THE discovery of more than 70 medieval tombstones in the region has shed some light on the history of a small village.

The find, made earlier this month by archaeologists at St Brandon's Church, in Brancepeth, near Durham City, is one of the largest and finest examples of medieval tombstones to be found in the country.

Not only has it raised the interests of historians and archaeologists in the region, but it also caught the attention of the people of Hutton Magna, near Barnard Castle.

The village church of St Mary's has for a long time had a strange tombstone embedded in its walls.

The stone slab has a sword, shears and hammer etched into it, and local historian Marian Lewis believes it was placed in the wall when the church was rebuilt in 1878, on the foundations of the original Norman building.

Mrs Lewis said: "When I heard about the tombstones found at Brancepeth, I realised they were remarkably similar to the slab in our own church.

"We didn't previously know a great deal about it at the church, but I have been in touch with archaeologists and they have shed some light on it."

Archaeologist Peter Ryder, who is part of the team that discovered the slabs at Brancepeth, has dated the Hutton Magna tombstone to around the 14th Century.

He said: "It is a very fine cross slab, which dates from a slightly later period than the Brancepeth finds.

"I would say the hammer indicates that he was a blacksmith, but he was also able to bear arms, because of the sword etched on to it. He wasn't a nobleman though.