St.John Lee is a parish church without an attached village,
though the somewhat lonely house of worship serves a big enough geographical
area, encompassing, as it does, the likes of Acomb, Anick, Wall, and much
besides. Its delightful ‘hipped’ tower-cum-spire can be seen for miles around,
poking through the trees across the Tyne valley from Hexham.
W.W.Tomlinson, in his Comprehensive
Guide to the County of Northumberland (1888), gave an account of a curious
marriage which took place there in 1765. The bridegroom was one Robert Scott, a
famous Northumbrian piper, aged 90, and his bride was youngster Jean Middlemas,
who was a mere 25. Robert had been using crutches to get around for a good
quarter of a century, but on his wedding day he threw them away and walked from
the village of Wall (some 3 miles to the north) to St.John Lee church.
After the service – full of life and with a renewed spring
in his step – he walked back again among a group of fellow pipers, no doubt to
great acclaim, and the happy couple were afterwards regaled with cakes and ale.
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