THE new Bishop of Newcastle, the Church of England‘s seventh woman bishop, visited Hexham Abbey on the day her appointment was announced.

The Ven. Christine Hardman, former Archdeacon of Lewisham and Greenwich, joined the Abbey congregation for evening prayer last night in a service led by Rector of Hexham, Canon Dagmar Winter.

Canon Winter was one of six members from the Newcastle diocese elected to sit on the Crown Nominations Commission, which considered candidates for the twelfth Bishop of Newcastle.

“It’s such a historic day for the diocese and it‘s wonderful that the Abbey is a part of that,” she said.

As part of a whistle-stop tour of Northumberland and Tyneside, the bishop designate also stopped off a Kirkharle Courtyard to see an example of how rural enterprise and diversification is thriving in outlying areas of the diocese.