Hexham Abbey's free Christmas Fair is on Saturday 12 December, 9.30am to 3pm, with almost 100 stalls. The Abbey wants jams, chocolate and bottles to sell.

Hexham Abbey’s Christmas Fair is on Saturday 12 December, from 9.30am to about 3pm, with almost 100 stalls across the Abbey grounds and into the town square. Entry is free. The fair raises money for the Abbey’s parochial church council (PCC).

The Abbey’s event page says about half the stalls are outdoors, so visitors should wrap up warm. It also warns that “many stalls tend to sell out and may begin to pack up earlier” than 3pm. Stalls for this year are sold out. Traders who want a place on the waiting list, or a pitch next year, can email admin@hexhamabbey.org.uk.

The Abbey’s own list of what to expect:

  • artisan stalls with handmade gifts, crafts and local produce
  • “special hot chocolates and mince pies to gourmet goodies”
  • live music and carol singing inside the Abbey
  • festive crafts for children

Donations wanted for the Abbey’s own stalls

With 30 days to go, the Abbey is asking for things to sell. Its notice, signed by Fiona Finnon, says: “We urgently need donations of homemade jams, marmalade, chutney and jelly. Jewellery of any kind. Chocolate of any kind. Bottles of any kind.”

Drinks can be “alcoholic, soft or fizzy”. The list also takes in bath products, hamper gifts, Christmas puddings, cakes, sweet or savoury biscuits, nibbles and Christmas treats.

Donations can go to the parish office. To drop items off in the afternoon, book a time first by emailing admin@hexhamabbey.org.uk or calling 01434 611909.

Three people standing behind a table with hot drink urns inside Hexham Abbey
Hot drinks being served at a table inside Hexham Abbey. Photo: supplied by Hexham Abbey

Carols and Cocoa after the lights switch-on, 20 November

On Friday 20 November, from 5.45pm, the Abbey opens after the town’s Christmas lights switch-on. Hexham Abbey Choir leads carols around the piano, and there is hot chocolate topped with marshmallows. “We look forward to seeing you there!” the Abbey says.

Advent Sunday, 29 November

Advent starts with two services at the Abbey on Sunday 29 November: an Advent Eucharist at 10am and a candlelit Advent Carol Service at 6.30pm.

Tickets for the Abbey’s Christmas carol services go on sale online from 12pm that day.

Also this month at the Abbey

The Grand Arc of Revelation, Friday 13 November, 6.30pm. Revd Tony Buglass gives this talk in the Abbey’s theology lecture series. It goes with the textile exhibition. Doors open at 6pm, entry is pay as you feel (£3, £5, £8 or £10) and a glass of wine is included. Tickets are sold at the door or on the Abbey website.

Poster for The Grand Arc of Revelation, a talk by Revd Tony Buglass at Hexham Abbey on Friday 13 November 2026 at 6.30pm
The poster for The Grand Arc of Revelation talk. Photo: supplied by Hexham Abbey

Threads Through Revelation, until 22 November. Jacqui Parkinson’s 14 textile panels on the Book of Revelation are in the Abbey until 22 November. Everyone is welcome. We covered the exhibition when it opened.

Visitors looking at a large textile panel in the Threads Through Revelation exhibition at Hexham Abbey
Visitors at the Threads Through Revelation textile exhibition in Hexham Abbey. Photo: supplied by Hexham Abbey

Lunchtime Live, Thursday 19 November, 1pm. The Abbey’s Director of Music, Matthew Kelley, plays the organ at the last Lunchtime Live of the year. Entry is free and there is a suggested donation of £5.

A Pre-Advent Day with Meister Eckhart, Thursday 19 November, 10.30am to 3pm. This day introduces the medieval German mystic and one of his favourite themes, “the birth of God in the soul”. It is held at Westcroft, Elvaston Road, Hexham, NE46 2HH. Refreshments are served from 10am and soup lunch is provided. “Everyone is very welcome and no previous knowledge is required!” Book through the organiser, Bridget Hewitt, on 01434 602897.

Christian Meditation, every Monday at 4pm. A time of quiet meditation, open to all.

The lighting appeal ends on 22 November. The Abbey’s “Let there be Light” appeal is trying to raise the last £75,000 of a £275,000 relighting by Sunday 22 November. The pewsheet says the appeal “is doing well” and that “people have been wonderfully generous”. Our lighting appeal story explains what the money pays for. The giving page is at cafdonate.cafonline.org/31371.

Young writers wanted for TAKE THIS

The Abbey’s children’s magazine, TAKE THIS, is written by and for children aged 8 to 12. Its writers are working on the Advent issue, which will be the magazine’s 30th Christmas issue. Copies go to the Abbey and its Refectory, and to parishes in Ponteland, Thornaby and Yarm.

Children working on paper and notebooks around a table
A TAKE THIS writers' meeting. Photo: supplied by Hexham Abbey

Five young writers make up the team: Jessie, Katie, Sebastian, Poppy and William. They meet once a month for an hour, straight after the Sunday service, and their next meeting is on Sunday 15 November. Chris Milner, who runs the magazine, writes that they “will be trying to jump into the Christmas spirit and forget that the end of term is still weeks away”.

Through 2026 the team has covered the six good causes the Abbey supports with money:

  • Saint Paul’s Children’s Project in Zambia
  • Hexham Holiday Club
  • the Children’s Society
  • West Northumberland Foodbank
  • Northumberland Domestic Abuse Services
  • SEDCU, which supports the education of disabled children in Uganda

Some of the current team will soon be too old for the magazine. “We’d love to hear from other young writers in school years 4 to 7 who’d be keen to join the team,” Mr Milner writes. Call him on 07704 453473, email chris@takethis.org.uk or contact the parish office.

A gift for World Kindness Day

Friday 13 November is World Kindness Day. The Abbey shop is selling 20-minute candle sets. Each set holds 10 candles and affirmation cards, which the Abbey calls “a gentle invitation to slow down, reflect, pray or simply enjoy a moment of peace in just 20 minutes”.

A display box of boxed 20-minute candle sets in the Hexham Abbey shop
Twenty-minute candle sets in the Hexham Abbey shop. Photo: supplied by Hexham Abbey

A book on 70 years of National Park volunteers

Northumberland National Park is 70 this year. A member of the Abbey congregation has paid for the publication of “Volunteer Voices”, a history of the park’s volunteers since it was designated in 1956. One of the Abbey’s bellringing volunteers co-wrote it. It draws on oral history interviews with older volunteers, along with documents and photographs.

Cover of the book Volunteer Voices, showing two people working on a hillside
The cover of Volunteer Voices. Photo: supplied by Hexham Abbey

The book costs £12 from The Sill shop (01434 341200). A free exhibition runs at The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre, Bardon Mill, NE47 7AN, from 10am to 4pm daily until the spring. The AD122 bus stops there.

Thank you to the Abbey’s baker

The pewsheet thanks Kym Leach, who bakes treats for the Abbey’s children’s events, including its Halloween crafts afternoon. The Flowers and Gardens teams also thanked the congregation for donating so many containers and pots that “we may need to order more bulbs and plants!”

Cupcakes iced in blue with googly eyes and biscuit mouths
Cupcakes made by Kym Leach for a children's event at Hexham Abbey. Photo: supplied by Hexham Abbey

What it means for you

  • Christmas Fair: Saturday 12 December, 9.30am to about 3pm, Hexham Abbey and the town square, free. Go early, because stalls sell out.
  • Donating to the fair: jams, chocolate, bottles, bath products and Christmas treats can go to the parish office. Book an afternoon drop-off on 01434 611909.
  • Carols and Cocoa: Friday 20 November from 5.45pm, after the lights switch-on.
  • Advent Sunday: 29 November, with a Eucharist at 10am and a candlelit carol service at 6.30pm. Christmas carol tickets go on sale at 12pm that day.

Hexham Abbey is on Beaumont Street, Hexham, NE46 3NB. The parish office is open Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 12.30pm.