Bowness on Solway, GB

St Michael

Bowness parish church, dedicated to St Michael, has a long and interesting history. The first Rector recorded was in 1265, though it is thought there must have been a church on the present site for around 900 years, as the font dates back to Norman times. Sited in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, adjacent to the hidden gem of the Solway Firth, St Michael's Church offers the visitor a peaceful space for reflection, together with many points of historical interest.

About this building

For more information visit on this building visit www.explorechurches.org/church/st-michael-bowness-solway

Other nearby buildings

David Millican/Flickr

Old Parish Church

The church had its origins in Pictish times at St Brigids Well on Gretna Hill. By the 16th century the church at Reinpatrick, or the Red Kirk, had fallen into decay and was joined to the Parish of Graitney. The parishes of Gretna and Redkirk were united in 1609.

Ross Spalding/Flickr

St Michael

12th century Norman church, built with stones from Hadrian's Wall and the Roman fort of Aballava and situated alongside the Hadrian's wall Path and cycleway. King Edward I (Longshanks) died nearby and lay in State in the church for ten days in 1307. One of only three fortified churches in Cumbria, with visible architectural features from the turbulent past of this border area.

David Purchase/Wikimedia Commons

St Mary

Situated prominently in the heart of the village, in an area of outstanding natural beauty. St Mary's is the only church actually on the course of Hadrian's Wall. Originally constructed in the late 13th century using stone from Hadrian's wall it is built on the top of a Norman 'Motte and Bailey' and on the site of a Roman milecastle.

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