St Andrew Church Dacre Cumbria
N 54° 37.919 W 002° 50.295
30U E 510441 N 6053851
The parish church of St Andrew is famous for the 'bears' on four gravestones. These are stone carvings showing a bear climbing.
Waymark Code: WM87WH
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/16/2010
Views: 3
A church has stood on this site for over a thousand years. Inside we are looking at the local red sandstone trimming used in last two hundred years. Locally quarried stone is used for the walls.
"The Anglo-Saxon chronicler the Venerable Bede, writes of a monastery at Dacre in 731 in his Ecclesiastical History, where he names it as Dacore. Since there is no later reference to such a monastery it has been assumed that it was destroyed during Viking raids. Archaeological excavations carried out on the site verify that the church may occupy the site of the former Saxon monastery." (
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"The present church is a Norman design. Several notable archaeological remains are at the site. These include various stone bears - the celebrated 'Dacre Bears', and inside the church two fragments of Viking crosses. Above the tower doorway, there is a plaque stating that the church was partly rebuilt by William Pollock. The south door has a large lock dated 1671 inscribed 'AP', referring to the Countess of Pembroke, Lady Anne Clifford. The resting place of Viscount Whitelaw, the former Home Secretary, is in the church grounds." (
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