WE ARE FOUR PLACES OF WORSHIP
The church of St. Gregory is the main church in the Benefice of Bedale. A Grade I Listed Building, the present structure dates back to the latter part of the twelfth century with further restoration work having taken place over the last 800 years.
Located at the northern end of the Market Place it is a prominent feature of the town and the main tourist attraction.
St. Gregory’s receives over 10,000 visitors per year through its church and grounds with many of them participating in our Teddy Bear Trail. Led by Gregory Bear, this team of bears all have very important jobs around the church and children follow their trail by answering specific questions about them in our Trail Booklet.
The village of Burrill is just under 2 miles west of Bedale. The village was home to Robert Swan the explorer for several years. Agriculture is the main industry of the area.
Burrill Mission Church (a Chapel of Ease built within the bounds of the parish for those who could not readily attend St. Gregory’s Church) was built in 1856 under the guidance of George Fowler Jones, probably whilst he was working on the restoration of St. Gregory’s.
Holy Communion is held on the fourth Sunday of each month and the summer United Benefice Service is always held at Burrill.
Thornton Watlass is a small picturesque village that is located north of Masham and south of Bedale. At the centre is the triangular village green with its trees, cricket pitch and a nearby children’s playground which is surrounded by houses, some of which were built from local stone. The church, dating from the 11th century, stands a little way outside the village to the south-east. Thornton Watlass has been featured as a location for several TV series, the most famous of which is ITV’s ‘Heartbeat’.
The Church of England school is federated with Snape Community School and there is a village hall overlooking the green where many church events are held.
The village of Leeming lies just to the east of the A1(M). It is south of the larger village of Leeming Bar and lies close to RAF Leeming which has been redeveloped as a communications station.
The churchyard contains 38 war graves including the burial place of Flt Lt John Quinton GC DFC, who sacrificed himself to save an air cadet by providing the cadet with the only available parachute after a mid-air collision.
Frank Atkinson, the founder of Beamish Museum, lived here for several years and is also buried in the churchyard.