St Mary's

Founded only a couple of decades after the town’s iconic medieval castle in 1130, as a response to the growing congregation of the castle chapel, St Mary’s Parish Church had an eventful past.

Over the course of nearly 900 years, it has witnessed the ups, downs, lives, and deaths of generations of Barnard Castle’s inhabitants.

As well as a church, it has served as a fire station, parish hall, playhouse, meeting place for planning committees, and archive for official town documents.

But since the 19th century, when new public buildings were built and the renting of pews turned visiting a church into an elitist privilege, it has slowly receded from everyday town life.

In fact, a recent survey shows that although most inhabitants of Barnard Castle are aware of the church, many have not set foot in the building themselves, and say that they are intimidated by its religious appearance. They are not aware of its intriguing history, cultural importance, and wouldn’t even recommend a visit to tourists!

Windows to the World aims to radically change how the people of Barnard Castle view St Mary’s Church and its place within their town.

From the outside, St Mary’s looks like a Victorian building. But once you cross the threshold, it’s like travelling back in time.

Inside, the church still retains significant parts of its medieval structure, including carvings and all manner of historic artefacts.

For fans of King Richard III, it’s a place to come and see the direct impact of his architectural overhaul. Extremely attached to the place, he invested big sums of money in making the building bigger, lighter and more ornamental. Today, you can see the crest of Richards boar, as well as stone carvings of the later king’s head, and that of his brother, King Edward IV.

For those interested in local history, it’s also home to important town records, a stunning collection of Victorian stained-glass windows, several war memorials, richly decorated grave stones, all the colours of the 4th Durham militia and so much more.

Although trained eyes can read the history of the building, there is so much that can be done to make its past much more visible and engaging.

Windows to the World aims to help St Mary’s Church become an inviting place for people to visit and locals to use.

As well as being a church, filled with historic curiosities, St Mary’s is fundamentally also a public building.

It has served as a fire station, parish hall, playhouse, meeting place for planning committees, and archive for official town documents.

This project will uncover, rediscover and reinterpret the eventful history and cultural peculiarities of St Mary’s Parish, Barnard Castle, and the wider surroundings.

It will also explore centuries of the town’s colourful history, uncover hidden gems from its past, and share these discoveries with the world through talks, exhibitions, workshops, performances, a brand-new virtual museum, and so much more.

Through fun, interactive events that highlight the curious, warm, and wonderful history of St Mary’s church, Windows to the World will build up a community of people who are able to help the building, and all the hidden history it carries with it, step back into the centre of public life.

Along the way, residents and visitors will learn a lot about the church and the town that they didn’t know before. After all, 900 years is a long time!