Our Lady and St Oswin's Church, also known as St Oswin's Church is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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 pries ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne, hence its name. It is east-northeast of Newcastle up ...

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 ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

, England. It was built in 1890 and designed by Edward Joseph Hansom and Archibald Matthias Dunn. They designed the church in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

. It is located on Front Street and backs onto Pier Road, across the road from

Tynemouth Priory and Castle Tynemouth Priory and Castle is a historic site located on a promontory at the mouth of the Tyne at Tynemouth. The medieval Benedictine priory was protected by walls, towers, and a gatehouse. The heraldry of the metropolitan borough of North Tyne ...

and is named after it, being dedicated to the same saints,

Mary, Mother of Jesus Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and

Oswine of Deira Oswine, Oswin or Osuine (died 20 August 651) was a King of Deira in northern England. Life Oswine succeeded King Oswald of Northumbria, probably around the year 644, after Oswald's death at the Battle of Maserfield. Oswine was the son of Os ...

History

Origin

In the early 700s at the latest,

Tynemouth Priory Tynemouth Priory and Castle is a historic site located on a promontory at the mouth of the Tyne at Tynemouth. The medieval Benedictine priory was protected by walls, towers, and a gatehouse. The heraldry of the metropolitan borough of North Tyn ...

had been founded. It was reputedly the burial place of the King of Deira and Christian martyr,

. The priory began to flourish, but suffered in the 9th century from Viking raids, eventually being abandoned. In 1083, the priory was refounded by a monk from

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 ...

and the bones of Oswin were rediscovered in the town. In 1090, building works took place, the bones were moved to the newly-built church and it became a site of pilgrimage. In 1539, it was dissolved as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the relics were destroyed, and the site was used as a castle.

Foundation

In 1869, a

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

was started in Tynemouth. On 15 August 1871, the

Feast of the Assumption The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of whether Mary died or whether she was ra ...

, a temporary church was opened by Bishop James Chadwick of Hexham and Newcastle on Front Street. The church was named the same as the priory down the road from it.

Construction

At the time of the construction of the church, the priest was Canon George Howe. He worked on getting the church built. On 8 September 1889, the foundation stone was laid. The church was designed by Edward Joseph Hansom and Archibald Matthias Dunn and cost £2,500 to build. The

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

was made to Howe's specifications. On 1 June 1890, the church was opened by Bishop Thomas Wilkinson. In 1941, an explosion damaged the church and the presbytery. It was accidentally caused by a sea mine in the castle ditch. In the church, the doors and windows were damaged as well as the roof slates and timbers. The presbytery was damaged so severely that it was demolished, creating the current space open between the church and Front Street.

Parish

The church is in the same parish as St Mary's Church in

Cullercoats Cullercoats is a coastal settlement in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. Historically in Northumberland, it has now been absorbed into the wider Tyneside conurbation, sitting between Tynemouth to the south and W ...

. There is one school in the parish, St Mary's Primary School. The two churches both have one Sunday

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

each. Our Lady and St Oswin's Church has its Sunday Mass at 9:30 am and St Mary's Church has its Sunday Mass at 11:00 am.

References

External links

* * {{Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle Roman Catholic churches in Tyne and Wear Gothic Revival architecture in Tyne and Wear Gothic Revival church buildings in England 1869 establishments in England Roman Catholic churches completed in 1890 Religious organizations established in 1869 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Tynemouth Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside