‘Merrington church stands at the east end of the village, and, from its elevated situation, is one of the most conspicuous land-marks in the county of Durham. The Norman portion of it is of great antiquity, being coeval in style with that of Jarrow’ The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham.

Pevsner described the church at Kirk Merrington as ‘one of the most interesting Norman churches in the County‘. On approaching it, I thought it looked a little odd, the tower looked too tall, the nave roof too steeply pitched, to my eye the proportions look a bit odd but then again, this is a Victorian reconstruction.

The present church was built in 1850 and incorporates a number of features salvaged from the original church including the doorway.

My visit was an impromptu one, I was in the area and saw the name on a sign so thought I’d check it out. Had I researched the church prior to my visit I’d have learned that the church is in the hands of the National Churches Trust and is open every second Tuesday of the month. So unfortunately for my visit, the church was locked. There was still plenty to see on the outside. I was particularly impressed by the Victorian corbel tables. The rebuild and attention to detail is quite impressive, I’ll definitely be coming back to take a look inside.

Sources

The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham by William Fordyce. 1857

The Buildings of England. County Durham by Nikolaus Pevsner 1953

The National Churches Trust