Church Of The Holy Sepulchre

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a parish church dating from 1887 to 1896, designed by W.S. Hicks. Constructed of snecked stone with ashlar dressings, it features a Lakeland slate roof. The church is laid out as a 5-bay aisled plan, with no structural division between the nave and chancel, alongside a western narthex, a cross-gabled east bay on the north aisle which serves as an organ chamber, and a truncated bell tower with a sacristy attached to the east. The architectural style is Late 14th century.

The exterior displays stepped buttresses between bays, set back at angles, a chamfered plinth, and a sill string. There are 3-light windows to the north and south, with a blocked priest's door located near the east end on the south side. A 2-light window is found at the west end of the north aisle, and a 4-light window illuminates the organ chamber, featuring a cruciform loop in the gable above. The flat-roofed narthex has three 2-light windows on its west side, with boarded double doors featuring scrolled ironwork under a moulded arch, containing sunk quatrefoils within the spandrels, on each return. A large 4-light window is positioned above. The 5-light east window has a whirling mouchette in the gable above, while a 3-light east window is present in the south aisle. A lower stage of the bell tower, octagonal at the top, now functions as a connection to the sacristy, which has a boarded door under a moulded round arch with trefoiled panels holding blank shields in the spandrels. Coped gables are topped with finial crosses, and a timber bellcote sits on the nave roof.

The interior features plastered, double-chamfered arcades supported on octagonal piers with moulded caps and bases, along with corbel responds. An arcade of 3 arches, now glazed, extends into the narthex. The main body of the church has a boarded vault, while coffered ceilings feature above the aisles, both incorporating brattished wall plates. Carved details are present on the pulpit and screens at the east end of the aisles. A simple, octagonal stone font, in a 15th-century style, is also found within. The east window is a war memorial commemorating the events of 1914-1918 and depicts the Ascension.

The church’s dedication refers to the former medieval church at Sheepwash. The tower was never completed because the Ashington Coal Company, the church’s major benefactors, opposed it, fearing that its bells would disturb the night-shift workers.