Thockrington
| Thockrington | |
| Northumberland | |
|---|---|
 St Aidan's Church, Thockrington | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NY955795 |
| Location: | 55°6’36"N, 2°4’19"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Hexham |
| Postcode: | NE48 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Northumberland |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Hexham |
Thockrington is a village in Northumberland, to be found about ten miles north of Hexham.
Parish church
Thockrington's church, St Aiden's, stands prominently on a spur of the Great Whin Sill. It is one of the oldest churches in the county.[1][2]
Here are buried several members of the ancient family of Shafto, the earliest mention of whom is in 1240. The Shaftos lived at nearby Bavington until the eighteenth century when, as a result of their support of the Jacobite cause in 1715, their estates were confiscated by the Crown, and ultimately sold to a Delaval. The Shaftos had connections with the county of Durham and lived on their Durham estates until 1953, when Mr R. D. Shafto returned to Bavington Hall.[1]
Also buried in the churchyard are Lord Beveridge, the architect of the modern welfare state, and the author Tom Sharpe: his father was once vicar of Thockrington.[3]
Sights about the village
A little over a mile south-west of the village are the ruins of Little Swinburne Tower, a fifteenth-century pele tower.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Thockrington) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ridley, Nancy (1966). Portrait of Northumberland (reprint ed.). London: Robert Hale. OCLC 503957631?referer=br&ht=edition.
- ↑ Purves, Geoffrey (2006). Churches of Newcastle and Northumberland. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus Publishing Limited. pp. 88. ISBN 0-7524-4071-3. http://www.tempus-publishing.com.
- ↑ "Ashes of writer Tom Sharpe buried at ceremony in remote Northumberland church yard"; The Journal 3 June 2014