Hexham abbey

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Hexham abbey was founded around 673 by St Wilfrid in Northumberland on land granted to him by Queen Æthelthryth. It was created a bishopric in 678 but after 821 the see was merged with Lindisfarne. In 875 the abbey was burned by the Danes and its inhabitants dispersed. In 1113 Archbishop Thomas II of York reconstituted the church as a priory of Augustinian canons. The abbey is noted for its Early English choir, the crypt and the night stair in the south transept, a broad flight of steps leading to the dormitory, used by monks attending night services.

Richard A. Smith