St Marys Of Old Seaham

The Church is one of the twenty oldest churches in England dating back to the late 7th or very early 8th century.

The first recorded mention of Seaham is in a grant by King Athelstan, of the parish, to the monks of St. Cuthbert in 934 A. D. But the church long per-dates that. In may have been built by the monks of Monkwearmouth to administer their estates in the south. It was about 400 years old when Durham Cathedral was completed, and built around the time when many stone churches in the area, such as Monkwearmouth, Jarrow, Corbridge a d Escomb were constructed.