Hetton-le-Hole: St Nicholas
Overview
Grid reference: NZ 353 474
The present church of St Nicholas was built in 1895-1901 to the design of S Piper, replacing an earlier smaller church. The church consists of a broad 3-bay nave with narrow aisles, the chancel flanked by short transepts with a Lady chapel to its south, and vestry and organ chamber to its north. It is a large building, without much vertical emphasis. The overall simplified Early English design has a robust plainness about it with a strong resemblance to the slightly earlier Gateshead St George by the same designer.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
The church consists of a broad 3-bay nave with narrow aisles, the chancel flanked by short transepts with a Lady chapel to its south, and vestry and organ chamber to its north.
Dimensions:
Nave 23m (70ft) by 8m (25ft).
Description of Archaeology and History
The present church of St Nicholas was built in 1895-1901 to the design of S Piper, replacing an earlier smaller church. Piper was not prolific in this area, but did design two churches in nearby Gateshead; Holy Trinity, (the 1893-94 extension to the medieval St Edmund's Chapel), and St George, which could be regarded as his most important work.
Exterior Description
A large building, without much vertical emphasis. The overall simplified Early English design has a robust plainness about it with a strong resemblance to the slightly earlier Gateshead St George by the same designer.
The high nave has a good picturesque west front with gabled buttresses, the gable filled with a group of five stepped lancets within a broad, chamfered containing arch without hood-mould. Above this is a belcote with a single bell. On the ground floor is the baptistery with three parallel gables, each with single lancet windows within containing arches; to the north west projects a semi-octagonal choir vestry, and to the south the main entrance porch under a low gable.
The west front is dressed in squared rock-face sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings, but the remainder of the church is built in roughly squared rubble, with minimal dressings to quoins and window surrounds. The three-bay aisles to the nave are defined by plain strip pilasters, with three stepped lancets to each bay. The south transept and chancel have slightly projecting corner buttresses, and the triple lancets of the transepts are set off within containing arches, unlike the lancets of the chancel east gable, which are separated by a pair of tall buttresses of extremely deep prediction, giving a very odd appearance to the eastern views of the church.
The east gable of the Lady chapel has a large three light window with intersecting tracery, while the organ chamber and vestry have eastward sloping lean-to roofs, the whole north side of the church being treated in as simple a manner are as possible. The roofs are covered in Welsh slates, the chancel roof-line only slightly lower than that of the nave, and the transepts slightly lower again.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
Late 19th Century
East Window; a triplet of lancets depicting the Ascension of our Lord, probably by Percy Bacon Bros of Covent Garden London
Stained Glass
1865
South East Chapel; by Wailes of Newcastle, 3-light window depicting the Crucifixion (apparently from the previous chapel on the site): “THIS CHAPEL WAS REBUILT & THIS EAST WINDOW INSERTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE NICHOLAS WOOD OF HETTON HALL ESQ. WHO DIED DEC 19, 1865”
Stained Glass
1877
South Transept; Christ in Glory, by Henry Mark Barnett of Newcastle. “IN MEMORY OF THE LATE REV. JS NICHOL J.P. WHO DIED FEBRUARY 20 1877 AGED 75 YRS. RECTOR OF THE PARISH OF HETTON LE HOLE. THE ABOVE WINDOW HAS BEEN ERECTED BY HIS FRIENDS AND PARISHONERS AS A TOKEN OF THE ESTEEM IN WHICH HE WAS HELD DURING THE 45 YEARS HE FULFILLED THE SACRED DUTIES”.
Stained Glass
1903
South Aisle, three-light window by George Joseph Baguley of Newcastle showing acts of charity, a memorial to Queen Victoria
Stained Glass
c. 1910
South aisle West window; a single lancet, an interesting Arts & Crafts piece, attributed Benjamin Nelson or J. H. Bonner. (The designal cartoon exhibited 1910 London Arts & Crafts show; reference Peter Cormack, Deputy Keeper, William Morris Gallery, Walthamstow). The window depicts a young lad (a portrait?) as an armour-clad knight, carrying a banner flag of the Church Lads Brigade. There is a particularly nice palette of glasses, especially the whites and lavenders violets, fully in the Christopher Whall tradition. The memorial inscription is on the glass; "TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY OF/ FREDERICK GREENHOW WHO WAS / DROWNED AT THE N.E.CAMP, C.L.B./ AT MASHAM AUGUST 2ND 1908". This window should be found a new home as a matter of urgency (either in a neighbouring church, or in a public Art Gallery), should this church become redundant.
Stained Glass
1987
Three small windows in the baptistery with stained glass by Healy, depicting the Annunciation, Nativity, and Virgin and Child.
Building Materials
Sandstone
Unknown
Slate
Unknown
Welsh slate roof
Interior
Interior Description
The interior of the church continues the affinity with its Gateshead contemporary, with tall, square, slightly chamfered stone piers, and double-chamfered arches high up dying into them (but these nave arches are plastered, as are the walls of the church interior). It is only the three high and wide double-chamfered arches to the chancel and the transepts which are of stone, the inner orders carried on moulded corbels. The Baptistry at the west end of the nave also has three lower level arches following the same general design.
The nave aisles have very tall and narrow arches at their eastern ends leading into the transepts, and it is the southern of these arches where the structural movements in the fabric manifest themselves, with cracks clearly evident and the areas underneath taped off.
The east wall of the chancel is pierced by three stepped lancets, and the north side of the chancel has the organ set within a high arch; the south side of the chancel has four clearstorey windows above the pair of arches to the Lady Chapel, the arches repeating the design of the nave arcades, except at a lower level.
The nave ceiling is timber-boarded in the form of a slightly pointed barrel-roof above projecting eaves-cornices, with ribs brought down at the bay-centres; the barrel form and diagonal ribs continue over the crossing. The roof of the chancel also continues the same barrel ceiling.
The floors are laid with red carpet throughout over pitch pine floor, timber boards under the pews.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
1905
Oak table
Reredos
1900
Oak. Rectangular panelled pilasters support a cambered arch, surmounted by elaborate panelled cresting bearing shields with the Instruments of the Passion, possibly part of Piper's original scheme. The oak panelling is inscribed as a memorial to the Darlington train disaster.
Pulpit
1900
Hexagonal oak pulpit, with carved blind tracery panels and cornice, set on a stone base with stone steps
Lectern
1900
Brass eagle
Font (object)
1900
West end of nave in Baptistry, simple octagonal bowl and base are of sandstone, set on four pink marble shafts, with a flat oak cover
Churchyard
Grid reference: NZ 353 474
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
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