The Sacred Heart Church is a Roman Catholic church and ecclesiastical parish in North Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. Situated between Wideopen village to the north and Gosforth Park to the south, the church was made a Grade II listed building in 2006. It is notable for its stained glass windows bearing designs by members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, in particular Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

History

St Mary's Church The church is a 19th-century former Anglican church, built and donated by Thomas Eustace Smith in the 1860s, and named St Mary's. Use of the church fell following the more general use of St Columba's church in Seaton Burn, which was closer to most of the parish, and the church later closed.

Sacred Heart Church The church was bought in 1911 by Bishop Richard Collins, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle and endowed to the Diocese. Mass was first led by the Bishop on 28 January 1912, and the church was formally dedicated to the Sacred Heart on 24 June 1912.

List of Incumbent Priests

Date Incumbent 1912–1918 George C. Jeffreys  1918–1921 C. Bede Tuohey 1922–1925 Charles Hart 1925–1926 None  1926–1937 Charles Hart 1930–1937 C. Bede Tuohey 1937–1948 William T Harris 1948–1949 James O'Brien 1949–1962 James Phelan 1962–1964 William McKenna 1964–1984 Edward Ord 1984–2000 Thomas Cass 2000–2008 Joseph Travers 2008–2020 James Dunne 2020–2022 William Agley 2022–present Michael Weymes

Architecture Built in the 1860s, the church is designed in the Early English Gothic style, although much of the masonry is brick rather than more traditional stone. The architect is unknown, but due to a number of similarities to the church of Baldersby St James in North Yorkshire, the parish believes that it is the work of William Butterfield or one of his students.

Stained glass windows The church is notable for its stained glass windows, bearing designs by Pre-Raphaelite artists Edward Burne-Jones, Ford Madox Brown and William Morris.

See also St Mary's Cathedral Holy Name parish, Jesmond

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