Founded in 1879 St George’s has been serving the parish of Fatfield, in Washington for 140 years. Fatfield is made up of five urban villages built around the coal mining communities of the area, The nature of Washington means it reaches and serves people well beyond its parish.
The Victorian church, originally built to serve those mining communities has no hall but is currently fundraising to add a community annexe onto the south side of the church. The church was built in the Early English Gothic style consisting of a chancel, nave, north transept, south porch, and a slender, spiral belfry, together with a font which bore the arms of the Lambton, Lumley, Hedworth and D'Arcy families. It was to seat 300 people. The material used was red brick with stone dressings. It cost £5000 and was provided by Earl of Durham. With support from community fundraising efforts a church hall; a former RAF building from nearby Usworth aerodrome, was erected in 1947. The hall was an integral feature in the lives of the community, which unfortunately had to be pulled down in 1974 due to a fire and was never replaced.
In the nave there is a substantial WWI memorial window as well as a roll of honour and war memorial.
Further alterations were made to the church from 1985 to the present day. Despite the limitations of space, the church runs numerous community focussed groups and when possible, hires out facilities. While the church has been modernised inside, it remains a calm and spiritual place to visit.
