Raholp Church

This small pre-Norman church is associated with Bishop Tassach and is known locally as St Tassach’s. Early sources tell us that Tassach administered the last sacraments to Patrick, but Tassach was at Raholp until much later. The church stands on a marked mound, in places revetted with drystone walling and large slabs. A simple rectangle, it has a west door with inclining jambs, and an east window with crosses incised on the straight lintel. An 11th-century date is possible. It continued in use in the Middle Ages and was listed as a parish church in the early 14th century. Doors were inserted in the north and south walls and the small north window was altered. The early masonry was bound with clay but the later work was mortared. By the 19th century the church was badly ruined and in about 1915 F.J. Bigger carried out extensive restoration work, including the present doorways and the stone altar. By the 1980s, when the site came into state care, it was again in a bad condition and in the 1990s a conservation programme was accompanied by excavation, when at least one burial was found underlying the south wall. A large slab east of the church with a socket must be a cross-base, and there were formerly many small cross-carved stones in the church but they have disappeared.

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