Spennymoor
St Paul's Church, Spennymoor
Last Updated:
4 Oct 2024
Spennymoor
This is a
Church, Place of Worship
54.695684, -1.608810
Founded in
Current status is
Extant
Designer (if known):
J A Cory, C H Fowler
Still in use
This is Spennymoor's St Paul's Church, a wonderful example of a mid 19th century church when it was trendy to make it look centuries older!
St Paul's was first a chapel of ease to Whitworth, consecrated in 1858 to support the small but growing pit & iron village of Spennymoor. At this point it was well out of town, but you can see the OS map from the 1857 with the plot reserved. It was designed by Carlisle born John Augustus Cory - an ecclesiastical architect responsible for reams of churches between the North Sea and Carlisle, and confidante of Ignatius Bonomi. Christ Church at Consett is one great example of his work, but you'll see plenty across the Lakes too.
The lovely stone is supplied from Newcastle with the steel bell from Sheffield - much of the interior was provided by local manufacturers. It overall cost about £1400 which is pretty cheap given its scale, and much was raised by subscription. The whole ground was provided by Robert Shafto who owned swathes of land here as well as the pits. He was also MP for North Durham, so was very much in his interest to have a church here.
The tower was added sometime later - around the late 1870s by C H Fowler, a man that constantly crops up rent free. I'll list a few of his projects below, but he's an incredibly esteemed northern architect also.
There was sadly a great fire in 1953. A miner, John George Rowlands, was charged with arson while also attempting suicide. It caused £10000 worth of damage, with the interior (and the tower?) being restored over the next year by S Dykes Bower. Meanwhile, church services took place in the Town Moor with a temporary altar erected.
It is also of note that the Queen Mother visited in 1956.
Listing Description (if available)
Both Ordnance Surveys are the first two to feature St Paul's amongst the environs of Spennymoor. You'll see this side of the town was only modestly built up, with a few townhouses and the industrial terraces lining the high street. Merrington Lane horse racecourse was also situated just off the main road on Victoria Street, though this didn't last long into the 20th century.
A similar story can be sold going into the map revised in 1915, though there is some expansion. Housing continued to spring up west to Middlestone Moor as well as southwards featuring a cemetery and isolation hospital.
The 1946 map continues the trend, and probably looks a little more familiar to folk today. Features worthy of note is the straight dog racing track off Victoria Street, the new playing grounds with pavilion on Rock Road as well as further housing sprawling on Spennymoor's peripheries. Whitehouse Farm survived despite the developments, though it has sadly been demolished now.
St Paul's in July 2024
THe church soon after the 1950s fire. Thankfully, it's been beautifully restored. Unknown original source.
The restored interior of St Pauls after the fire. Source: St Pauls Spennymoor https://www.stpaulsspennymoor.co.uk/fire/