Christ Church, Sunderland

Sunderland Sikh Association has applied for permission to demolish the spire of Ashbrooke Hall on Ryhope Road, formerly known as Christ Church. The spire is reportedly in a dangerous condition and the cost of repairs could be as high as £500,000.

Christ Church represents the pinnacle of Sunderland’s achievement in Gothic Revival architecture. The tower is absolutely crucial to the form of the church, as the steeply pitched roofs ascend one from another to culminate in the spectacular tower and broach spire, without which the building would be devoid of its most inspiring feature.

The proposal to demolish the spire is particularly ironic, since the prominent site on which the church stands was sold by the Quaker banker, Edward Backhouse, whose only proviso was that the church be given a good spire. Accordingly, the tower was placed at the north east corner, rising assertively to give prominence to the building.

Sunderland’s Sikh community acquired the redundant Christ Church in September 2001 and have spent in the region of £270,000 on alterations. All of this money was donated by members of the Sikh community. The pews and altars were removed and toilets, committee rooms and a lighting system were installed.

Now it seems that Sunderland Sikh Association wish to demolish the spire, which is reportedly in a dangerous state of disrepair. The spire has in fact been covered with a protective mesh for several years. Sunderland City Council received the application on 21 February 2007. The alterations are to be conducted by Peter Gass, building design consultant, 58 Thornton’s Close, Pelton, Chester-le-Street.

The church is a Grade II listed building and is situated in the Ashbrooke Conservation area. Sited on a main route in and out of the city, the building has a major impact on Sunderland’s identity. As a listed building of special architectural or historical interest, the owners are legally obliged to maintain it in a good state of repair. However, it has been estimated (as reported in the Sunderland Echo, Thursday 19th April) that it will cost at least £500,000 to restore the spire to a safe condition.

It is important to remember that the Sikh Association have consistently spent large sums of money on maintaining and restoring the building, all thanks to the generosity of their community. For example, they bought back the original stained glass window (produced in William Morris’ workshop) from a warehouse in London and paid for its restoration. Unfortunately, it seems that their funds are now exhausted and they have reluctantly taken the decision to demolish the spire, pending permission from the Council.

However, the Sunderland Echo published an interview with a spokesperson from Sunderland Sikh Association on 19th April. This implied that the proposed alterations are purely in the interests of safety. I discovered from the planning application that it is also proposed to add a conservatory and kitchen extension onto the body of the former church, which seems like an ignominious fate for such a prominent building.

The planning application, including architectural plans, is available for consultation on Sunderland City Council’s website. You will need the reference numbers 07/00948/FUL and 07/01323/LBC in order to view them. In order to give people a more vivid idea of how the building will look without its spire, I have digitally removed the spire from my photograph of Christ Church.

How Ashbrooke Hall will look unless money to repair the spire can be found.

This image shows Ashbrooke Hall as it stands at present, together with a duplicated image in which the spire has been digitally removed according to the actual architectural plans submitted to Sunderland City Council.

The History of Christ Church

The design of Christ Church was the result of a competition held in 1862, which was won by the young Coventry architect James Murray. Unfortunately, Murray never saw the building completed; he died during construction and his former partner, J. Cundall of Leamington Spa, took over the supervision.

Christ Church anticipated the Bishopwearmouth Rectory Act of 1868, which created four new parishes in the township and provided an annual endowment of £3,620 to be distributed between them. One of these was the middle class suburb of Ashbrooke, where many of the town’s wealthy industrialists built private mansions for their own occupation and occasionally funded more altruistic endeavors such as Christ Church and St John’s Methodist Church. Ashbrooke’s popularity with the gentry necessitated a new Anglican church and the local glass magnate James Hartley provided most of the funds. The total cost amounted to £7,000.

The building ceased to be used in the late 1990s and was declared redundant by the Church of England. Within a few years it was acquired by Sunderland’s Sikh Community and was successfully restored and converted into a community center.