaac Lowden 1606 * Bryan Grant 1612 * Robert Hope 1622 * Thomas Clapperton 1640 * William Parish * George Bell 1661 * George Thompson 1693 * John Hall 1712 * Cornelius Harrison 1727 * Andrew Wood 1748 * Henry Hemington 1772 * William Gordon 1784 * John William Drage Merest 1831 - 1846 * A.J. Howell 1846 - 1860 * John Garencieres Pearson 1860 - 1873 * Canon Hodgson 1873 - 1894 * Francis Warren Mortimer 1894 - 1905 * David Walker 1906 - 1919 * Robert Ferry Drury 1919 - 1935 * William C. Jordan 1935 - 1943 * David Brownfield Porter 1943 - 1947 (afterwards Rector of St John's Church, Princes Street, Edinburgh) *

George Holderness George Edward Holderness (5 March 1913 – 21 October 1987) was an Anglican bishop. He was born in 1913 and educated at Leeds Grammar School and Keble College, Oxford. Ordained in 1936, he began his career with a curacy at Bedale and was then ...

1947 - 1954 (afterwards Bishop of Burnley) * Peter Wansey 1955 - 1974 * John David Treadgold 1974 - 1981 (afterwards Canon of Windsor) * Canon Leslie Gready ???? - 1993 (afterwards Dean of Bulawayo, Matabeleland, Zimbabwe) *

Geoff Miller Geoffrey Miller, (born 8 September 1952) is an English former cricketer, who played in 34 Test matches and 25 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team between 1976 and 1984. He played for Derbyshire from 1973 to 1986, captaining t ...

1996 - 1999 (afterwards Dean of Newcastle) * Robert John Williamson 2000 - 2016 * Matthew Paul Firth 2018 - 2020 * James Harvey 2021 -

Organ

The organ dates from 1880 when it was built by

Forster and Andrews Forster and Andrews was a British organ building company between 1843 and 1924. The company was formed by James Alderson Forster (1818–1886) and Joseph King Andrews (1820–1896), who had been employees of the London organ builder J. C. Bisho ...

. Later work by Binns Fitton & Haley and Bishop & Son in 1987 has resulted in a 38 stop 3 manual and pedal organ. The specification can be found on the

National Pipe Organ Register The British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS) is a British organisation and registered charity which aims to promote study and appreciation of all aspects of the pipe organ. Further, it acts as a lobbying body to raise awareness of organ issue ...

. The new organ cost about £1,000 () and was opened on 3 November 1880 by

William Thomas Best William Thomas Best (13 August 182610 May 1897) was an English organist and composer. Life He was born at Carlisle, Cumberland, the son of William Best, a local solicitor.Henry Charles Lahee (1903) ''The Organ and Its Masters'', L. C. Page, B ...

Organists

*George J. Crossley ca. 1830s - 1850 *Frederick Second 1850 - 1858 *J.W. Marshall 1858 - 1896 (formerly organist of Richmond Parish Church) *Dr. Thomas Hutchinson 1896 - 1917 *Arthur Kitson 1917 - 1941 (formerly deputy organist at Halifax Parish Church) *Edgar Miller 1941 - ???? (formerly organist of Tonbridge, Kent) *Hector C. Parr *Paul Busby 2005 - 2012 *David Ratnanayagam

Bells

The tower contains a peal of 8 bells by

Gillett & Johnston Gillett & Johnston was a clockmaker and bell foundry based in Croydon, England from 1844 until 1957. Between 1844 and 1950, over 14,000 tower clocks were made at the works. The company's most successful and prominent period of activity as a bel ...

dating from 1937.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darlington

Saint Cuthbert Cuthbert of Lindisfarne ( – 20 March 687) was an Anglo-Saxon saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Nor ...