Christ Church belongs to the Church of England part of the Christian faith. Before its completion in 1861, the closest church of it’s kind was All Saints in Byker. Although it was not a great distance from the area, as it shared a border, Shieldfield was quite an insular place and the Church of England found that a large number of it’s population were not worshiping within a church so decided to split up All Saints into different suburbs, were Shieldfield would be one.
The building of Christ Church began in December 1859 by Roberts builders of Newcastle and was designed in the Gothic style, a popular form of Victorian architecture, by A. B. Higham. The Boyd family in memory of their son, a local banker, William, funded the construction. In his will he had requested the money be given to a project of a spiritual nature for the community but it was not until the Church of England had decided that there presence was needed in the area that the offer was realised. The site chosen for the build, opposite Shieldfield Green, was next to the site of Shieldfield School that the Boyd family had also funded.
In a local newspaper from time, The Courant, I found an article about the laying of the foundation stones of Christ Church. It stated that there had been a bazaar had been held in October 1859 to raise money for the annual wage of the clergy. They managed to raise £1,300 which would have been a considerable amount and suggests that the people attending the bazaar were from the neighboring areas. It also mentioned in that same article that two thirds of the seats would be free for the poor. It was common practice within the Church of England to keep large proportions of the seats for more affluent church goes.
This 1896 map shows the shape of the site Shieldfield was built on. Although it is an awkward shaped plot, I feel Higham has designed a stunning example of Gothic architecture. The church hall fits neatly around the side of the structure. Nikolaus Pevsner, a renowned writer of the history of architecture, spoke of Christ Church in his book The Buildings of England. Northumberland, and stated "the facade had to be fitted at an odd angle. Nothing special otherwise." This comment about Christ Church's appearance and the limited knowledge of the architect A. B. Higham eventually led my research down another path. Please see the page titled A.B. Higham for more information.
Below is a slide show of Christ Church taken in 2010. There are notable examples of the Gothic style, such as the gargoyles, and apart from a discoloring from pollution over the many years. I feel that Christ Church is a beautiful example of architecture from this period.
Christ Church is now a grade II * listed building but sadly, only has a very small congregation of approximately twelve people. The church hall is still used a fair amount, especially by the older members of Shieldfield community.
Below is a slide show of Christ Church taken in 2010. There are notable examples of the Gothic style, such as the gargoyles, and apart from a discoloring from pollution over the many years. I feel that Christ Church is a beautiful example of architecture from this period.
Christ Church is now a grade II * listed building but sadly, only has a very small congregation of approximately twelve people. The church hall is still used a fair amount, especially by the older members of Shieldfield community.
