St Andrews Church & Hopper Mausoleum

"At Grey Mare Hill, near Kilnpit Hill, to the east of the A68 to Consett, there is a remarkably little-known building called the Hopper Mausoleum. It stands on a hill with very good, almost all-round, visibility particularly to the south and south west, in the churchyard of St Andrew’s church, which is managed by the Historic Churches Trust. The Church dates from 1769, but was restored following subsidence, in 1892.

The memorial was built by Humfrey Hopper of Black Hedley in 1752 as a memorial to his wife. He was later buried there and details of his descendants were engraved in the building erected in a neo-Classical style, complete with niches, statues, pinnacles, iron railings and more. It was restored c1977 but has now been partly vandalised. It remains an imposing monument, accessed only by a signposted footpath on the south side of a minor road to Whittonstall." (Hexham Local History Society)