St Mary's Cathedral

St Mary’s Cathedral stands in Newcastle upon Tyne on Clayton Street. The building is a Catholic cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle. Augustus Welby Pugin designed it in the Gothic Revival style between 1842 and 1844. The cathedral became a grade I listed building and is the sixth tallest structure in the city. Outside, a Monument Garden holds a memorial to Cardinal Basil Hume opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002. The cathedral began as a church paid for by halfpenny subscriptions from poor immigrants. William Riddell led the mission when it opened in August 1844. Pugin provided designs for the stained glass by William Wailes in the Great East Window and two chapels. In 1850 Pope Pius IX restored the Catholic hierarchy and St Mary’s became the first cathedral in Newcastle. Bishop William Hogarth took office that year and the name changed to the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. Inside, visitors find the Great East Window and chapels with Wailes glass. A tower and steeple were added in 1872 from a bequest by Elizabeth Dunn. Recent renovations restored the original design and installed a new Kenneth Tickell organ. The cathedral remains the mother church of the diocese and a place of worship and heritage.