St Joseph's 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 ...

Parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

, County Durham, England. It was built from 1893 to 1895 and designed by Edward Joseph Hansom,

Archibald Matthias Dunn Archibald Matthias Dunn FRIBA, JP, (1832 – 17 January 1917) was a British architect. He was, along with his partner Edward Joseph Hansom, among the foremost Catholic architects in North East England during the Victorian era. Short biogra ...

and W. Ellison Fenwicke in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

. It is located on the corner of Hutton Avenue and St Paul's Road close to the centre of Hartlepool. It is a

Grade II 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 ...

.Church of St Joseph, Hutton Avenue
from

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

, retrieved 27 January 2022 It is also close to an Anglican Church called St Paul's Church.

History

Foundation

During the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, the local Catholics worshipped in the

Hardwick Hall Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire is an architecturally significant country house from the Elizabethan era, a leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house. Built between 1590 and 1597 for Bess of Hardwick, it was designed by the architect Ro ...

. In 1834 the first Catholic

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

was built in Hartlepool, it was St Mary's Chapel in

Headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...

. With the local Catholic population growing, in 1851 the chapel was replaced by St Mary's Church,

Hartlepool – St Joseph
from ''Taking Stock'', retrieved 27 January 2022 then known as St Hilda's (not to be confused with the Church Of England St Hilda's). In 1867, a

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

was started from St Mary's Church in the town centre. It was named the St Joseph's Mission. The mission was in various buildings around the town centre and fundraising was done for a new church.

Construction

On 9 August 1893, the foundation stone of St Joseph's church was laid. Less than two years later, on 5 February 1895, the church was opened. It cost £13,000 with a capacity of 1000 people. The church was designed by the architectural firm Dunn, Hansom and Fenwicke, consisting of Edward Joseph Hansom,

and W. Ellison Fenwick. Later additions were made to the church. In 1966, a porch was added to the northwest of the church. In 1976, a presbytery was added and three years later, in 1979 a parish centre. The

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

was refurbished in 1979/1980. All these additions were instigated by the then parish priest, Canon Patrick Lacey who died from a heart attack 2 weeks after his Golden Jubilee Mass. He was also known as "the building priest" having made plans to build 2 other churches, St Thomas More's and St John Vianney's. In 1995, a century after the opening of the church, a book was published that described the history of the church, it was called ''St Joseph's Church, Hartlepool, 1895 to 1995: A Century of Community''.

Parish

With St Mary's Church in

, and St Patrick's Church, St Cuthbert's Church, St John Vianney's Church, the church is part of the Holy Family Parish. St Joseph's Church has two Sunday Masses at 4:00pm on Saturday and 10:00am on Sunday. St Mary's Church has one Saturday Mass at 6:00pm, St Patrick's has one Sunday Mass at 9:00am, and St John Vianney's has one Sunday Mass at 11.00am.Parishes
from

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 ...

, retrieved 27 January 2022

Interior

File:St Joseph's Church interior, Hartlepool.jpg, The Sanctuary File:St Joseph's Church lady chapel, Hartlepool.jpg, The Lady Altar (side altar) File:St Joseph's Church Sacred Heart chapel, Hartlepool.jpg, The Sacred Heart Altar (side Altar)

References

External links

St Joseph's Church
from the

* St Joseph's Church from th
Hartlepool History Then And Now Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph's Church, Hartlepool Buildings and structures in Hartlepool Grade II listed churches in County Durham Roman Catholic churches completed in 1895 Roman Catholic churches in County Durham Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in County Durham 1867 establishments in England 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom