Church of St Thomas the Martyr is a Grade II* listed building in the Newcastle upon Tyne local planning authority area, England. First listed on 14 June 1954. A Georgian Church. 16 related planning applications.

Church of St Thomas the Martyr

WRENN ID
guardian-loft-thunder
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Newcastle upon Tyne
Constituency
Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West MP: Dame Chi Onwurah (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
14 June 1954
Type
Church
Period
Georgian
Address
Church of St Thomas the Martyr, Barras Bridge, NE1 8QH
OS grid reference
NZ 248 649
Coordinates
54.97818, -1.61287
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: EPC · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St Thomas the Martyr is an extra-parochial peculiar church located at Barras Bridge in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was built between 1825 and 1830 by architect John Dobson. The church is constructed of sandstone ashlar and features a Welsh slate roof. It has an aisled nave that incorporates a west tower and a shallow chancel with porches on both the north and south sides. The design is in a modified Early English style.

The west porch in the tower has wrought iron gates and is adorned with a cross-ribbed vault and high arches leading to the aisles and nave. The four-stage tower includes a high moulded west arch, flanked by triple nook shafts and blind lancets beneath pierced sloping parapets. The second stage features double flying buttresses with a blind arcade, and there is a clock in the low third stage. The belfry openings are tall and empty, and the pierced parapet is accented by corner spirelets on the octagonal buttresses and central side pinnacles. The nave has paired lancet windows in five bays and triple lancet windows with shafts on the east front, along with tall pinnacles on the buttresses at the corners.

Inside, the church has plaster above the wainscotting and ribbed cross vaults in the nave and aisles, supported by slender quatrefoil piers. There are galleries on three sides, with the west gallery housing an organ that was inserted in 1960, originally built in 1837. The east window features glass from 1881, while other 19th-century glass can be found in the north aisle. A white marble memorial to Robert Wasney, who died in 1836, was created by C. Tate and depicts a woman standing beside an altar. Additionally, battle honours from the South African War (1899-1902) and the Great War (1914-1918) for the 6th Northumberland Fusiliers are framed at the east end of the north aisle. The church was built by the Trustees of the St. Mary Magdalene and Holy Jesus Hospitals to replace a medieval chapel at the end of Tyne Bridge.

Local climate

Church of St Thomas the Martyr receives an average of 790 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 57% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 94% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 27 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 70% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
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  • Related listed building consents — 16 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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