Rev John Hodgson's Final Resting Place

                      If you came here to find the grave's location it is next to the right hand end wall..the end wall at the opposite end to the tower

When John Hodgson left his parish of Jarrow with Heworth, which was a busy job he took an easier one so he could concentrate on finishing his History of Northumberland which he had started when living at Upper Heworth Farmhouse. Whilst remaining as the vicar of Jarrow & Heworth until 1833 (with curates acting in his place) he left Heworth in 1823 to go to Kirkwhelpington and then, in 1833 to here, St Andrew's Church in Hartburn. If you go to Morpeth and hang a left before getting into town you're on the road to Hartburn. The whole area is nice so there's more than just a John Hodgson pilgrimage to justify the trip.
The church was locked so didn't get in to see the inside but I found this pic on the internet

Click on photo to enlarge it.

There's John Hodgson 1833..7th bottom on left hand side board. 1833 is the date he became vicar at Hartburn. He was 53 then and he was 65 when he died in 1845 having been vicar for 12 years.
Notice that on the board next but one down from John Hodgson is Beil. P. Hodgson which is the abbreviated name of Beilby Porteous Hodgson. So was he related to John? Well, I know they were both members of the Archeology Society and both vicars at Hartburn but beyond that I can't say. It's probably just a coincidence as is the spooky coincidence that in 1539 the vicar was John Brandlyng (namesake of Hodgson's "enemy" in The Felling). The Brandlings were Catholic and Rev John Brandlying and all vicars of this church before him would have been Catholic because 1539 was right in the period of Henry VIII changing the country from being Catholic to Protestant.

Before watching video see comment at the bottom of this page

Inside St. Andrews Church

Before leaving, here's a pic of the Hartburn Vicarage where John Hodgson wrote a large part of his History of Northumberland. The old vicarage is now split into two houses and has a complex history. The earliest part of the building may be medieval, dating back to the 13th century. If so, it could be one of the earliest non-religious buildings in the county, not including the castles. The main block of the vicarage was built later and is probably 16th century. It has walls nearly one metre thick and has often been called a tower. This part was altered in the 18th and 19th centuries. This is a Grade II Listed Building