We welcome all visitors from abroad and local towns and villages to the Parish Website for the Roman Catholic Church of St. Joseph.
St. Joseph's Catholic Church is situated in the small village of Murton, County Durham in England.
A local newspaper at the time of the opening of the church read "A GREAT DAY FOR THE ROMAN CATHOLICS OF MURTON" the new £50,000 church of St Joseph for which they have been striving for many years was blessed and opened by the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle and the Rt. Rev. James Cunningham. More than 70 priests from all parts of the diocese were in the procession as the Bishop, watched by hundreds of parishioners, went around the whole exterior of the church, and then the interior giving it his blessing. St. Joseph's, a large church by any standards, with a seating capacity of 400, was designed by Mr. A. Rossi and built by Findlay of Ryhope during the incumbency of Father A. McShane. His predecessor, Father Daniel Keane, was responsible for the planning and preparation necessary for the building of the Church. The marble altar in three colours cost £658.
The church, built on a sloping site, enabled the architect to include in the design a crypt at the south end which is used as a parish centre. Twenty steps which lead to the main entrance have the unusual feature of being electrically heated to prevent the formation of ice in cold weather - a facility never used before. Before the building of the present church the Murton Catholics worshipped in a "tin church" erected on the same piece of land where the new church stands. Two reminders from those days of the temporary chapel are the stained glass in the south window and the wooden altar in the Lady Chapel. St Joseph's was re-ordered with the high Altar cut and re-built to create a tabernacle pedestal and a new Altar. The church was decorated and carpeted. The church was re-ordered again in October 2001, with a new Altar, Carpet, Tabernacle and stand, Lectern, chair, new lighting system, re-decoration and more.
A new beige Altar, lectern, chair and tabernacle pedestal were put into place a week before the consecration of the new Altar, which took place on Wednesday 21st November 2001.
Other moderations included; new lighting system, carpets throughout, redecoration, removing of pulpit and Altar Rails and a new tabernacle.
