St Peter, Leeds, West Yorkshire
As with the metropolis in which it sits, Leeds Parish Church is extensive, grand, interesting, and probably not instantly likeable. But like the city alone, the church soon reveals its friendliness and idiosyncrasies to them as are well prepared to consider it as they locate it.
St Peter is one particular of the wonderful urban parish church buildings of England. Development commenced in 1837, a few weeks following the accession of the young Queen. It was the very first main developing project in the freshly produced Diocese of Ripon, which experienced been carved out of the Archdiocese of York, and what a venture it was. At first it was planned as a huge repair service job on the 14th Century church which beforehand stood on this website. The architect was Robert Chantrell. Nevertheless, it grew to become clear to Chantrell that a complete rebuilding was vital, and so it transpired. The new church was completed in time for opening in 1841. The expense was a minimal small of £30,000, about 6 million in modern revenue, which would not feel a good deal but of study course labour was proportionately so a great deal less costly then than today. And not only was St Peter the initial excellent church of the Victorian era, it was also the most significant church constructed in England for far more than a century, considering that Sir Christopher Wren’s St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
The building went up at the behest of the Vicar of Leeds, Walter Hook. Famously, his sole instruction to Chantrell was that the church should be ‘big ample to maintain as a lot of people today as possible’. But this is no preaching barn, due to the fact Hook was an early follower of the Oxford Movement, and his church was meant to provide a sacramental area as nicely as an evangelising 1, which clarifies its entirely Gothic design – Hook and Chantrell were being rejecting the protestant-desired Classical types of the early 19th Century. In fact, as effectively as St Peter, Hook’s major legacy to 19th Century Leeds would be the suburban mission church buildings in the Substantial Church tradition which he planted in the poorer regions of the town.
Among the the congregation for the opening on 2nd September 1841 was Edward Pusey, one particular of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Also there that working day was an additional early adherent to the Movement, the 20 year outdated Florence Nightingale.
To see the church that Chantrell designed you need to have to stand on the sanctuary ways hunting west, with your back to the altar, for George Street refashioned the east conclusion in the 1870s in the thorough Higher Church vogue of that time, with marble by Salviati of Venice and his have reredos. The glass earlier mentioned is gathered Flemish glass. Your most important perception hunting into the nave will be of hefty darkish wood, for the 1841 St Peter was in essence nevertheless a merchandise of the Georgian period, and it retains its elaborately carved galleries on three sides of the nave, as properly as an monumental pulpit which sweeps superior up into area. Of great interest as well is the stained glass in the south aisle and west close, for like the woodwork it extensively predates the ecclesiological movement that the up coming ten years or so would convey.
The church is cruciform, but this is not straight away obvious mainly because of the way transepts and aisles have been hived off for use as chapels and the like. The terrific tower sits earlier mentioned the north transept, which kinds an entrance region. The chancel aisle to the east of it sorts a war memorial chapel, the outer north nave aisle now is made up of a cafe. Inspite of the sizing of the church, the woodwork and divisions can make it appear to be instead a cluttered area.
Walter Hook lies in effigy atop a tomb in the north chancel chapel in the medieval manner. Indeed, if you didn’t know, you may well consider him for a 14th Century prelate. But there are in actuality a couple of survivals which predate the Victorian church, including the painted Hardwick tomb of the late 17th Century on the south facet of the chancel.
In 2011, St Peter was rebadged as Leeds Minster, but before long just after this the Diocese of Ripon was submerged alongside with the Dioceses of Bradford and Wakefield into the newly shaped Diocese of Leeds in 2014. The new Diocese, the greatest in England, at this time has three cathedrals of equal position at Ripon, Bradford and Wakefield, but there are lengthy time period designs for a new cathedral in the fantastic city at the coronary heart of the Diocese, and as component of these it is regarded as that Leeds Minster, Leeds Parish Church as was, could possibly take on the status of a professional-cathedral.
This, I believe, would be a pity, for this amazing regenerated town warrants some thing improved, a thing big and wholly new that would be as considerably a beacon for 21st Century Anglicanism as St Peter was for the 19th Century. Leeds is a single of the largest metropolitan areas in Europe with out a Cathedral for its nationwide church – Dublin and Berlin also spring to intellect. No, that new Cathedral requires to be elsewhere in the town centre. As the role of Anglicanism in English culture shifts and adjustments, so St Peter results in being a lot less practical as a flagship, and warrants to return to the muscular, sleeves-rolled-up parochial operate for which Walter Hook meant it.
Posted by Simon Knott on 2017-11-08 06:44:29
Tagged: , Leeds , Minster , west , yorkshire , nikon , d5300 , yorks
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