Newcastle, St John, Northumberland:- Church History
This parish consisted of the townships of Benwell, Elswick, St John and
Westgate. The last two were part of the city and county of Newcastle, and all
of these areas are now within the City of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
The Church of St John the Baptist, Grainger Street/Westgate Road was built in
the thirteenth century and the pinnacled tower added some two hundred years
later. The tower rises directly from the pavement of Grainger Street.
The expansion of the "village" of Benwell led to the building of a chapel of
ease, St James' Church, in Benwell Lane. It was completed in 1832 and became a
parish church in 1843. The establishment of munitions factories along the banks
of the Tyne, and the resulting huge increase of population in Elswick, resulted
in several more churches being built in that area. Elswick, St Paul, in
Havelock Street was built in 1854; Elswick, St Stephen, in 1868; Elswick, St
Philip, in St Philip's Close, in 1869; and St Matthew's on Summerhill Street,
in 1870.
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[Last updated:
20th September 2008, 11:44 BST
- Brian Pears]