St. Mary's Island, chapel cemetery

HER Number:
774

District:
N Tyneside

Site Name:
St. Mary's Island, chapel cemetery

Place:
St. Mary's Island

Map Sheet:
NZ37NE

Class:
Religious Ritual and Funerary

Site Type: Broad:
Mixed Cemetery

Site Type: Specific:
Churchyard

General Period:
Post Medieval

Specific Period:
C17

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
There is supposed to have been a chapel, dedicated to St. Mary or St. Helen, on the island, associated with which was a graveyard. The antiquarian, Tomlinson in 1889 sited this cemetery on the east side of the house, where there was a lawn which could not be built on because it was consecrated ground. He added, a bit contradictorily, that 7 skeletons had been disturbed during recent alterations to the inn, and more were found in the building of St. Mary's lighthouse. The latter were removed to Seaton Delaval churchyard. Craster quotes 2 references from the Earsdon parish register, one - a woman buried in St. Ellen churchyard in 1603 - in support of the dedication to St. Helen, and the other - a man buried at Bateshill (Bates Isle) "within ye walls of ye chappell" in 1680 - as the latest burial. Both were from Hartley.

Easting:
3524

Northing:
7540

Grid Reference:
NZ35247540

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 774 >> W.W. Tomlinson, 1889, St. Mary's Island, Northumberland, Monthly Chronicle pp. 441-2 W.W. Tomlinson, 1893, Historical Notes on Cullercoats, Whitley and Monkseaton, pp. 144-5 H.H.E. Craster, 1909, Hartley Township, Northumberland County History, IX, p. 120 P. Brown, 1935, St. Mary's Island, Friday Books, pp. 133-5; North Tyneside Council, 2005, St. Mary's Island Draft Conservation Area Character Statement; St. Mary's Island, 2017, Archaeological Assessment