Catalogue description St Andrew's RC Church, Newcastle

St Andrews Roman Catholic Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Accession 3013

• Newcastle-upon-Tyne
• Religion

On the 11 February 1798 St Andrews RC Church, the first public Catholic chapel on Tyneside, was opened.

Prior to this there had been a Secular mission in Newcastle dating back to the 1600s. Father Gibson founded a chapel in Nunns Lane which was called the Chapel in the Nunns. This was wrecked in 1746 at the same time as the Jesuit chapel in Gateshead was burnt down. Father Gibson was persuaded to live in a house owned by a Catholic family in Bell's Court in Newgate Street where Services were carried out between the years 1746 to 1798. Father Gibson died in January 1765 and his successor was Charles Cordell who began the first Catholic parochial registers in the city in 1765.

Father Worswick arrived in Newcastle in June 1795 and began a subscription to build a public church. After raising £1000, Father Worswick acquired a house on the east side of Pilgrim Street which became the Presbytery and the Church was built behind in the garden.

Seventy five years later the church was demolished because the site was required for a new police station. In 1874 the present church was built in Worswick Street, the street named after Father Worswick.

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