A History of St Edmund’ s Chapel – 1248 to the present day
St Edmund’s Chapel is dedicated to Edmund of Abingdon, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1233 to 1240, who was canonized in 1246.
Around 1248, Nicholas de Farnham, Bishop of Durham founded a chapel and hospital, of which St Edmund’s is the surviving building.The hospital was chiefly intended for the ‘refreshment of the soul’. A master and three priests were appointed to celebrate four masses every day. Mediaeval hospitals also cared for the sick and aged, the poor and the pilgrim, but St Edmund’s Hospital records are silent on this aspect of its work.
By 1325 buildings included a buttery, kitchen, brew house, granary, byre, pigsty and the chapel which would have been the focus of life.
In 1448 the chapel passed into the hands of the nuns of St Bartholomew, Newcastle. They had run into financial difficulties and the Bishop of Durham appropriated to them the hospital and all its possessions on condition that the nuns provided two chaplains to celebrate in the chapel, kept the buildings in good repair, and paid a yearly pension to the Bishop and Prior of Durham. When the monasteries were dissolved by Henry V111, the nunnery and its lands were surrendered to the crown. This was in 1540, and for two centuries the history of St Edmund’s Chapel is closely associated with two families, the Riddells and the Claverings.
William Riddell was related to the last Prioress by marriage and he bought the hospital lands and built a mansion just to the east of the chapel in the late 16th century.The next generation of Riddells converted to Roman Catholicism and the mansion became a centre for Jesuit mission.The Claverings were also staunch Roman Catholics, and a succession of chaplains served in the private chapel within the mansion. The Chapel was not used for worship. In those times of intolerance and persecution, that would have been too dangerous.In 1746 the mansion was burnt to the ground by an angry mob.
The Chapel was already in ruins by this time and at the turn of the 19th century it was used as a builders yard. A man called Cuthbert Ellison acquired the land in 1836 and the Chapel was given to the Rector and Churchwardens of Gateshead. It was restored for divine service in October 1837 as Holy Trinity Chapel.
Gateshead’s population grew and ironically, the Chapel was threatened with demolition in the 1880’s because a bigger building was required.Instead of demolition, the north wall was removed and the chapel turned into the south aisle of a new church dedicated to the Holy Trinity in 1894-6. Holy Trinity was declared redundant in 1969 but the Chapel was partitioned off and used for weekday services and private prayer. Sunday services restarted in the Chapel in 1981 after the parish church of St Mary’s was destroyed by fire. It reverted to its original name of St Edmund’s Chapel.
The Victorian addition to the church was leased to Gateshead Council and became a Community Centre.
A History of St James & St Bede's
St James and St Bede's Church Centre has a relatively short but none the less rich and interesting history that reflects the congregations response to the challenges of being church in today's world.
Today it is a church that meets in what was the hall of the now demolished Venerable Bede Church, in the heart of the Sunderland Road community. The congregation was formed from those of the Venerable Bede Church and St James' Church (also now demolished and where the Vauxhall Garage stands at the corner of St James' Street.) The congregations were of very different traditions and wonderfully came together in 1982 under the leadership of the Vicar, Revd. Tom Jamieson to give the present congregation its unique and diverse character.
We have a wonderful building that has been completely modernised . Its 'small and local' character welcomes many from the local and wider community and the actual building surprises many by its varied and flexible use.
The whole of St James & St Bede's buildings has been further restored in three phases over a period of 8 years giving us a wonderfully versatile building that will serve us all well as we face the challenge of mission and ministry in the years ahead.
Building improvements at St James & St Bede's have happened more recently in three phases: 1. The first was the refurbishment of the central worship area that made a cold, draughty and dark hall into an attractive, warm and versatile space. The second was the development of the cellar and garden areas at the south end of the building (2000). Finally, the significant improvements (2004) to the north end of the building, which is used daily for many community, parish and deanery groups. There is a large, well equipped, newly-built kitchen, new toilets and good access for children in buggies and people with a disability. There is a small new reception office and a refurbished Community Room with comfortable chairs and an efficient heating system.
The full restoration of the bulding enables us to operate as a 'seven days a week' church and there is rarely a day when the church building is not in use. Apart from regular and varied worhsip at the core of our life as followers of Jesus Christ, the building has many stories to tell about its use. It has been transformed into a 'restaurant' for a Harvest Supper, held a 'Sponsored Bounce' with a massive Bouncy Castle, Family Fun Days, Barbeques, 'Pizza and Video' events for young people, a Pantomime Production, concerts, parties, courses for learning and a host of other occasions that welcome people from the area. It is a wonderful call from God to share the good things he has given us with others and to have our doors open into what we pray will be the journey of a lifetime- the journey of Faith - and for the privilege of seeing God's Kingdom come among us.
"Do not be afraid little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." (Luke 12:32)
