Church of St Michael and All Angels, Felton

The Church of St Michael and All Angels stands on a high wooded ridge west of Felton village in Northumberland. Built around 1200, its nave and aisle appear roofless from outside, though the church is almost encased within later additions. A striking window in the south aisle has geometrical tracery with an eight-petalled flower cut from a single stone. The building is Grade I listed and dedicated to Saint Michael. The church’s history includes a licence granted in 1332 for a chantry chapel funded by Roger Mauduit. In 1759, Thomas Heron paid for a gallery, and later alterations widened the north aisle. The chancel arch and south doorway show fine 13th-century craftsmanship, while the porch preserves traces of an earlier entrance. Inside, two old bells hang in the tower, one pre-Reformation. The octagonal font dates from the 14th century, and a 14th-century effigy of a priest holding a chalice is set into the north wall. The churchyard slopes down to meadows beside the Back Burn, with Felton Park’s wooded landscape visible beyond.