Dawdon - St Hild and St Helen's Church

St Hild and St Helen's Church

The church of St Hild and St Helen's - known as the Pitman's Cathedral - was built by donations from local pitmen and consecrated on February 10, 1912.

A Grand Bazaar, charity events and a £2,000 donation from the Marquess of Londonderry helped pay for the building and hundreds of pitmen mingled with ministers and civic dignitaries for the grand unveiling.

"The milestone date began with Holy Communion, held for the last time in the former Cottages School," the late Tom McNee recorded in a history of the church.

"After lunch at Seaham Hall, the Marquess of Londonderry and his distinguished party of 100 joined more than 500 parishioners for the ceremony."

In the 1860s, the part of Seaham Harbour which would become Dawdon consisted of three isolated communities. The first had grown around the bottleworks, the second was next to a chemical works, and the third was at Swinebank – housing Londonderry's engine and wagon works staff.

His decision to sink a new colliery at Dawdon in 1899 was to change the face of the area forever. As work on the pit progressed, so the three little hamlets were swallowed up by rows of houses, shops and pubs.

Plans for a new church followed, with the Marchioness of Londonderry laying the foundation stone in September 1910. Walter Bolland, the senior curate, took church services in the nearby Cottages Schoolroom while the work progressed.

Just two years later, the new £6,500 St Hild and St Helen's was finished, seating up to 700 worshippers in comfort. "Uniquely, it was built from north to south, rather than east to west, because of an unusual fault in the rock formation under the church," Mr McNee recorded.

The interior "was beautified by numerous and costly gifts", many from Marchioness Theresa, including a fine organ. But the high altar was a particular highlight, decorated with the face of St Hild and carved as a likeness to Theresa.

Church organisations soon flourished, including a successful choir, which opera singer Thomas Allen once belonged to. Decades later, however, the vicarage and church came under attack from Hitler's Luftwaffe during World War II .

As explosives dropped in nearby streets, the vicar, James Duncan, sought refuge under the stairs of the vicarage. Just minutes later, two bombs exploded next to the house, bringing down ceilings and ripping doors from hinges.

A large hole was also blown in the west wall of the Grade II-listed church and almost all the stained-glass windows were shattered. Confident the community would be able to raise the £1,000 needed for repairs, the Rev Duncan authorised work to begin.

His faith in the people of Dawdon was soon rewarded as, just nine months later, the target was reached. Today, however, the church is once again facing an uncertain future, having just closed due to dwindling congregation numbers.