The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin is the oldest of the three church buildings in the Parish.  It stands on Kirkhill approximately one mile out of Morpeth.  Mostly constructed in the 14th century,  the tower has been dated earlier to the period 1160 to 1190 and inside the porch there is a list of rectors from 1129.   

St Mary’s was the main Parish Church of Morpeth until the 1840s, when church attendance was falling probably partly due to the church location at the southern boundary of the town. The walk, particularly in winter, was proving too much for parishioners, so it was decided to build a new and more suitable church, the Parish Church of St James, in the centre of the town.  St Mary’s has many historical features of note, and particularly the 14th C Tree of Jesse Window. 

Emily Wilding Davison (1872 – 1913) is buried in the family plot in St Mary’s Graveyard.  She is remembered as the woman who died by throwing herself under the hoofs of Anmer, King George V’s horse on June 4, 1913 at the Epsom Derby in support of the British suffragette movement. She was trampled and died a few days later, never having regained consciousness. She is is buried in St Mary’s the church yard and her gravestone bears the WSPU slogan, “Deeds not words”.

Click on the links below for more information.