Newcastle Roman Catholic Cathedral, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne & Wear

The cathedral was designed by A W N Pugin, 1842-4, and, like the Anglican cathedral, started out as a parish church, being raised to cathedral status in 1850.

The early glass was by William Wailes of Newcastle, who made all Pugin’s glass between 1842 and 1845. Note, for example, the magnificent Tree of Jesse east window.

A number of windows were lost during the Second World War and their replacement has seen the exciting addition of new windows by contemporary artists. The first of these windows, and the first to be commissioned for over 100 years, is the Wakenshaw Memorial window, 2004, by Cate Watkinson.  The window celebrates the life and sacrifice of Adam Wakenshaw, who won the Victoria Cross in the deserts of north Africa during the Second World War. The second is highlighted below, while the most recent window was added in the summer of 2023, and is by Alan Davis. It is in memory of Monsignor Kevin Francis Nichols (1929-2006), a much loved priest-poet in the diocese.