page_title: Newcastle Cathedral
section_title: Music
hierarchical_section_title: Newcastle Cathedral / Music
caption_attribution_description: English: St Nicholas Cathedral, Newcastle - Organ
context_page_description: The Cathedral Church of St Nicholas is a Church of England cathedral in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Newcastle and is the mother church of the Diocese of Newcastle, the most northerly diocese of the Anglican Church in England, which reaches from the River Tyne as far north as Berwick-upon-Tweed and as far west as Alston in Cumbria.
  Founded in 1091 during the same period as the nearby castle, the Norman church was destroyed by fire in 1216 and the current building was completed in 1350, so is mostly of the Perpendicular style of the 14th century. Its tower is noted for its 15th-century lantern spire. Heavily restored in 1777, the building was raised to cathedral status in 1882, when it became known as the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas.
context_section_description: The cathedral has a strong tradition of music. In 1503, the thirteen-year-old Princess Margaret, daughter of Henry VII and engaged to marry James IV of Scotland, while passing through Newcastle on her way north, noted in her journal a number of children in surplices "who sang melodious hymns, accompanying themselves with instruments of many sorts". Later, the baroque composer Charles Avison (1709–1770) was organist and choirmaster at the church.
  The cathedral choir has been featured on BBC Radio 3's Choral Evensong, and has performed with the Northern Sinfonia at The Sage Gateshead. They have also recorded a number of CDs.
  The cathedral is home to a fine organ, a four-manual Grand Organ built by T C Lewis, although rebuilt several times since, notably by Harrison & Harrison in 1911 and 1954 and by Nicholson & Co. of Worcester in 1981.
caption: The T C Lewis — Harrison — Nicholson organ at Newcastle Cathedral.
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