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The church, better known as the Clayton Memorial
Church, was built between 1859 and 1861
with galleries above the north and south aisles and across
the west end where initially there was a small organ.
(Richard Clayton was Chaplain of St Thomas's Chapel,
Newcastle, from 1836 to 1856)
The west gallery was taken down in 1907, following many
changes made within the east end of the church from the
1890s onwards. This was
when the church was extensively refitted, and choir stalls and a larger
organ built in the east end. The lateness of this
construction of a west gallery church reflects the
conservative evangelical nature of this Anglican church's
foundation. (For a history see A.F. Munden's book, available
in the church - see web page.) (Information from Robin
King)
The
dedication of Jesmond Parish Church is
unusual, being "in memory of the late Rev.
Richard Clayton",
chaplain of St Thomas's Chapel, Newcastle from 1836 to
1856.
The
church was built to was
to fulfil three resolutions of an
organising committee of parishioners after Clayton's
death:
1.
"To testify the veneration and affection of a
bereaved congregation for their departed
minister....";
2.
"To provide additional church accommodation and
spiritual superintendence for a town in which such
provision, in connection with the Church of England,
is at present so fearfully inadequate";
3.
"To erect a church, which by having the patronage
in perpetuity vested in trustees nominated by the
promoters, will form a central point for the
maintenance and promulgation of sound scriptural and
Evangelical truth in a large and prosperous
town...."
There
is another agenda in these resolutions. In
the early 19th
century there were four ancient parishes of Newcastle
- St Nicholas, St John, St Andrew and All Saints, plus
a new chapel,
St Thomas,
which had been built to the north of the town,
replacing an older chapel near the Quayside.
The incumbent at
St Thomas's had derived his income
partly from Mastership of the local hospital and
partly as priest in charge of St Thomas's
Chapel. In the early years of the nineteenth
century the two incumbents, Robert Wasney and Richard
Clayton (Clayton
for ten years 1826-36 also being Wasney's
assistant) were, unusually for the
churchmanship of the C of E at the time,
evangelicals.
Upon Clayton's sudden death in
1856 there was a real danger that the evangelical
flame in Newcastle would be extinguished as the Vicar
of Newcastle (St Nicholas, now the cathedral),
who was patron of St Thomas's, sought to
impose a non-evangelical against the will of the St
Thomas's congregation. (St Andrew's was already
in the hands of the Oxford Movement, and all
three of the other ancient Newcastle churches
eventually followed towards this tradition. As
far as I [Robin
King, 2002] know, incense is still swung at the cathedral
(St Nicholas)
and St John's, while All Saints
has now been
handed over to the "Anglican-Catholic
Church"
following a period of redundancy. Its fittings
suggest a "High Church" pedigree, while its
acoustics make for a splendid venue for choral
concerts.)
Therefore
the congregation of St Thomas's voted by an
overwhelming majority to establish their own church
under the auspices of the Church of England,
and to keep the patronage under a Board of Trustees.
In this, it seems, they were facilitated by the then
Bishop of Durham in whose diocese Newcastle then was,
and aided and guided by leading Anglican evangelicals
of the day.
The
proper title of Jesmond Parish Church is "The
Clayton Memorial Church" (see the
Diocese of Newcastle (Newcastle Central
Deanery) website http://www.newcastle.anglican.org/
). The
foundation stone was laid by the Charles Longley,
Bishop of Durham on 20 October 1859, and the church
consecrated by the bishop's successor, Henry Villiers,
on 14 January 1861.
The date for the demolition of the west gallery,
mentioned in Alan Munden's booklet,
was 1907, following many of the changes made to
the east end of the church from the 1890s onwards.
Alan Munden's booklet "Jesmond
Parish Church, Newcastle upon Tyne" was published
in 1981 by Clayton Publications, ISBN 0 9507592
0 1.
Alan
Munsden was one of the curates at Jesmond Parish
Church from 1976 to 1983 before taking up a parish in
Coventry and now a group of parishes around
Nuneaton. Jesmond
Parish Church has its own web-site:
http://www.church.org.uk
.
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