History of Lang Pack at St. Cuthbert's Church, Bellingham

If you have visited St Cuthbert's Church in Bellingham you will have noticed an odd-looking gravestone in the graveyard. It's a long stone in the shape of a peddler's pack, lying flat, with a sign next to it titled The Lang Pack (also known as The Long Pack).

You might not think much of it, but it has an illustrious story behind it.

In 1723 the wealthy Colonel Ridley of Lee Hall left his house for the winter instructing his servants that no one should be allowed admittance in his absence.

The Lang Pack dates back to the 1700s (Image: Fabulous North) Soon after a man with a peddler's pack knocked on the door and asked if he could stay the night. The three servants remembered their master's instructions and turned him away, but on his pleading they allowed him to leave his pack while he found somewhere to sleep, which they brought into the parlour.

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During the evening Alice, the maid, was startled as she thought she saw the pack move and fetched the two other servants, Edward and Richard.

Edward fetched his blunderbuss gun, that he used for scaring the birds away from the cattle feed and shot at the pack. They heard a yelp before blood started to seep out. The pack was quickly opened to reveal a small man within, packaged up, but with a cutlass to set himself free, along with four guns and a silver whistle around his neck.

The servants initially believed this chap to be a thief, but weren't sure how he could have burgled the house all on his own. They concluded that he must have been part of a gang, who were coming back later once their accomplice had unlocked the hall.

The three servants rallied local townsfolk and corralled 25 men with 16 guns and various weapons to come to the hall. They positioned themselves around the front windows of the upper floors, but even into the early hours, there was no sign of the gang.

Then they remembered the silver whistle around the body's neck, which they assumed was to be blown to signal the gang. So they blew the whistle and out of the dark came a big gang on horseback.

The townsfolk in the hall let rip with their guns, startling the gang who expected to turn up to the hall and take its treasures unhindered. The gang dispersed and when the dust settled, four of the gang lay dead outside of the hall.

At daylight, there was no sign of the four bodies. The body from the house was then buried in the church graveyard under a stone representing a peddler's pack. Rumour has it that the body was also retrieved so no one could ever identify anyone in the gang.

Source - Lang Pack In Bellingham - Fabulous North.