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A
History of The Parish Church
of St. Mary's Heworth. 1822-1997
The simple sandstone exterior of St. Mary's Church
today looks much the same as it did on its day of
completion, 184 years ago. Its walls are the right
colour again. A century and a half of heavy industrial
pollution had turned them jet black, and on its
centenary in 1922, the church wore a look of apologetic
gloom. After it was cleaned for its 150th birthday in
1972, its blocks of ashlar resumed their original honey
tone. The roof line is different; since 1960, when dry
rot destroyed the original,
 necessitating a new roof.
The well-known clock in the tower was not there until
1883. A good one by Potts of Leeds, and held in
affection by the people of Heworth, it was bought by
public subscription - a good investment. The lych gate
was an addition
of
1937 as a memorial to King George V, but the little west
gate is very old, as its worn and hollowed step shows.
It was the only entrance to Heworth Old Chapel which replaced an even older chapel
in 1710. The west gate is probably medieval and had the
village stocks beside it until 1834.
St. Mary's vast churchyard expanded repeatedly, as did
the parish population. Here, in 1823, William Falla, the
renowned nurseryman, carried out the first systematic
plantation of trees round the new church, and here near
the south door, he lies at rest among them. Heworth
churchyard is acknowledged as a treasure-store of social
history, where people come to seek their roots and at
the same time discover its tranquillity, and the great
variety and beauty among hundreds of monuments.
Enclosing it is the traditional stone boundary wall,
rebuilt, re-aligned or extended over more than two
centuries by local masons, who well understood that the
church, of Heworth sandstone, quarried in the village,
needed walls of the same material to keep the whole
harmonious.
"On May 23rd, 1821, the
foundations of a new chapel to be built by subscription,
began to be dug out at Nether Heworth in the county of
Durham, the first stone of which, enclosing an
appropriate inscription on copper, was laid the
following day. This chapel was opened for Divine Worship
on the 25th of May 1822. On the 27th of September, 1828,
the Dedication Stone upon south wall and half an acre of
new burial ground added to the old chapel yard were
consecrated by the Lord Bishop of Durham."
(Syke's Local Records)
Heworth in 1822 was
a Chapelry within the Parish of Jarrow, a tie which had
held the two together since the time of Bede,much to Jarrow's advantage. The builder of the new
church, the Revd. John Hodgson M.A. F.R.S. Rector of
Jarrow-with-Heworth,
1808-1833, sought separation from Jarrow to form a new
Parish of Heworth, but in vain. His successor, the Revd.
Matthew Plummer M.A., pursued that aim, succeeding in
1843. Thus Mr. Plummer became the first Vicar of
Heworth. His long ministry from 1833-1877, was eventful.
He endured three epidemics of Cholera. He suffered
persecution through his "Puseyism", (the introduction of
organ-led choral music, stained glass, decorative
painting and sculpture, vestments and candles). He saw
the need to subdivide his large parish and built two new
churches, St. Alban's at Windy Nook in 1842, and Christ
Church at Low Felling in 1866, both with their own
parish. By the time he retired, Heworth was a large
industrial town of collieries, chemical works,
foundries, shipyards, quarries and quays, with an
immigrant population.
Dr. James Steel, vicar from 1877-1917, brought further
changes. A Victorian, with a strong sense of authority,
he devoted his energy and wealth to the education of Heworth children through his chairmanship of the Heworth
School Board, and to the enhancement of the Church
interior. John Hodgsons' vision was severely constrained
by lack of money, therefore the entire church building
outside and in, was substantial but plain. Dr. Steel had
no constraints and set about transforming the church.
First, the original stone floor was covered with oak
boards and mosaic tiling, followed by an oak panelled
ceiling. The Georgian box stalls were replaced with oak
pews. A font by W.S. Hicks was set at the west end,
though the 18th century font was retained. The tower
clock and a Harrison organ were installed, and the
splendid carved oak pulpit and a rood screen from the
Ralph Hedley workshops gave the final touch of Victorian
grandeur.
In 1912, Dr. Steel provided Heworth with its first
Parish Hall, on the site of the first school in the
village, the Parish School, founded by John Hodgson in
1815. In the same year was unveiled the finest window in
the church, a lovely memorial to Mrs. Steel in stained
glass by Ballantyre of Edinburgh. This window on the
north west wall contributes largely to the listing of
St. Mary's as a Grade Two building, and is visited by
art experts and Victorian enthusiasts. It is notable
that the ministries of three men, Hodgson, Plummer and
Steel, covered one hundred and ten years, while the last
eighty years has seen no fewer than eight vicars of
Heworth. Each has made a unique contribution to the
liturgy and life of the parish. Four vicars have served
as Rural Deans of Gateshead - Canon Peter Dennis, Canon
Rowlands, Canon Colin Purvis and Canon Ray Knell.
At intervals in all our lives there are periods of
upheaval which cause anxiety, and so it has been in the
life of this parish. In the 1950's and 1960's Heworth
village began to disappear. Felling by-pass sliced
through it, the parish hall was lost, and a new church
hall had to be built. The lych gate was moved and a
portion of the new churchyard given up to the highway.
At the same time Heworth parish was divided for the
third time when St. Andrew, Learn Lane was formed.
The village school survived
until 1975 then vanished to make way for the new Heworth
Metro Station. St. Mary's stood on an island amid a sea
of traffic, but was further threatened in 1980 by a
proposal to extend the Metro system to Washington on its
south side, destroying the vicarage and much of
Sunderland Road, a scheme which the church people
vigorously and successfully opposed. In 1986 there came
a joyful occasion when, after a huge fund raising
effort, a peal of six bells was hung in the tower,
having once rung in St. Peter's Church, Jarrow. They had
lain forlorn in a scrap yard for years. Strangely, Heworth Chapel was given a bell once before, in 1721,
from St. Mary's Gateshead - "the little bell given to
Robert Ellison for Heworth Chapel, in liewe of the
arrears due to the chapelry for the Blew Quarries
Spring." It still hangs in the tower. St. Mary's has
a Lady Chapel in the north transept, divided from the
nave by the oak screen, which in the 1890s was sent
across the chancel, cutting it off from the body of the
church. John Hodgson would recognise his church today,
even without the three galleries long ago swept away. It
is as he designed it once more, all one from the tower
to the altar.
(J M Hewitt) |
