St Cuthbert, Billingham
St Cuthbert, Billingham
St Cuthbert’s is a Grade I parish church on The Green, Billingham, in the Diocese of Durham. It is the historic mother church of the town and now part of Billingham Team Parish.
- Location
- Billingham, County Durham
- Country
- England
- County
- County Durham
- City / town
- Billingham
- Address
- Church Road, Billingham, County Durham, TS23 1BW
- Postcode
- TS23 1BW
- Built
- Nave probably C9; tower C10, top late C14; aisles C12–C13; chancel rebuilt 1939
- Architect
- Charlewood of Newcastle (chancel, 1939)
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Cuthbert
- Diocese
- Durham
- Parish
- Billingham
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Anglo-Saxon; medieval
- Materials
- Coursed rubble masonry; battlemented nave and tower
- Grid reference
- NZ 457 223
- Opening hours
- Open on request or during the Summer months on the first Tuesday of each month from 2pm to 4pm.
- Access
- Accessible toilets in church. Level access to the main areas. Ramp or level access available on request
Overview
Historic England records a tenth-century tower with a late-fourteenth-century top, and a nave probably of the ninth century, with a late-twelfth-century north aisle and clerestory, a thirteenth-century south aisle, and a late-fourteenth-century clerestory perhaps contemporary with the tower heightening. Fabric is coursed rubble, the nave and tower battlemented. Original tower openings include two-light bell-stage windows with baluster shafts and pierced spandrels, and a small arch to the nave. The chancel was rebuilt in 1939 by Charlewood of Newcastle. Early-seventeenth-century fittings include a screen and font cover.
The church stands at the heart of the original village, now enclosed by later development above Billingham Beck. Local accounts note later restorations in 1846, 1865, 1883 and 1890, and an eastern extension of 1937–39 to serve the growing new town. The listing NGR is NZ 45776 22340.