The Sacred Heart Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church and

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

in North Gosforth,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. It is part of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle The Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church, centred on St Mary's Cathedral, in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, in England. The diocese is one of the six suffragan sees in the ecclesiastical provi ...

. Situated between

Wideopen Wideopen, also occasionally misspelled as Wide Open, is a village in the North Tyneside metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, England, around north of Newcastle. Wideopen adjoins the settlements of Seaton Burn, Brunswick Village and Ha ...

village to the north and

Gosforth Park Gosforth Park is a park north of Gosforth in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It houses Newcastle Racecourse, Virgin Money Unity Arena, a Britannia hotel, two golf courses, a garden centre and a football centre. It is also home to G ...

to the south, the church was made a

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

in 2006. It is notable for its stained glass windows bearing designs by members of the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossett ...

, in particular Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

History

St Mary's Church

The church is a 19th-century former

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church, built and donated by

Thomas Eustace Smith Thomas Eustace Smith (1831–1903) was an English shipping magnate and Liberal Party politician. Biography He was elected at the 1868 general election as the member of parliament (MP) for Tynemouth and North Shields, having stood unsuccessful ...

in the 1860s, and named St Mary's. Use of the church fell following the more general use of St Columba's church in Seaton Burn, which was closer to most of the parish, and the church later closed.

Sacred Heart Church

The church was bought in 1911 by Bishop Richard Collins, Bishop of the

and endowed to the Diocese. Mass was first led by the Bishop on 28 January 1912, and the church was formally dedicated to the

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

on 24 June 1912.

List of Incumbent Priests

Architecture

Built in the 1860s, the church is designed in the

Early English Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

style, although much of the masonry is brick rather than more traditional stone. The architect is unknown, but due to a number of similarities to the church of Baldersby St James in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, the parish believes that it is the work of

William Butterfield William Butterfield (7 September 1814 – 23 February 1900) was a British Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement (or Tractarian Movement). He is noted for his use of polychromy. Biography William Butterfield was bo ...

or one of his students.

Stained glass windows

The church is notable for its stained glass windows, bearing designs by

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, ...

artists

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...

Ford Madox Brown Ford Madox Brown (16 April 1821 – 6 October 1893) was a British painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often William Hogarth, Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his mos ...

and

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

Notes

References

{{Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic churches completed in the 1860s Grade II listed churches in Tyne and Wear Roman Catholic churches in Tyne and Wear Gothic Revival church buildings in England Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England