One of the earliest modern Catholic foundations in east Durham. A church and presbytery were built in 1825, from which time the presbytery survives. The church was rebuilt in Italianate style by John Kelly in the 1890s. The handsome interior retains a number of late nineteenth-century fittings.

One of the leading recusant families in this area were the Maires, who came to Hardwick Hall in the sixteenth century. When they sold Hardwick in 1825 their chaplain Thomas Slater bought eleven acres of land at nearby Hutton Henry and built a house and small Catholic chapel which served a wide area between Hartlepool and Sunderland. The original chapel was replaced by a new building in the Italianate style in 1895, from designs by John Kelly of Leeds.

In 2003 the historic (and Grade II_listed) presbytery (to which the church is physically linked) was sold, and is now a private house. A new parish hall was added on north side of the church in about 2005.

Description

The church is rectangular on plan with a southwest porch and an apsidal sanctuary. The walls are faced with hard red brick laid in garden wall bond; the roof is covered with slate.  In the centre of the west wall is a low apsidal baptistery with three small round headed windows.  Above are three larger stepped round headed windows, the centre window breaking up through the brick cornice into the pediment which spans the full width of the building. The south wall has a projecting west porch with a bellcote over and four pairs of round-headed windows set high in the wall. The north wall is largely hidden by buildings, including the new low parish hall, built of brick in a round-arched style. The east wall has an apsidal sanctuary with arcading on the upper wall which is blind apart from two side windows.

The interior is a handsome space, with a painted barrel vaulted ceiling. The floor is boarded, the side walls are plain plastered with panelled dadoes, moulded strings linking the cills and arch-springs of the windows and a moulded cornice at the wall-head. The windows are clear glazed. The ceiling has painted coffering with decorative painted panels. In the centre of the west wall is a round-headed opening to the baptistery with decorative railings. At the east end of the north wall is a double-arched opening to a side chapel, now partly filled by the organ. The apsidal sanctuary has a panelled dado with a continuous arcade above with round arches between pilasters. The side arches are windows, the five central arches are filled with figures in mosaic: Saints Peter and Paul, St Anne and Our Lady as a child, the Sacred Heart and St Joseph with the Child Jesus.  The half-dome has painted ribbing.

The fittings are a mixture of later nineteenth century (the main altar, the stone bowl font, the nave benches and perhaps the framed Stations of the Cross) and twentieth century (the sanctuary furniture and the organ).

List description (the church was listed in 2016, following Taking Stock)

II

Summary: Roman Catholic Church, 1895 to designs of John Kelly of Leeds. Italianate style. The attached parish hall is excluded from the listing.

Reasons for Designation: The Roman Catholic Church of St Peter and St Paul of 1895 is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Architectural interest: with much Catholic church design still dominated by the Gothic Revival, this church employs a more inventive Italianate design by the well-regarded architect John Kelly of Leeds; * Interior: a handsome and impressive space, naturally lit by multiple windows and with a notable painted timber barrel-vaulted ceiling; * Fixtures and fittings: a suite of good quality original late-C19 fittings including an ornately carved altar and tabernacle, timber dadoes and baptistery fittings; * Group value: it benefits from a functional and spatial group value with the earlier, presbytery (Grade II) which contributes to its interest.

History: One of the leading recusant families in this area was the Maires, who came to Hardwick Hall in the C16. When they sold Hardwick in 1825, Mary Lucy Slater, mother of their chaplain Thomas Slater bought 11 acres of land at nearby Hutton Henry and constructed a small Catholic chapel and a presbytery to serve a wide area between Hartlepool and Sunderland. The original chapel was replaced by a new church in 1895 to designs by John Kelly of Leeds. The latter (1840-1904) designed a number of churches including several Catholic churches which were always designed in a distinctive Italianate style. Several of his churches are listed including Church of All Saints, Richmond-on-Thames (Grade II) and Church of St Patrick, Westminster (Grade II*). New sanctuary furniture and the organ were installed in the mid-C20 and a new parish hall was added to the north-west side of the church in c 2005.

Details: Roman Catholic church, 1895 to designs of John Kelly of Leeds. Italianate style. MATERIALS: faced with hard red brick in garden wall bond; slate roof. PLAN: the church is oriented north-west to south-east but conventional liturgical orientations are used. A rectangular plan with a south-west porch and an apsidal sanctuary and a low apsidal baptistery to the west. It is attached to the early C19 presbytery by a low link at the north-east corner. EXTERIOR: all windows and door openings are round-headed and there is a deep moulded eaves cornice, moulded impost and sill bands and a chamfered plinth to all elevations. There are iron cross finials to the sanctuary, porch and W end. The apsidal sanctuary has arcading with moulded surrounds alternating with slim pilasters to the upper parts. The arcade rests on a sill band and is blind except for two side windows. Two large red sandstone blocks incorporated into the south-east corner of the nave might be the foundation stone. The south side of the nave has four paired windows, with moulded hoodmoulds and an impost and sill band, set high in the wall. At the south-west corner there is a projecting, pedimented porch with a full-height segmental-arched entrance set within a taller round-headed arch with three bands. To either side there is a small square sandstone block inscribed with a cross motif. The entrance, reached by a pair of stone steps, has moulded reveals and replacement double wooden doors. Rising behind is a slightly projecting bellcote, over which the cornice and bands of the nave continue, which breaks through the eaves terminating in a moulded pediment; the bellcote also has moulded bands, short side buttresses and a round-headed opening containing the original bell. The W end has a central low apsidal baptistery with three windows and above there are three large stepped windows, the central one breaking upwards through the brick cornice into the pediment which spans the full width. The early-C20 parish hall attached to the north-west corner is excluded from the listing.

INTERIOR: the apsidal sanctuary has a panelled dado with a continuous arcade above with round arches between pilasters. The side arches are windows, and the five central arches are filled with figures painted onto metal plates: Saints Peter and Paul, St Anne and Our Lady as a child, The Sacred Heart and St Joseph with the child Jesus. The half dome has painted plaster ribbing and rests on a moulded plaster cornice. The main altar is considered to be the later C19 original and is ornately carved timber with a front of three panels defined by carved pilasters with carved columns. The central tabernacle is similarly ornately carved with twisted columns and decorative brass doors. The whole is intricately carved with cross and floral motifs. Other sanctuary furniture is C20. A side chapel at the east end of the north wall is entered through a double-arched opening supported on a Doric column, with a lean-to roof decorated as the main nave roof, which now houses the organ and a timber altar added as a memorial in 1905. A six-panelled door leads through to the sacristy which also served as the link to the presbytery and is now blocked. The nave walls are plain plastered with panelled dadoes and moulded strings linking the sills and arch springs of the windows and a moulded cornice at the wall head. The windows are clear glazed and the floor is boarded. The timber-boarded barrel vault roof has painted small, square coffering, each with decorative painted panels in the form of a cross motif set within a circle and an outer square. The Stations of the Cross (painted on metal plates) and the carved benches with roll-moulded tops are considered to be original later C19. The west end has a round-headed opening to the baptistery with decorative railings to the front; the half-dome roof resting on a plaster cornice has plaster ribbing, and a moulded string links the triple windows. The original round, stone bowl font on a pedestal is retained. The west porch has a timber-boarded ceiling and the main entrance to the church is set within a tall round-headed arch with original six-panel double doors and door furniture.

Sources

Books and journals: Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: County Durham, (1983), 337

Other: Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle: An Architectural and Historical Review, AHP, 2012.

Heritage Details