Our History

“… The mission at Annitsford was founded in 1863. Previously, the area had been served from Cowpen & by the Dominican fathers from Newcastle in hired rooms in Seaton Delaval & Seghill. In 1863 Rev. John O’Dwyer was appointed resident priest, lodging at Cramlington & officiating at Seghill. In 1866 half an acre of land was purchased from John Clayton, town clerk of Newcastle & a school-chapel & presbytery was built from designs by Archibald Dunn. In 1878 a teachers’ house was added. This chapel was registered for marriages in 1873. The present church which was endowed by Mrs. Shawe-Storey, a convert, of Arcot Hall, was consecrated on 22 May 1906 …”

At the beginning of the last century the catholic population of South-East Northumberland was not well cared for. There were churches in Newcastle, down the Tyne, up the coast and in Blyth.

Inland, coal was being worked and the population increasing. The catholic population was also increasing; largely through an influx of Irish immigrants and in 1828 a Dominican priest Fr.Weldon drove in his trap and said mass in the Blake Arms in Seghill. This public house has now been demolished and the Comrades Club in Seghill stands on the site.

When mass had become a regular weekly feature, it was found that the congregation was largely drawn from the west side of the territory – from Seaton Burn, Dudley, Annitsford, Cramlington, Shankhouse, Burradon as well as Backworth to the south and Seghill itself. It became advisable to establish a parish and Annitsford was chosen as the most central village.

Fr. O’Dwyer was appointed parish priest maybe as early as 1858, and he would have a difficult time finding accommodation and a place for his congregation. The people were poor; there was no hope that they could face a debt.

Fr. O’Dwyer sought the help of the Lamb family of Carlisle and London, who were part owners and agents for the Cramlington Collieries.

By 1866 he had built a school chapel, rounded on the north gable to show a sanctuary, a separate presbytery to the North and a headmaster’s house on the south side of the playground. From these buildings Fr. O’Dwyer ran the parish for nearly 20 years.

It was the only school in the district and many non-Catholics were educated there – in fact no child was refused admission if a place could be found.

Fr. O’Dwyer retired and Fr. Walmsley came to Annitsford in1883. He was from Fylde in Lancashire. He had four uncles as priests and two aunt’s as nuns. He found the work hard; the faith not practised as he knew it in Lancashire – remember that at that time the diocese of Hexham and Newcastle included Westmorland, Cumberland, and part of Lancashire. Fr. Walmsley found the parish too big in extent – 8 miles long and nearly the same in width. It was difficult for people to get to mass and in 1883 he opened a chapel in Backworth. For some time, he ran the two places himself, but in 1896 he was forced to retire.

It is interesting that about this time Owen Brannigan’s father became the organist in Annitsford at the age of 17 and after playing at the first mass in Annitsford would travel, by pony and trap, to play in Backworth. The music in Annitsford was acknowledged to be comparable with any in the big towns.

Fr. Scott replaced Fr. Walmsley in 1896. He was a theologian of some standing and was very human and had great influence with his people.

In 1900 Lady Shawe Storey who lived in Arcot Hall – now a golf club – became a catholic. The Shawe Storey’s came from London to their country home at Arcot Hall on festival occasions and for the shooting seasons. At these times Lady Shawe Storey attended Mass in the school chapel of St John the Baptist. She was a great benefactress in the district and in 1902 she called on Fr. Scott. The sixty years of running a school among poor people, with no fees, no grants, no help of any kind had led to an increasing overdraft and on the day Lady Shawe Storey called on Fr. Scott he was being threatened by the bank about his overdraft of £473.16.4d. Lady Shawe Storey gave the priest a cheque for this amount and a second cheque for £7,000 and told him “Take the field on the North side of the reservoir – some 1 mile North of the village- and build a church where people can pray in peace and quiet”.

Fr. Scott could not fulfil this request – he was seconded from the diocese to work in Rome – but his successor, Fr. Chapman, was delighted to face this offer.

Fr. Chapman took a Newcastle architect Mr. Parxcur to Ostend and showed him the Cathedral. Fr. Chapman must have been very attached to this building, and he asked Mr. Parxcur to copy it for him on a small scale in Annitsford. The site was difficult. It was necessary to put down a concrete raft because of the ever-present danger of subsidence. The local natural stone was used, and the fine Gothic church was completed and opened in 1906. It was indeed a fine replica of the Cathedral- high solid walls, nearly two feet thick, and twenty hexagon pillars; holding a steep roof, which reaches nearly 40ft. in height. The similarity to a cathedral was carried to a degree with no fixed confessional and no benches- just straw seated chairs battened in fives and sixes. These chairs have been removed since and benches were fitted in 1959.

The High Altar was done in Belgian oak and Belgian craftsmen were brought over to erect it. There are six fine panels included depicting St. Patrick, St. Benedict (because so many parishes in the area were staffed by Benedictines), St. Nicholas of Tolentino – a gesture to Lady Shawe Storey who formerly attended the Church of England church in Cramlington, dedicated to St. Nicholas, St. Cuthbert, St George, and St. Columba. The carving is delicate, and the altar is set off by fine oak side screens.

Sentiment probably led to the old wooden altar being brought in from the school chapel, a statue of St. Joseph gave the side altar its name. It is to the right of the High Altar and stands well forward, because behind it is the choir space and organ looking directly on to the sanctuary. It was here that Owen Brannigan started his musical career as a soprano and pumped the organ for his father.

The opening of the church was a great day. The consecration of the Church was celebrated before the opening. At the opening it was remarkable that Bishop, preacher, and the ministers were all converts. Everyone in the parish – catholic and non-Catholic alike – was very proud of the new church of St. John the Baptist.

Fr. Chapman was tired and after organising a mission to re-awaken the faith in Southeast Northumberland he retired to Thropton in 1912. Fr. Leo Jackson came that year from North Shields and his tenure of office lasted forty-three years.

Lady Shawe Storey had given a very big site – nearly two acres in extent – and one quarter was earmarked as a cemetery, which was in fact in use before the church was opened. It was necessary to landscape the grounds and this most generous lady lent her own gardener to do this work. She provided trees and shrubs; lawns were laid, and the church grounds slowly took shape. A roadside hedge of hawthorn, more than five hundred yards of beech block, hedges of fir, beech, elm, chestnut, poplar, willow, and every kind of fir tree led to the title – “the Church in the Trees”.

Now this beautiful church stands in dignity overlooking the extensive island that’s links all the complex new roads of Southeast Northumberland. From here developed Backworth parish, part of North Gosforth and more recently St. Paul’s in Cramlington New Town – a church to be proud of and rightly the people remain proud of their church among the trees.

source: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=155-rcp5&cid=0#0

Taken from notes by Fr. J. W. Marron