---
title: "St Columba, North Shields"
description: "Located in North Shields, Tyne & Wear. Built 1856–57; wings late C19; hall rebuilt c.1925. Grade II. Italianate style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","United Reformed Church","Tyne & Wear","North Shields","Grade II","Italianate","John Dobson"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/st-columba-north-shields"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T02:24:49.463Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-07T20:34:12.391Z"
location: "North Shields, Tyne & Wear"
country: "England"
county: "Tyne & Wear"
town: "North Shields"
address: "Northumberland Square, North Shields, Tyne & Wear, NE30 1PW"
postcode: "NE30 1PW"
built: "1856–57; wings late C19; hall rebuilt c.1925"
architect: "John Dobson"
denomination: "United Reformed Church"
dedications: ["Columba"]
grade: "II"
style: "Italianate"
materials: "Prudham sandstone ashlar, red brick, Welsh slate roofs"
website: "http://northshieldsurc.org.uk/"
openingHours: "Open on Tuesdays 10am to 1pm."
listEntryUrl: "https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1355010"
gridReference: "NZ 356 685"
accessNotes: "Non-accessible toilets in church. Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets in church"
---

# St Columba, North Shields

St Columba’s United Reformed Church is a Grade II building on Northumberland Square, North Shields, known as the Church in the Square.

## Overview

Historic England records a former New United Presbyterian church of 1856 to 1857 by John Dobson, with late-nineteenth-century wings and an early-twentieth-century hall, in Italianate style. The main block is two storeys and five bays of Prudham sandstone ashlar, rusticated and quoined on the ground floor, with a Doric colonnade to the first-floor windows and a balustraded parapet. Brick east and west wings and a hall facing Norfolk Street were added later.

The foundation stone was laid on 20 October 1856 by William Shaw Lindsay, MP for Tynemouth; the church opened on 27 December 1857 with a sermon by the Revd John Ker of Glasgow. It was built by James and Matthew Robson of North Shields at a cost of nearly £2,500 and seated 660. An organ by Forster and Andrews of Hull was installed about 1884. The Howard Street and Northumberland Square Presbyterian congregations united in 1949; in 1972 the congregation became part of the United Reformed Church. The listing notes stained glass by Leonard Evetts and woodwork by Robert Thompson of Kilburn.

## Further Information

- [Historic England list entry 1355010](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1355010)
- [St Columba’s URC](http://northshieldsurc.org.uk/)
- [Church history](https://northshieldsurc.org.uk/about/church-history/)