The Church of St Peter is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Grade II* listed 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, H ...

church located on the east side of

Wallsend Wallsend () is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of ...

North Tyneside North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It forms part of the greater Tyneside conurbation. North Tyneside Council is headquartered at Cobalt Park, Wallsend. North Tyneside is bordered by Ne ...

. It was constructed to replace Holy Cross Church, which had been built c. 1150 but had fallen into disrepair by the end of the 18th century. The building was extensively remodelled in 1892 in the

Perpendicular style Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...

to give it its present form. The parish church is the oldest in Wallsend

History

By the 1790s the local authorities agreed a new church needed to be constructed, since Holy Cross Church, which had served the Wallsend community for centuries, had fallen into disrepair. With the only local church both roofless and unusable, services were instead being conducted in the local schoolroom. Progress was slow, however, with disagreements between Church and local property owners as to who should finance the construction, stalling the project until 1804. The matter was eventually resolved by a solicitor who suggested the money could be raised by means of a

tontine A tontine () is an investment linked to a living person which provides an income for as long as that person is alive. Such schemes originated as plans for governments to raise capital in the 17th century and became relatively widespread in the 18 ...

. This unusual solution proved popular and ensured the necessary funds became available. No work was undertaken however until 1806, when it was realised that the schoolroom being used for public worship was neither consecrated nor licensed —meaning that marriages were not legal, the offspring of the unions illegitimate and the perpetual curate subject to serious legal penalties. A Bill was passed in the House of Commons in August 1807 in order to legitimise the marriages and their offspring, and to authorise the construction of a new church. The foundation stone of what would be a Georgian 'preaching box' was laid in November 1807 and the burial ground was consecrated in 1809. Major alterations were made in 1892 to give the church its current form. It was clear by the 1980s that the Victorian chancel had serious structural problems, and questions were raised with regard to the feasibility of making the necessary repairs. At one point the church was threatened with closure. But during Fr Alan Clements's tenure (1995-2001) substantial grants were secured from English Heritage and the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

. These enabled the chancel to be given robust foundations and all the attendant repairs to be made. The scheme entailed turning the chancel into a church hall, the Lady Chapel into a sacristy, and the vestries into a kitchen and cloakrooms. In 2001 The parish was amalgamated with that of St Luke, Wallsend into a single parish.

Tradition

In the early years of Fr Armstrong's incumbency (1830-1871) the thinking of the

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Un ...

began to shape the life of the church, albeit strongly resisted initially by some parishioners. He was accused of having 'an exaggerated idea of the priesthood' and 'more zeal for ceremony than for vital religion'—both common accusations against clergy who accepted

Tractarian The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Uni ...

thinking. But his determination over forty years laid the foundations on which his successors would build. The church maintains the tradition of

Anglo-Catholicism Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...

today.

Stained glass

One of the most notable features of the church is its collection of vivid stained glass by members of the Tower of Glass movement of the early 20th century. File:St Peter's Church, Wallsend Nave Window 1.jpg, 'Angel of the Resurrection, with St George and St Christopher'. Michael Healy, 1921 File:St Peter's Church, Wallsend Nave Window 2.jpg, 'Our Lord Walking on the Water', Michael Healy, 1921. File:St Peter's Church, Wallsend Nave Window 3.jpg, 'The Good Shepherd, Mary of Bethany and David', Ethel Rhind, 1921. File:St Peter's Church, Wallsend Lady Chapel Window 1.jpg, 'St Peter, St Patrick and St Luke' Michael Healy, 1913. File:St Peter's Church, Wallsend Lady Chapel Window 2.jpg, 'Our Lord with the Nativity and the Shepherds', Michael Healy 1919. File:Thomas Denny Stella Maris Window.jpg, ''Stella Maris'' (''Star of the Sea'') Thomas Denny 2017 In 2017, Thomas Denny made and fitted the 'Stella Maris' window in the westernmost window on the south side of the nave. It is a belated thanksgiving for the church's bicentenary in 2009, paid for entirely by fundraising and gifts. It was dedicated on 6 May, the feast of St Eadfrith

Other notable features

The font originally stood in Holy Cross Church, and would have been use by monks from Jarrow to baptise babies born in Wallsend. At some point after Holy Cross was abandoned the font found its way into Wallsend Burn (the stream which now forms the parish's northern boundary). It was rescued from there at some point in the 1800s and taken to Carville Hall, and eventually given to St Peter's by

Wigham Richardson The Wigham Richardson shipbuilding company was named after its founder, John Wigham Richardson (1837-1908), the son of Edward Richardson, a tanner from Newcastle upon Tyne, and Jane Wigham from Edinburgh. History The Company was set up with ...

in 1891. The pipe organ is a

Harrison & Harrison Harrison & Harrison Ltd is a British company based in Durham that makes and restores pipe organs. It was established in Rochdale in 1861. It is well known for its work on instruments such as King's College, Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, and t ...

instrument of the Thomas Harrison period (1892). The image of St Peter the Apostle to the north of the High Altar was commissioned by Fr Peter Strange. Outside is a set of stocks, originally installed to discourage Sabbath-breaking. They are occasionally used for novelty wedding photographs. Buried in unmarked graves in the churchyard are many victims of mining disasters, with memorial plaques commemorating both the Heaton Main Colliery Disaster of 1815 and the Wallsend Colliery Disaster of 1835.Richardson, ''History of the Parish of Wallsend'', pp 235-6 There is also an old chest identified on the ''

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...

'' as a Nonsuch chest from the 1580s, decorated with copies of plans from the palace that Henry VIII built in Surrey. The palace no longer exists but a few chests were known; one in the V&A and one in Southwark Cathedral, both in much better condition.

Clergy

The souls of Wallsend were ministered to from an early stage by monks crossing the Tyne from St Paul's, Jarrow, one half of the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

house of

Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Monkwearmouth–Jarrow, known simply as Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey (), was a Benedictine double monastery in the Kingdom of Northumbria, England. Its first house was St Peter's, Monkwearmout ...

. From the Reformation until 1856 the parish priest was a

perpetual curate Perpetual curate was a class of resident parish priest or incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland (name of the combined Anglican churches of England and Ireland from 1800 to 1871). The term is found in common use mainly ...

, whereafter he became a titular rector by Orders in Council. The incumbent of the parish created by the amalgamation of Wallsend St Peter and Wallsend St Luke is its rector. Perpetual curates * 1541-1565 George Winter * 1565-1598 Richard Raye * 1598-1599 John Philpot * 1599-1603 Richard Dearham * 1603-1605 Richard Chambers * 1605-1620 John Todd * 1620-1628 George Rayne * 1628-1664 Joseph Craddock * 1664-1683 Anthony Proctor * 1685-1703 Thomas Teasdale * 1703-1718 Thomas Dockwray * 1718-1759 Thomas Dockwray * 1760-1789 Emmanuel Potter * 1789-1830 Robert Blackett * 1830-1856 John Armstrong Rectors of Wallsend St Peter * 1856-1871 John Armstrong * 1872-1886 Richard Jenkins * 1886-1906 James Henderson * 1906-1936 Charles Osborne * 1936-1943 Frank Hurst * 1944-1969 Cecil Davis * 1970-1979 David McCubbin * 1979-1986 Peter Strange * 1986-1992 John Dewar Priests-in-Charge of Wallsend St Peter * 1992-1994 John Ross * 1995-2001 Alan Clements * 2021 Alan Paterson Rectors of Wallsend St Peter & St Luke * 2002-2011 Michael Vine * 2012-2019 David Sudron Assistant Curates * 1932-1937 Reginald Lee * 1938-1941 Herbert Lenygon * 1941-1943 Cheslyn Jones * 1944-1948 William Nicholson * 1948-1952 Colin Turnbull * 1949-1954 Richard Norgate * 1954-1958 David Moll * 1956-1960 John Moore * 1958-1963 Geoffrey Ashford * 1960-1964 Colin Scott * 1963-1966 Angus Palmer * 1967-1969 Richard Jones * 2006-2007 Stephen Gilham *2016-2020 Endre Kormos

Today

The former chancel is used for social gatherings, and can be hired by local groups. File:St Peter's Wallsend Church Hall SW.jpg, The former chancel looking south west File:St Peter's Wallsend Church Hall SE.jpg, The former chancel looking south east

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallsend, St Peter

St Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the early Christian Church. He appears repe ...

Churches completed in 1909 Anglo-Catholic church buildings in Tyne and Wear Grade II* listed churches in Tyne and Wear Church of England church buildings in Tyne and Wear