The church of St. Aidan or Holy Cross

Is an ancient edifice of stone of the Early English period, and consists of a fine chancel, with vestry at the north-west corner, nave of four bays, aisles, south porch and a western turret containing one bell : the chancel has a piscina and sedilia, and at the north-east end lies the upper portion of the recumbent effigy of a knight bearing a shield with the arms of Blenkinsopp.

At the north-east end is also a fine tomb slab, carved with a rich fIoriated cross, and on one side a shield of the Blenkinsopp arms and a sword, and on the other a pilgrim's staff and scrip. There are also in the floor two other slabs with crosses and the arms of the Thirlwall family: against the south wall of the chancel is a stone with two shields and a rhyming inscription, dated 1562, to John Ridley, cousin of Nicholas Ridley D.D. bishop of London and martyr.

The marble reredos, representing the " Adoration of the Magi," was presented by the late Mrs. Ives, at a cost of £400, in memory of her husband, the Rev. William Ives, 40 years vicar here, who died 16 March, 1875: the stained east window was the gift of the Rev. Dixon Dixon-Brown M.A. of Unthank Hall, in memory of Dixon Dixon esq.

The west window is a memorial to John Blenkinsopp Coulson esq. (d. 1868) and three of his sons who served in the Royal Navy, and was erected in I871 by the late Misses Coulson, to whose memory two small stained windows were placed in 1885 by W. L. B. Coulson esq.

In the north aisle are two stained windows, placed there in 1890 in memory of Joseph Gordon C.E. by his widow and children: in the south aisle is a window erected in 1897 by the vicar, in memory of his wife, eldest son and eldest daughter, And on the north side of the same aisle are four lancet windows, erected in 1898 to the memory of Mrs. Lowe by her daughters: on the south side of the nave are two stained windows, inserted in 1904 by G. R. and P. J. Liddell in memory of their parents, John and Margaret Liddell .

The font bears the date 1676, but is evidently of an earlier period: the church was restored in 1871, at a cost of £3,000, and in 1877 a new organ, costing .£300, was introduced: there are sittings for 430 persons. The registers date from the year 1656.

'The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £395, including 360 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop Of Newcastle, and held since 1869 by the Rev, Joseph Lowe M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge, hon. canon of Newcastle, rural dean of Hexham, proctor in convocation, and surrogate: the rectorial tithes, worth about £397 a year, are the property of Sir Hugh D. Blackett bart.

The Church Hall, erected in 1908, at a cost of £3,400, is a building of local stone, containing a large hall, seating 400, three smaller halls or class rooms, a reading room, billiard room