Hexham Abbey: A Complete Visitor's Guide

Hexham Abbey stands right at the heart of the town, on the edge of the Market Place, and has done so in one form or another since AD 674 — making it one of the oldest sites of continuous Christian worship in England. Beneath the Gothic nave lies an Anglo-Saxon crypt built from recycled Roman stone; upstairs, the Abbey is still a fully working parish church with daily services, a renowned choir, and a visitor centre telling the story of everyone from a 7th-century bishop to a Roman standard-bearer. This guide draws only on the Abbey's own official website and heritage records — for anything time-sensitive (service times, event bookings, closures), always check hexhamabbey.org.uk directly.

About the Abbey

What makes Hexham Abbey so remarkable isn't just its age, but how much of its story you can still physically walk through. The building standing today is largely the 12th- and 13th-century Augustinian priory church — chancel, transepts and tower dating from 1180 to 1250 — with a Victorian/Edwardian nave rebuilt to the original medieval footprint and consecrated in 1908. Tucked beneath it all is a Saxon crypt that has barely changed in over 1,300 years, built from stone plundered from the Roman fort at Corbridge a few miles down the river.

Since the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536, the Abbey has served as Hexham's parish church, and it remains an active, busy one today: regular services, a strong choral tradition built around the Phelps Organ, and a full events calendar of concerts and exhibitions. In 2014, the Abbey regained ownership of its former monastic buildings — for centuries used as the town's magistrates' court — and turned them into The Big Story exhibition and the Refectory Café, reuniting the whole site for the first time since the Reformation.

A 1,350-Year History

Few buildings in England have quite as turbulent a backstory. Hexham Abbey has been built, burned, rebuilt, half-forgotten and rediscovered more times than most towns have their entire history to tell.

Key moments in the Abbey's story:

• 673–674: Queen Etheldreda grants Bishop Wilfrid the lands of Hexhamshire to found a Benedictine monastery.
• 678: Wilfrid's church is completed — built almost entirely from stone recycled from the ruined Roman fort at Corbridge.
• 875: Viking raiders sack the monastery.
• 1113: The Archbishop of York refounds the community as a Priory of Augustinian Canons.
• 1180–1250: The chancel, transepts and tower are built — essentially the building you see today.
• 1296–97: The Priory is burned by Scottish raiders, and then attacked the following year again by William Wallace, who destroys what was left of the shrines, books and relics.
• 1536: The Dissolution of the Monasteries. Hexham's chancel and transepts are spared because the parish still needs them.
• 1725: Workmen digging foundations for a buttress accidentally rediscover the long-forgotten Saxon crypt.
• 1828: Part of the east wing collapses and is rebuilt the following year by celebrated Newcastle architect John Dobson.
• 1907–1908: The nave is entirely rebuilt to its original 13th-century footprint, and consecrated on 8th August 1908.
• 1999–2000: Two new bells, Peace and Millennium, are cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry to bring the Abbey's peal up to ten bells for the millennium.
• 2014: Restoration of the old monastic Priory Buildings is completed, creating The Big Story exhibition and the Refectory Café, and reuniting the whole site for the first time in almost 500 years.

Treasures & Things to See

The Abbey's own "Top 10" highlights a mix of Anglo-Saxon, Roman and medieval survivals packed into one building. Here's what to look out for.

The Saxon Crypt

The single biggest draw for most visitors. This is the only part of Wilfrid's original 7th-century church to survive intact, and it's built almost entirely from stone taken from the Roman ruins at Corbridge — you can still spot Roman carved friezes and even an altar fragment dedicated to Maponus Apollo, a Romano-Celtic hybrid god, built right into the walls.

The Night Stair

Thirty-five worn stone steps rising from the south transept, used since the 13th century by the Augustinian canons descending from their dormitory for pre-dawn prayers. It's a genuine rarity — equivalent staircases at other great abbeys like Fountains, Rievaulx and Fountains haven't survived. Climb it today for a gallery view over the transepts, the organ and the medieval stained glass.

Flavinus' Tombstone

At the foot of the Night Stair stands a nearly nine-foot Roman memorial slab — the largest of its type found in England. Unearthed under the Abbey floor in 1881, it commemorates Flavinus, a 25-year-old standard-bearer of the Ala Petriana cavalry regiment. It is carved with a mounted Roman soldier trampling a defeated barbarian warrior.

The Frith Stool

A solid sandstone throne in the Choir, possibly made for Wilfrid himself and used as the bishop's seat during Hexham's short spell as a cathedral. "Frith" is Old English for peace and sanctuary — those fleeing justice or persecution could once claim protection here, right beside the high altar.

Acca's Cross

A weathered, reassembled memorial to Bishop Acca, Wilfrid's successor and a noted musician and scholar, who led the Abbey from 709–732. Its fragments have had a strange journey — two pieces were recovered from old warehouse foundations near the Market Place, while another section had spent years serving as a door lintel on a farmhouse in nearby Dilston.

And also look for:

• The Phelps Organ — installed in 1974, central to the Abbey's strong choral tradition
• The Rood Screen and Painted Panels — medieval woodwork marking where a cross once stood above the choir
• Stained Glass Windows — filling the 13th-century lancet windows with Victorian colour
• Sculpture and Banners — collections built up across the Abbey's long life

Visiting Info

Entry to the Abbey itself and to The Big Story exhibition is free, though donations are always welcomed to help maintain the building. The crypt is the one part of the site with a set admission charge, and access can occasionally pause around services, weddings, funerals or concerts — check the Abbey's events calendar before planning around it.

The Abbey also welcomes pre-booked group tours and school visits — get in touch with the Abbey Administrator in advance to arrange these.

Café & Gift Shop

Inside the restored Priory Buildings, the Refectory Café serves paninis, sandwiches, jacket potatoes and home-baked scones and cakes, all prepared on site using local suppliers and Fair Trade ingredients where possible. There's also a well-known Afternoon Tea, served from 1.45pm daily, but it needs booking ahead.

There's a Gift Shop too, stocking guidebooks, gifts and Abbey-related souvenirs — a good stop if you want to take a bit of the 1,350-year story home with you.

Worship, Music & Events

Hexham Abbey is, above all, a working church rather than a museum piece. It holds a full weekly pattern of services — including Holy Communion, Parish Eucharist and Evensong on Sundays — and has a long-standing musical reputation built around its choirs and the Phelps Organ. The Abbey also hosts concerts, exhibitions and community events throughout the year, from choral performances to touring music acts, alongside baptisms, weddings and funerals held in the building.

For what's on, service times, and to book weddings, baptisms or the Afternoon Tea, the official calendar is the best up-to-date source.

Find It & Get in Touch

Hexham Abbey, The Parish Centre, Hexham, Northumberland, NE46 3NB — right on Hexham's Market Place, in the heart of town and just a short walk from the bus and train stations.

Phone: 01434 602031
Email: admin@hexhamabbey.org.uk

This page is maintained independently by Hexham Focus, compiled from Hexham Abbey's official website and public heritage records. For the official word on service times, event bookings, and anything else time-sensitive, visit the Hexham Abbey website directly.

We do our best to keep this page accurate, but details can change at short notice. Spot an error? Let us know — hello@hexhamfocus.co.uk.