The Sacred Heart Church is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

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 priest ...

North Gosforth North Gosforth is a suburb and civil parish in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. It is part of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle The Roman Catholic 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 ecclesiastic ...

. Situated between

Wideopen Wideopen, also occasionally spelled 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 Hazlerigg ...

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 Go ...

to the south, the church was made a

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

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

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (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, James ...

, in particular Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

History

St Mary's Church

The church is a 19th-century former

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

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 unsuccessfully ...

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 Seaton Burn is a village in Tyne and Wear, England to the north of Newcastle upon Tyne, and adjacent to Wideopen which is just south of it. The A1 used to pass through the village but now bypasses the village just to the west, where it meets the ...

, 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 ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devo ...

on 24 June 1912.

List of Incumbent Priests

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Date !! Incumbent , - , 1912–1918 , , George C. Jeffreys , - , 1918–1921 , , C. Bede Tuohey , - , 1922–1925 , , Charles Hart , - , 1925–1926 , , ''None'' , - , 1926–1937 , , Charles Hart , - , 1930–1937 , , C. Bede Tuohey , - , 1937–1948 , , William T Harris , - , 1948–1949 , , James O'Brien , - , 1949–1962 , , James Phelan , - , 1962–1964 , , William McKenna , - , 1964–1984 , , Edward Ord , - , 1984–2000 , , Thomas Cass , - , 2000–2008 , , Joseph Travers , - , 2008–2020 , , James Dunne , - , 2020–2022 , , William Agley , - , 2022-present , , Michael Weymes

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 ar ...

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 the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, the parish believes that it is the work of

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

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 (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, James ...

artists

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman Hun ...

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 a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

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