Dinsdale St John

Parish Notes Durham

Dinsdale St John the Baptist

[Population 1911: ]

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Church

The church of St. John, erected in 1196, on the site of a Saxon church of St. John, by William Briton, first rector, who with his wife Agnes appear to have been the founders, is an ancient building of stone, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, south chapel, dedicated St. Mary, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing one bell: in the chancel and cave are piscinæ: the font is Caen stone, supported by marble pillars, and the old Norman font is still preserved: in 1883 a handsome carved reredosof Caen stone was erected at a cost of £100 from designs of Mr. Robert J. Johnson: at the restoration in 1876 the remains of a fine churchyard cross and some beautifully carved stones of the so-called Saxon type were discovered, and they now form the base of the north wall of the church: in the porch is a grave cover bearing a sword and cross and inscribed in rude, peculiar, but perfectly legible letters, "Gocelynus Surteys:" the windows are stained, the east window being a memorial to William Smoult Temple, late rector, d. 1859, Mary his wife, d. 1869, and Simon Temple sen. d. 1861; and others in the chancel are to Anne, d. 1863, and Fanny Grey Smith, d. 1874, and to Gertrude, d. 1875, and Harold Eastwood, d. 1875; the west window commemorates the Storey family, and three windows in the south aisle are memorials to Major William Anthony Grey Smith, d. 1886, Almeria, wife of the Rev. Scott Surtees, d. 1859, and the Rev. John Surtees and his wife, d. 1873: there is also a brass, dated 1668, with arms and a long inscription recording a gift to the parish by Mary(Place), wife of Thomas Wyvill of Spennithorne: the church was partly rebuilt in 1875-6 at a cost of £2,660, and affords 170 sittings. [Kelly's Durham Directory (1914) page 119.]

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