St Mary'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, ...

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...

, Northumberland. It was built from 1828 to 1830 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 Battle Hill, opposite Hexham Park, close to the town centre. 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 ...

History

Foundation

From the 1600s, local Catholics worshipped at

Dilston Castle Dilston Castle is a ruined 15th-century tower house situated at Dilston, near Corbridge, Northumberland, England. It has Scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade I listed building protection. A three-storey tower was built by Sir William Claxton on ...

or in Stonecroft House in

Newbrough Newbrough is a village in Northumberland, England, on the north bank of the River South Tyne about north-west of Hexham. History Newbrough is the site of one of the line of Roman forts along the original northern frontier of the Roman Stanega ...

. The

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 ...

at Dilston Castle was originally served by

secular clergy In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogra ...

. The mission at Stonecroft House was served by Dominicans. By 1722, the two missions had moved into Hexham itself. The secular priest at Dilston moved to Cockshaw in Hexham and the Dominican mission moved to Battle Hill before moving to the current Burn Brae House site in 1797. The mission at Dilston Castle continued and was served by

Benedictines , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

from Swinburne, Northumberland. On 5 September 1827, the two missions agreed to merge. The chapel in Cockshaw was sold for £600 and plans were made to build the church on the Burn Brae House site.

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 ...

Hexham - St Mary
from ''Taking Stock'', retrieved 28 January 2022

Construction

Two architectural plans were made for the new church, one by

Ignatius Bonomi Ignatius Bonomi (1787–1870) was an English architect and surveyor, with Italian origins by his father, strongly associated with Durham in north-east England. Life He was the son of an architect and draughtsman, Joseph Bonomi (1739– ...

and the other by the priest Fr Michael Singleton. The parish went with the plan by Fr Singleton. On 22 April 1828 the foundation stone was laid and the church was built in the

. During construction the east

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

collapsed causing a delay. On 22 September 1830, the church was opened by Bishop Thomas Penswick, the Vicar Apostolic of the Northern District.

Developments

In 1832, a school was built across from the church, on the site of the current school. In 1930, it was rebuilt. In 1858, a

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

convent was built behind the church. In 1874, Dilston Castle was sold and five bodies were moved from the chapel there to the church and interred in the church vault. In 1957, the convent was converted into another school and the sisters moved to a house on Hencotes. In 1975, the school was converted into a parish centre before becoming the current presbytery in 2000. In 1914, the roof fell in and in 1979 the church was refurbished and 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 reordered. The architect was Jack Lynn. After the renovation the church was re-opened by Hugh Lindsay, the

Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle The Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle in the Province of Liverpool, known also on occasion as the Northern Province. History With the gradual abolition of the legal restricti ...

on 21 December 1979.

Parish

St Mary's Church is in the Hexham

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

and along with St Oswald's Church in Bellingham, St Mary's Church in Swinburne, St Peter's Church in Otterburn, St John of Beverley Church in

Haydon Bridge Haydon Bridge is a village in Northumberland, England, with a population of about 2000, the civil parish Haydon being measured at 2,184 in the Census 2011. Its most distinctive features are the two bridges crossing the River Tyne, River South T ...

and St Wilfrid Church in

Haltwhistle Haltwhistle is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, east of Brampton. It had a population of 3,811 at the 2011 Census. Stone-built houses are a feature of Haltwhistle. It is one of two settlements in Great Britain which c ...

, is in the partnership of Heavenfield. St Mary's Church has three Sunday Masses at 6:00pm on Saturday, and 10:00am and 6:00pm on Sunday. St John of Beverley Church in Haydon Bridge has its Sunday Mass at 9:00am and St Oswald's Church in Bellingham has its 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 28 January 2022

References

External links

*
Partnership site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Church, Hexham Hexham Roman Catholic churches completed in 1830

hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...