Between 1841 and 1881 the population of Washington almost quadrupled as a result of expanding industry, and many of the population were Irish and Catholic. In the 1860s Fr Brown of Houghton-le-Spring established a school and Mass centre at Washington and Fr Cambours was appointed the first resident priest in 1866.
A site for a new church was purchased, apparently with the assistance of Mr Newall of the Washington Chemical Company. The design by Dunn & Hansom of Newcastle provided for a cruciform church but the proposed north transept was never built. The main building material was stone from the local quarries of Springwell and Coxgreen. The contractor was Mr G. S. Forster of Washington, while the stone carving was by Mr Roddis of Birmingham. Until about 1881, the name of the church was St Joseph and St Aloysius.
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