St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth is the

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, ...

Monkwearmouth Monkwearmouth is an area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in North East England. Monkwearmouth is located at the north side of the mouth of the River Wear. It was one of the three original settlements on the banks of the River Wear along with Bish ...

in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. It is one of three churches in the Parish of Monkwearmouth. The others are the Victorian All Saints' Church, Monkwearmouth and the Edwardian St Andrew's Church, Roker. St Peter's was founded in AD 674–5 as one of the two churches of the

Benedictine , 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 ...

double monastery A double monastery (also dual monastery or double house) is a monastery combining separate communities of monks and of nuns, joined in one institution to share one church and other facilities. The practice is believed to have started in the East ...

Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Monkwearmouth–Jarrow, known simply as Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey ( la, Monasterii Wirimutham-Gyruum), was a Benedictine double monastery in the Kingdom of Northumbria, England. Its first hou ...

. The other church is St Paul's Church, Jarrow. St Peter's is a

Grade I 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 ...

and part of a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

Architecture

Anglo-Saxon

The original church on the site was built at the behest of

Benedict Biscop Benedict Biscop (pronounced "bishop"; – 690), also known as Biscop Baducing, was an Anglo-Saxon abbot and founder of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Priory (where he also founded the famous library) and was considered a saint after his death. Lif ...

in AD 674–75, when the area was part of the Anglo-Saxon

Kingdom of Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

. Bede (''circa'' 673–735) wrote that Benedict brought stonemasons and glassworkers from

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

to build the church, as these crafts were not yet established in Anglo-Saxon England. Of Benedict's building only the west wall and porch survive. The ground floor of the porch is barrel vaulted. Its outer arch, at the west end of the porch, is of elaborate design and decorated with stone reliefs. By about AD 700 the porch had been enlarged by the addition of a second storey and north and south

porticus A porticus, in church architecture and archaeology, is usually a small room in a church. Commonly, porticus form extensions to the north and south sides of a church, giving the building a cruciform plan. They may function as chapels, rudimentary ...

, forming a

westwork A westwork (german: Westwerk), forepart, avant-corps or avancorpo is the monumental, often west-facing entrance section of a Carolingian, Ottonian, or Romanesque church. The exterior consists of multiple stories between two towers. The interio ...

. By the end of the 10th century further storeys had been added to the porch, raising its height to form the present west tower.

Gothic and Gothic Revival

The rest of the church is much later. The north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

was first built in the 13th century. A five-light east window was inserted in the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

in the 14th century. lamb197-2

Early in the 19th century the arcade of the north aisle and most of the chancel arch were removed, and galleries were inserted. In 1875–76 St Peter's was restored under the direction of the architects Hubert Austin and RJ Johnson, who had the north aisle rebuilt and the east window of the chancel replaced. There is also an organ loft built onto the north side of the chancel. The present stained glass in the windows was made in 1969 by LC Evetts. In 1973 an octagonal extension was added east of the organ loft as an interpretation centre. In 1984 the church was damaged by fire, and about 1985 the interior and roof were rebuilt.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Parish of Monkwearmouth

St. Peter's Wearmouth–Jarrow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monkwearmouth, St Peter's Church 7th-century church buildings in England Churches in the City of Sunderland Grade I listed churches in Tyne and Wear Church of England church buildings in Tyne and Wear Sunderland