St. Michael and All Angels Church, Newburn replaced a Saxon church that was burnt down in 1070. There is a 'weeping chancel', an unusual Eastern sepulchre. The tower was used as a gun platform in the battle of Newburn 1640. Association with George Stephenson, the engineer, and Thomas Hedley, locomotive engineer. Registers go back to 1657.
Newburn St Michael & All Angels
Newburn parish church stands in a commanding position on the north side of the Tyne Valley overlooking the village. It consists of a four bay nave with transepts and aisles, a west tower, a south porch and an unaisled chancel with a vestry and organ chamber to the north.
Before this present building, there was a wooden church on the site, which was burnt down in 1067 AD. There was a plague of cholera in the village in 1832 in which 66 of the 550 population died, including the vicar, the Revd James Edmondson, and the village doctor.
Around the time of the fire, Copsi, an appointee of the Norman ruler William I, was found murdered near the church door. He was hated by the local lords whom he had displaced.
The area of Newburn is steeped in history with the Romans, Picts, Scots, Saxons, Vikings and Normans all leaving their mark on the parish. From the start of the second millennium with the murder of Copsi in 1067 there have been battles between the Scottish and English which have frequently bathed the parish in blood.
It was 28th August 1640 when 20,000 Scots defeated 4,000 English soldiers in the battle of Newburn. The Scots had been provoked by Charles I, who had imposed bishops and an alien prayer book on their church. The English army was ill-paid and mutinous and by no means had its heart in the fight. There were only a few hundred casualties so the fighting was not severe. The Scots also had the advantage of the high ground around St Michael's church and used the tower as gun platform. It was because of the Scots' success at Newburn that King Charles I was forced to recall Parliament for the first time in 11years. ?200,000 was needed to buy off the Scots once they occupied Newcastle following their victory at Newburn.
Patronage has been varied. The last Earl of Northumberland, Robert Mowbray, gave the right of receiving tithes from Newburn Church to Tynemouth Prioty. This arrangement lapsed to the crown in 1095 AD. In 1123 AD Henry I gave the impropriation and advowson of St Michael and All Angels Newburn and St Nicholas in the City of Newcastle to the Canons and the church of St Mary Carlisle. This was confirmed by the Bishop of Durham in 1193 AD. The Rectors were to receive pensions and the vicarages were also endowed.
In 1882 the Bishopric of Newcastle was created, St Nicholas became a Cathedral Church and the advowson and patronage of Newburn Church passed from Carlisle to the Bishop of Newcastle. The present patrons are the The Martyrs Memorial Trust, which is administered by the Church Pastoral Aid Society, and the living is one of the few freehold parishes in the diocese.
There is a gravestone in the floor of the chancel to the memory of the Delaval family who are thought to be past patrons. Church records begin in the parish in 1659 and their pages help light up the past 350 years of history in the Newburn area. Many famous people, including George Stephenson, were either baptised, married or buried in this church.
St Michael and All Angels is the Parish Church: the parish also boasted three daughter churches: St Mary Throckley, St Cuthbert Blucher and Holy Trinity Dalton. Surrounding parish have been carved out of the ancient parish of newburn which historically was of significant size and influence. The four churches continue to be significant features of life in the parish today.
Points of Interest
The tower was built over a 30 year span, beginning at about 1070 AD. It rises in three irregular stages with the lower stage making up more than half the total height. It is likely that the stone came from the nearby Roman Wall.
The tower clock was installed in 1865 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1863.
The nave was added for church services and the first Rector was Waldeve, appointed in 1150 AD. Externally it is interesting to note that at the very edge of the south east quoins there is a series of massive grit stone blocks, which are pre-conquest in character. This may be the oldest part of the church.
The north aisle, with its Norman/Saxon arches, was added about 1175 AD.
The south aisle dates from 1250 AD and shows early English influence in the shape of the arches. Churches built in the middle ages in a cruciform pattern would sometimes have a weeping chancel. St Michael's and All Angels is a clear example. Externally at the extreme east end of the wall about 1.8m above the ground is a reused piece of pre-conquest sculpture.
In 1951 the north transept was converted into a war memorial dedicated to the dead of two world wars. Many of the families represented still live in the parish today. The present church has many Victorian elements incorporated within its fabric.
The present communion table was a gift from the Revd CE Blackett-Ord in 1891.
The processional cross was donated in 1895 by Mr R Humble of Ryton in memory of his parents.
The reredos, choir stalls and oak panelling in the chancel were installed in 1898. The reredos was a gift from Canon W Nowell who brought it from a disused church in Italy, after seeing it while on holiday. It is in the form of a Trytych with doors. The columns are of Caen stone, and the frames of the doors are oak. As the church is dedicated to St Michael and All Angels, it can be seen why the vicar thought the reredos fitting for the church as the pictures in the panels are representative of the angels ministering to the Lord. The first panel represents the angels strengthening him in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 12:43), the centre panel the two angels at the Ascension (Acts 1:10-11) and the third panel the two angels at the sepulchre (Luke 24:4-6). On the two doors are, on one side, the Archangel Gabriel announcing to the Virgin Mary, and, on the other, the angel appreaing to the shepherds with news of the birth. It is traditional to close the doors during Lent, when the pictures can be seen of paradise lost adn the way back to paradise. In the centre of the reredos are three tiers of sculptured figures set in four columns. The first is of angels bearing symbols of the Lord's passion: the crown of thorns, the ladder, a cross with rope and inscriptions, spear, reed and sponge. The second is angels with musical instruments: cymbals, lyre, violin and dulcimer. The third is of four archangels: Gabriel, Uriel, Michael and Raphael.
The chancel, screen and pulpit also date from 1885 and were carved by Ralph Hedley, a noted local woodworker.
In 1890 a set of brass communon rails with marble bases were presented by the Spencer family, who owned Newburn steelworks, as a memorial to Mr Michael Spencer, churchwardens for 24 years.
A quartet of violin players provided music in church until the first organ was installed in 1834. The original organ was gifted to Holy Saviour, Sugley, and the present Nicholson organ was installed in 1885.
