This was the first of two explores in the Newcastle area, as we went to Stereo Nightclub after this. We had looked at a house in Gosforth before, however there was someone in the driveway so we gave it a miss. We had also looked at the Rex Hotel in Whitley Bay, however when we got there half the building was missing as it looked like it was being demolished.
History
In the he 1950s and 1960s large council housing estates were built here by the City of Newcastle, on former agricultural land. A parish was erected in 1960 to serve this new population and in 1964 the present church was built, from designs by David Brown. In 1965 a new altar was designed by Brown, probably for the Lady Chapel.
The church has ritual east at the northwest. It is an elegant, low-key modern design, externally clad in brick, and with a reinforced concrete internal frame; the roof and spirelet are clad in copper. The ritual west entrance front has projecting eaves over a tall seven-light window with concrete mullions; below the projecting concrete windowsill a double door is recessed in projecting jambs.
The five-bay nave has tall, narrow windows in similar style, their shallow pointed tops breaking through the eaves. At the ritual southeast, a circular attached baptistery has a shallow copper dome and a row of small clerestory windows. The sanctuary has one tall wide window at each end.
Inside, painted reinforced concrete posts support the shallow principals, the beams turning slightly to form shallow pointed vaults.
The sanctuary is raised on two steps and a wide projecting step which forms an extra platform. In 1965 a new altar was designed by David Brown and a statue was to accompany it; this was probably for the Lady Chapel, south of the sanctuary, which has a marble altar. The sanctuary and side chapels have terrazzo floors. Behind the altar is a fine new icon of Christ in Majesty by Sister Petra Clare, a Carmelite nun, replacing a crucifix.
The Explore
In terms of getting inside somewhere, this was the best but strangest way we’ve done. We went around the back of the building and had to jump a small fence to get into the back yard. The yard was covered by a row of trees, so we weren’t in any danger of being spotted. There were a series of tree branches which had been pushed towards the roof, creating a nice little pathway without doing too much climbing. It turned out the branch pathway was completely pointless as entry, without giving too much away, actually was helped by the use of some ladders partly hidden by the bushes.
The place was split, not literally, into two areas, the church and the house attached to it. The main room of the church was pretty trashed, with glass and bits of debris all over the floor. To our surprise there was a hoover and a tricycle just sitting there. There were some nice bits and piece lying around, like church signs and even the Welsh flag. The upstairs room was pretty empty apart from a few chairs and the usual, however to made for a nice photo of the main hall.
We made our way into the house which had been trashed quite a bit. The main layout of each room was mainly still intact as it hadn’t been fully stripped. Someone had the pleasure of just ripping the kitchen apart and smashing the glass door on the shower. Other than that, it looked in good shape. The weirdest part of the explore was in one of the upstairs rooms, where we came across a set of chairs arranged in a circle like it were part of some cult.
After going around all of the rooms, we decided to head out. We found the safe and the list of contents taped to the door, which didn’t surprise us. The safe was sealed shut which was a shame, because altar wine sounded particularly delightful. After we left the church we took a trip to the centre of Newcastle to visit Stereo Nightclub.
Photos
Thanks for reading!
History
In the he 1950s and 1960s large council housing estates were built here by the City of Newcastle, on former agricultural land. A parish was erected in 1960 to serve this new population and in 1964 the present church was built, from designs by David Brown. In 1965 a new altar was designed by Brown, probably for the Lady Chapel.
The church has ritual east at the northwest. It is an elegant, low-key modern design, externally clad in brick, and with a reinforced concrete internal frame; the roof and spirelet are clad in copper. The ritual west entrance front has projecting eaves over a tall seven-light window with concrete mullions; below the projecting concrete windowsill a double door is recessed in projecting jambs.
The five-bay nave has tall, narrow windows in similar style, their shallow pointed tops breaking through the eaves. At the ritual southeast, a circular attached baptistery has a shallow copper dome and a row of small clerestory windows. The sanctuary has one tall wide window at each end.
Inside, painted reinforced concrete posts support the shallow principals, the beams turning slightly to form shallow pointed vaults.
The sanctuary is raised on two steps and a wide projecting step which forms an extra platform. In 1965 a new altar was designed by David Brown and a statue was to accompany it; this was probably for the Lady Chapel, south of the sanctuary, which has a marble altar. The sanctuary and side chapels have terrazzo floors. Behind the altar is a fine new icon of Christ in Majesty by Sister Petra Clare, a Carmelite nun, replacing a crucifix.
The Explore
In terms of getting inside somewhere, this was the best but strangest way we’ve done. We went around the back of the building and had to jump a small fence to get into the back yard. The yard was covered by a row of trees, so we weren’t in any danger of being spotted. There were a series of tree branches which had been pushed towards the roof, creating a nice little pathway without doing too much climbing. It turned out the branch pathway was completely pointless as entry, without giving too much away, actually was helped by the use of some ladders partly hidden by the bushes.
The place was split, not literally, into two areas, the church and the house attached to it. The main room of the church was pretty trashed, with glass and bits of debris all over the floor. To our surprise there was a hoover and a tricycle just sitting there. There were some nice bits and piece lying around, like church signs and even the Welsh flag. The upstairs room was pretty empty apart from a few chairs and the usual, however to made for a nice photo of the main hall.
We made our way into the house which had been trashed quite a bit. The main layout of each room was mainly still intact as it hadn’t been fully stripped. Someone had the pleasure of just ripping the kitchen apart and smashing the glass door on the shower. Other than that, it looked in good shape. The weirdest part of the explore was in one of the upstairs rooms, where we came across a set of chairs arranged in a circle like it were part of some cult.
After going around all of the rooms, we decided to head out. We found the safe and the list of contents taped to the door, which didn’t surprise us. The safe was sealed shut which was a shame, because altar wine sounded particularly delightful. After we left the church we took a trip to the centre of Newcastle to visit Stereo Nightclub.
Photos
Thanks for reading!
