St John the Baptist Church, Newcastle upon Tyne facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St John the Baptist |
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 St John the Baptist
Location in Tyne and Wear
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| 54°58′12″N 1°36′56″W / 54.9701°N 1.6155°W | |
| OS grid reference | NZ245639 |
| Location | Grainger Street, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 5JG |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Churchmanship | Traditional Catholic |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
St John's Church is a really old church in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was built way back in the 1200s! This church is named after a famous person called St John the Baptist. It's also a 'Grade I listed building,' which means it's super important and protected because of its history and special design. You can find it right on the corner of Grainger Street and Westgate Road.
Contents
Discovering St John's Church History
This historic church is thought to have been built around the year 1287. A writer from the 1500s, William Gray, described it as a "pretty little church." He mentioned that an important church leader praised it because it looked a lot like a cross.
What Does the Church Look Like?
St John's Church is surrounded by modern buildings today. It has a simple, low square tower with small pointy decorations called pinnacles. The windows at the top of the tower have a special flattened arch shape.
Inside the south part of the church, there's a stone that remembers Robert Rhodes. He was the person who built the tall steeple of St. Nicholas' Cathedral in Newcastle. Robert Rhodes also helped out the churches in the town a lot. The stone you see today is a copy. The original stone was moved around 1861 during repairs and is now kept safe in Newcastle Castle.
Exploring Inside the Church
When you go inside, you'll see some amazing old wooden items. The cover for the font (where baptisms happen) is from the 1400s. The pulpit, where sermons are given, is from the Jacobean period (the early 1600s). Both show off local woodworking skills.
The front part of the church, called the chancel, is now known as the Lady Chapel. It has a window with tiny pieces of old stained glass. These pieces show the earliest known picture of Newcastle's official symbol. Further along the wall, there's a cross-shaped opening. This opening allowed a special religious person, called an anchorite, to see the altar from their small room above the sacristy (a room for church items). The large cross (called a rood) and the decorated screen behind the altar (called a reredos) were both made by a famous designer named Sir Charles Nicholson.
The Church Graveyard
In the 1960s, some parts of the church graveyard were built over to create meeting rooms and a hall. By 2010, only about ten gravestones were left. Two of these gravestones are very important and are also 'Grade II listed.' One belongs to Sarah and Sarah Hodgson, who owned the Newcastle Chronicle newspaper. The other belongs to an artist named Ralph Waters.
The Irish actor and poet John Cunningham is also buried in this graveyard. Not far from the east window, you can find a stone slab that was once part of a larger monument. It has four pillars that are now partly buried in the ground. The words on the stone say:
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Here lie the Remains of |
Find Out More
- St John the Baptist’s Church web site
- Pictures of the church
