Escomb Church

On the gable of the south porch is a 7th or early 8th Century sundial, and on the north wall is a reused Roman stone with the markings "LEG VI" (Sixth Legion) set upside down.

[citation needed] Internally the most notable feature is the tall, narrow chancel arch.

The southern impost of the arch is reminiscent of those in a gateway of the Roman fort at Chesters on Hadrian's Wall.

The chancel arch is of typical Roman form, tall with massive stone jambs, simple chamfered imposts and precisely-cut, radial voussoirs.

In the restoration of 1880 were found a number of delicately carved fragments of cross-shafts[4] of the high quality commonly assigned to the Hexham school.

[1] But the majority of the windows, small and set high in the walls, are original Anglo-Saxon work.

In October 1880 Joseph Lightfoot, Bishop of Durham, came and preached at a service to mark the completion of the restoration.

[6] The first surviving record of a proposal to install electric lighting in the church dates from 1940.

But the Diocesan Advisory Committee objected and the Diocese of Durham did not grant a faculty for the work.

The architect Sir Albert Richardson prepared plans and in 1962 both the parish and the diocese accepted them.

[6] In 1963 St John's church, completed only a century earlier, was inspected and found to need repairs estimated to cost £6,500.

[6] Lee refused the proposal, but in 1964 he retired and the diocese suspended the living and the rural dean was made priest in charge.

The chancel arch, with traces of what may be Mediæval paint
Anglo-Saxon altar cross
Sundial on the 14th-century south porch
1960s altar in the chancel