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St Mungo’s is the mother church of the North Tyne Valley. Up until the early 19th century, the original parish extended from Hadrian's Wall to Carter Bar and was at that time the largest parish in England; perhaps this helps to explain why the tiny village of Simonburn has such a large church.

There are some traces of an Anglican church from the 9th century, but the present building is mainly 13th century in origin with sensitive restorations made in 1762 and 1863.

The window at the east end of this south aisle has as its subject the Blessed Virgin Mary and two saints. Below is what remains of a monument which probably stood in the Lady Chapel, destroyed when the South wall was rebuilt in 1763. Four of the figures remain and are grouped together beneath the window. They are dressed in Jacobean costume and represent Cuthbert Ridley (Rector of Simonburn from 1604 to 1627) and his sons. The rector is portrayed as a bearded figure, kneeling in his priest's cassock and wearing a ruff. Beside him kneel a curly headed boy and a youth (now headless), in tight jerkins and loose breeches. Nearby, against the south wall, is the recumbent figure of a small boy lies. This is his son Alban who died in 1625.

The inscription, "In the day of judgment God be merciful to Ridley a sinner" is carved in the stone below the kneeling figure of the rector.

The Church of St Mungo is a grade II* listed building (Link British Listed Buildings)

Link "The Great Parish of Simonburn" from Hadrian's Wall to Carter Bar

Link Northumbria.info

Link Wikipedia article about St Mungo