St Mary's Cathedral, Newcastle upon Tyne
Catholic cathedral in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England
The Cathedral Church of St Mary is a Catholic cathedral in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. It is the mother church of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle and seat of the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle. The cathedral, situated on Clayton Street, was designed by Augustus Welby Pugin and built between 1842 and 1844. The cathedral is a grade I listed building and a fine example of the Gothic Revival style of architecture championed by Pugin.
There is a monument dedicated to Cardinal Basil Hume in the Monument Garden outside of the cathedral, which was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002. St Mary's Cathedral is the sixth tallest structure in the city.
History
St. Mary's Church in Newcastle opened in August 1844, paid for largely through halfpenny subscriptions from the community of poor immigrants on Tyneside. The priest at the mission at Newcastle upon Tyne was William Riddell. The stained glass in the Great East Window, Lady Chapel and Blessed Sacrament Chapel, were done by William Wailes in 1843 to designs provided by Pugin.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “St Mary's Cathedral, Newcastle upon Tyne” is catholic cathedral in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Mary's, Cathedral and Newcastle, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “catholic cathedral in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1638891. Authority coordinates are 54.969, -1.620. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1842, 1844, 2002 and 1843.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “St Mary's Cathedral, Newcastle upon Tyne”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow St Mary's Cathedral, Newcastle upon Tyne primary sources, St Mary's Cathedral, Newcastle upon Tyne archive and Mary's research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “St Mary's Cathedral, Newcastle upon Tyne”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “St Mary's Cathedral, Newcastle upon Tyne” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.