Restoration work starts at beloved community building
Work is underway at St Mary's Heritage Centre to improve access and energy efficiency, and to carry out repairs and restoration.
The works, due to be completed by 20 December, include creating level access at the South Porch along with new double timber doors, repairs to the floor, roof and boundary walls, improving heating and energy efficiency, and installing access up the tower to enable future maintenance.
Funding also enables us to make it an even better community space for events, activities and meetings with additional catering and audio visual equipment plus furniture and gardening tools.
The building is cared for by Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust, who took on its lease this year. The repair and restoration project will cost around £270,000 and is funded by UK Government via the Community Ownership Foundation and Shared Prosperity Fund, along with support from the Architectural Heritage Fund, Gateshead Council and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
St Mary's is a Grade 1 listed building and one of the key heritage points along the Tyne Derwent Way. It's a great place to start a walk along the Tyne, through Gateshead Riverside Park to Dunston Staiths - or to begin exploring the full nine miles of the route. It's been in place since at least 1300, and was a church up until its deconsecration in 1979.
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