St George'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 ...

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, is a

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 ...

built in the 19th-century French

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

style. It is an active place of worship and is a Grade I

listed building 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, Hi ...

Background

Looking over the North Sea, beacon-like, it was designed by the church architect

John Loughborough Pearson John Loughborough Pearson (5 July 1817 – 11 December 1897) was a British Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficie ...

and built in 1884 by the 6th Duke of Northumberland. The church, in particular its impressive

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

of 180 feet, was used as a navigational aid by the

fishermen A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recr ...

as well as by major shipping approaching

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 ...

in times gone by. Restoration work on this church has included the replacing of dangerously corroding stonework, roof repairs and the cleaning of some of the stained glass. The church is a Grade I listed building.

Music

Choir

St George's

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

has been described as "''one of the best parish church choirs in the country''". The choir sing for the Sung Eucharist every Sunday and at major weekday festivals.

Organ

The organ was built by

Thomas Christopher Lewis Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

in consultation with William Rea, the Newcastle City organist, and was dedicated a mere three months after the consecration of the church in February 1885. It stands in the south transept, directly under the tower, facing north, with a generous amount of free space around it. From this position, its commanding voice can be heard in all parts of the building without loss of impact, even with a full congregation. It is a substantial instrument, built in Lewis's grand style with Swell behind Great on the same level and Pedal on three-unit chests behind and alongside the manual divisions. There is no facade casework, although the front pipes appear to have been laid out to receive one, the lower part is panelled in oak. The console is central in the case and is 'en fenêtre'. The action to manuals and drawstops is mechanical; the pedal action is pneumatic. A Discus blower feeds the main bellows which can still be raised by hand. A full restoration of the organ was carried out in 1987, by

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 ...

of Durham. The organ is one of a small number in the country designed by Lewis which have not been significantly altered. The church has a regular recital series on bank holidays and in the summer months.

List of organists

* Mr. Smith 1884 * Mr C.H.S. Sherlock 1884 – 1891 * Charles Chambers 1893– unknown date * Frederick Younger Robson 1897–1920Dictionary of Organs and Organists. Frederick W. Thornsby * May Baker 1920–1929 * Harry Davison 1930–1943 * Mr.G. S. Bell 1944–1947 * Colin Hayes 1947–1967 * Richard Capener 1967–1972 * David Jones 1972–1976 * John Harker 1976–1981 * Paul Ritchie 1981–2005 (David Noble deputised during Paul Ritchie's leave of absence 1989–1991) * Shaun Turnbull 2005–2011 * Robert Gage 2011–2012 * Jonathan Clinch 2012–2013 * Robert Gage 2013–2014 * Peter Locke 2014–2015 * Craig Cartwright 2015 * Andrew Reid 2017–present

Bells

The church has four fixed bells which are struck by hammers operated by bell ropes from the ringing chamber. Two of the bells' hammers require repair (damaged due to wear and tear 2005). The smallest bell is most used as it has a second pulley in a more convenient location.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cullercoats, St George Churches in Tyne and Wear John Loughborough Pearson buildings Churches completed in 1884 Church of England church buildings in Northumberland Grade I listed churches in Tyne and Wear 19th-century Church of England church buildings