Jesmond before St George's Church.

To understand the Church of St George, Jesmond, which is a Grade 1 listed building, it is necessary to appreciate the immense changes that took place on Tyneside in the second half of the nineteenth century. As industry expanded, so the population grew and many decided that living by the riverside with its grime and pollution was unhealthy and so moved to the newly created suburbs of Heaton, Jesmond and Fenham.

Geographically Jesmond could only develop northwards, squeezed as it was between the Town Moor on the west and the valley of the Ouseburn on the eastern side. At the north of this corridor, there were a number of large estates (now re-developed), most of which belonged to partners in firms Sir W.G. Armstrong, Mitchell and Co., and which included the prominent shipbuilders Dr. Charles Mitchell (1820-1895) and his brother-in-law, Col. Henry Frederick Swan (1842-1908), who had both moved to Jesmond from the riverside area of Low Walker. Rows of terraced houses with few or small gardens were developed and Jesmond was attractive to the growing middle classes who appreciated the ease of access to their offices and business in the town.

In the early 1860s Clayton Memorial Church was built on the north side of Jesmond Road and was soon established as the Parish Church of Jesmond. The Vicar of Clayton Memorial in 1880 was Somerset Pennefather (1848-1917), a close friend of Charles Mitchell and his family. It is said that he and his family would visit the Mitchells for tea on most Saturday afternoons, and during these family occasions the possibility of building a new church for the rapidly expanding suburb was discussed. Pennefather was convinced that a new Parish should be created and Mitchell agreed to finance the project. Mitchell purchased a temporary iron church, which had been used at St George's, Cullercoats before the erection of the permanent building. The iron Church, which was placed on the south side of the Mitchell Estate soon proved too small and plans were made for a permanent building.

In 1886 Charles Mitchell offered to provide a new Parish Church and the land for it at his own expense, provided that he was given a free hand in the matter of design. Thomas Ralph Spence (1845-1918), a protégé of Mitchell, was engaged as the architect and together with Mitchell's artist son, Charles William Mitchell, the local Vicar and the local landowner conceived a church which is now one of the outstanding ecclesiastical buildings in the north of England. The foundation stone (not now visible) was laid in January 1887 and the building was consecrated by the first Bishop of Newcastle, Ernest Roland Wilberforce, on 16th October 1888.