ALSTON HISTORY

As long ago as the 13^th century the monks of Hexham recorded the state of the bridge over the River South Tyne at Alston. It was evidently in their care as landowners of the area and they refer to the Pons de Aldenstoun in their deeds as being in need of repair. Resistance to the religious reforms of the sixteenth century was fairly widespread in the area and Belted Will of Naworth, a well-known Catholic recusant, was imprisoned in the Tower of London for his religious beliefs. Christopher Robinson and John Boste, two priests from the area, were put to death for their priesthood, the former in Carlisle and the latter in Durham. During John Boste’s execution a man called Musgrave from Alston objected to the ill-mannered behaviour of some of the bystanders saying John was a man of integrity. Fr Henry Morse SJ was captured in 1644 near Alston by Parliamentary soldiers marching on Carlisle and was ordered to be sent to Durham for cross-examination. As it was late in the evening he was lodged over-night at the house of a local justice of the peace whose wife, sympathising with the Catholics, was prepared to aid his escape in spite of the dire penalties involved in helping a priest. Morse joined other Catholics in the town who were on the run and for six weeks managed to avoid recapture. Eventually he was recognised at a house where the group were seeking directions. There was no escape now. He was sent to London via Newcastle and executed at Tyburn.

The rebellions of 1715 and 1745 had the effect of increasing hostility towards Catholics as they were suspected of favouring the Stuart cause. There were priests serving the Catholic community of North Cumbria in the 18^th century and we know the names of several of them – Thomas Roydon, George Carter, Thomas Wytham, Thomas Warwick – but their activities were severely curtailed by the ferocity of the penal laws. Our Lady’s parish in Carlisle was founded in 1798. It covered a vast area from Annan in Scotland to Penrith to the south, but it ended at Warwick Bridge to the east and Alston was not within the boundaries of any Catholic parish at this time. The very remoteness of the town was not in its favour as far as communication was concerned and it was not until the 1930s when transport facilities were much improved that arrangements for Mass to be said on a regular basis were made.

That Mass was celebrated at all, was due to the initiative of one George Chapman. Born in 1873 at Caldbeck he married, raised a family, had his children baptised in Wigton and moved to Glenridding to work as a miner until he was 56 years of age. In 1932 he moved to Nenthead, five miles from Alston, and finding other Catholics in the vicinity wrote to Fr Reid of Penrith asking him to celebrate Mass in the area. In 1936 Bishop Wulstan Pearson of Lancaster administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to a small group of Catholics (the eldest being a man of  76 years) in George Chapman’s cottage in Garrigill. Mass was on a monthly basis only and celebrated in a variety of places, most frequently in the house of the local doctor in Alston, Dr Hassan.

In 1950 Fr Hill of Penrith, together with Dr Hassan, and aided by a generous donation from a parishioner who had moved to Northern Ireland, purchased a 17^th century building in the centre of Alston which had served as the local gaol. This was converted into a chapel and arrangements were made to have Mass celebrated each week. In 1953 the responsibility for Alston was given to Our Lady’s, Carlisle. Fr Hill had been given other responsibilities that made it impossible for him to go to Alston weekly. Our Lady’s had five priests at the time, and in winter the road to Alston was more likely to be passable from Carlisle than over Hartside from Penrith. In September that year the church was dedicated by Mgr Smith the parish priest of Our Lady’s, the Bishop being indisposed. Fr Hill said the first Mass and 300 Catholics were present, overflowing into the street outside. The following year Bishop Flynn came to unveil a memorial plaque, to the right of the present sanctuary, commemorating Bishop Wulstan Pearson who had done so much to ensure that the small Catholic community had a church of their own.

As a young man George Basil Hume used to visit his aunt who was the matron of the local cottage hospital and formed an attachment for the town. He later became a Benedictine monk of Ampleforth Abbey and eventually the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. In 1993 he accepted an invitation to celebrate with the parishioners the 40^th anniversary of the dedication of the chapel.

Worthy also of note is the close relationship the Alston Catholics enjoy with the Methodist community. Their church of St Paul’s was in need of extensive repairs and in 1997 they were invited to use St Wulstan’s for their own Sunday morning worship, thus furthering the cause of Christian Unity.

Arrangements are in hand to fittingly celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the church’s dedication in September 2003.