The old church of St. John is believed to date from c.1287.[2] William Gray, a 16th century topographer and burgess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, called it "a pretty little church, commended by an arch-prelate of this kingdom because it resembled much a cross".[3]
The church, surrounded by modern buildings on three sides, is modest, with a low square tower featuring small pinnacles and windows with flattened arched tops. A stone in the south transept window commemorates Robert Rhodes, the builder of St. Nicholas' Cathedral's steeple in Newcastle, and a benefactor to the town's churches. The current stone is a copy of the original, removed around 1861 during repairs, and now housed in the castle.[4]
Interior
The 15th-century font cover and the Jacobeanpulpit are examples of local woodwork. The chancel, now the Lady Chapel, contains a window including the fragments of medieval glass with the earliest known representation of the arms of Newcastle. Further along the wall is a cruciform opening which enabled the anchorite, whose cell was above the present sacristy, to see the altar. The rood and reredos are both the work of Sir Charles Nicholson.[5]
Graveyard
The remains of the graveyard
Part of the graveyard was built over in the 1960s for meeting rooms and a hall. As of 2010, there remained about ten gravestones. Two of these, that to Sarah and Sarah Hodgson,[6] owners of the Newcastle Chronicle and that to the artist Ralph Waters[7] are listed Grade II.
Irish actor and poet John Cunningham is buried in the graveyard.[8] Not far from the east window lies a stone slab, part of a table monument, its four supporting pillars lying half buried in the soil beneath it. The inscription on it reads as follows:
Here lie the Remains of
JOHN CUNNINGHAM
Of his excellence
As a Pastoral Poet
His works will remain a monument
for ages
After this temporary Tribute of Esteem
Is in dust forgotten.
He died in Newcastle Sep. 18, 1773,
Aged 44.
