Bamburgh - St Aidan

Saint Aidan´s church dates from the late 12th century. The chancel, was added in 1230. According to Bede, St Aidan built a wooden church outside the castle wall, on the site of the current church, in AD 635, and he died here in AD 652. St Aidan had been called to Bamburgh from Iona by King Oswald to establish Christianity in his kingdom of Northumbria.

In 1123 Bamburgh was given to the Augustinian priory at Nowell in Yorkshire by Henry I. The grant was finally confirmed by the pope about a century later, so that the Augustinians could establish a cell of canons here.

The canons remained until the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VII, when they were forced to leave. After the Reformation, St Aidan's became the parish church for the village but its maintenance was neglected. Over the subsequent centuries repairs were undertaken, including significant restorations during the 1800s.

It was quite a surprise to find this machine, an automaton designed by Keith Newstead, in the church.