St Luke's Church, Wallsend

The Church of St Luke is a Church of England Grade II* listed church located in the centre of Wallsend, North Tyneside, next to Station Road.HistoryDue to an increase of the population in Wallsend, supported by both coalmining and shipbuilding industries, the parish of St Peter, Wallsend was divided in 1887, with the western portion becoming the new parish of St Luke, complete with a new church. The foundation stone was laid in 1885, and the building was consecrated in 1887, although construction was not completed until 1906.One of the key donors to the new building was George B. Hunter, then managing partner of the Swan Hunter shipbuilding company. The long association between the church and the company (whose yard is just down Station Road) saw St Luke’s nicknamed the ‘Shipyard Church’.In 2001 the parish was merged with that of St Peter, Wallsend, reuniting the original parish and the two sister churches.TraditionThe church was founded in the Anglo-Catholic mould. Indeed, during the incumbency of the second vicar, Fr William O'Brady-Jones, Anglo-Catholic practices were listed in evidence given to the Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical Discipline in 1904. But after his departure 1908, with the then Bishop of Newcastle being unsympathetic to Anglo-Catholics, a Low Churchman was appointed. The High Church tradition lay dormant until Fr Colin Turnbull, who began his ministry as an assistant curate at St Peter's, Wallsend, was made vicar.

Tags: Church of God