175th Anniversary of St Mary's

In 2019 St Mary's commemorated 175 years of service as a place of Christian worship and sanctuary in our busy city.

Designed by Augustus Welby Pugin, opened in 1844 and paid for with 'the pennies of the poor', this church was built to address the needs of the rapidly increasing Catholic population of Newcastle which had been swollen by Irish immigrants in the first half of the 19th century.

In 1850 following the Restoration of the Hierarchy in England and Wales however, St Mary's was raised to Cathedral status becoming the Mother Church of the newly designated Diocese of Hexham ( later to be renamed the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle). Interestingly until the 1880s and despite being Roman Catholic, it was the first and only Cathedral in Newcastle.

Special Events in 2019 to celebrate our Anniversary Year:

30 September: 175 YEAR ANNIVERSARY MASS with Archbishop, Bishops etc

23 September: COMPLETING THE CATHEDRAL: DUNN AND HANSOM’S CONTRIBUTION TO ST MARY’S, NEWCASTLE’

18 September: PORTRAITS OF COURAGE | OSCAR ROMERO BY ELIOT SMITH DANCE

24th August: ORGAN SPECTACULAR

21st August: AUGUST ANNIVERSARY MASS

11 July: CARDINAL HUME MEMORIAL LECTURE

29 May: MUSIC AND WORSHIP WITH MATT MAHER

18 MAY: NEWCASTLE LATE SHOW

Early History of St Mary's
Some Key Events in our 175 years