Old St Matthew's Church, Lightcliffe, is a former church in the village of

Lightcliffe Lightcliffe is a village in the Calderdale district in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated approximately three miles east of Halifax and two miles north west of Brighouse. Lightcliffe was a ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England, of which only the tower remains. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

as a designated Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, and is under the care of the

Friends of Friendless Churches Friends of Friendless Churches (FoFC) is a registered charity formed in 1957, active in England and Wales, which campaigns for and rescues redundant historic places of worship threatened by demolition, decay, or inappropriate conversion. As ...

History

The original building on the site was a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

called Eastfield Chapel, which was built in 1529. This was damaged during the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, and repaired in 1536. The chapel was rebuilt as a church in Neoclassical style in 1775, and designed by William Mallinson of Halifax. It was replaced in the late 19th century by a new church a short distance away. The old church was then used as a

mortuary chapel A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of ...

. It was severely damaged by a storm in the 1960s and its fabric deteriorated and the church suffered from vandalism. The

Bishop of Wakefield The Bishop of Wakefield is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. The title was first created for a diocesan bishop in 1888, but it was dissolved in 2014. The Bishop of Wakefield is ...

wanted to have the whole church demolished. After negotiation, it was agreed that the diocese would pay for the demolition of the body of the church, while the Friends of Friendless Churches would be responsible for financing the repair and restoration of the tower. The Friends were granted a 99-year lease on the tower on 1 January 1974. The repair work was carried out by Marshalls of

Elland Elland is a market town in Calderdale, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. It is situated south of Halifax, by the River Calder and the Calder and Hebble Navigation. Elland was recorded as ''Elant'' in the Domesday Book of 1086. It ha ...

and it was supervised by the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

expert Dr

John Harvey John Harvey may refer to: People Academics *John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician *John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture a ...

. Further repairs were carried out in 1990 at a cost of £5,800. The church is the subject of a painting by Yorkshire artist

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

Architecture

The tower is square in cross-section and constructed in hammer-dressed stone with

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

dressings. On the west face is a round-headed window with a circular window above. At

belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

level is inscribed stone taken from an earlier church on the site. At the top of the tower is an octagonal

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

with a ball

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

. Inside the tower are an inscribed stone dated 1529, benefaction boards, and a monument from 1830 designed by

Richard Westmacott Sir Richard Westmacott (15 July 17751 September 1856) was a British sculptor. Life and career Westmacott studied with his father, also named Richard Westmacott, at his studio in Mount Street, off Grosvenor Square in London before going to R ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lightcliffe, Old St Michael's Church Grade II listed churches in West Yorkshire Churches preserved by the Friends of Friendless Churches Churches completed in 1775 18th-century Church of England church buildings Neoclassical architecture in Yorkshire Former churches in West Yorkshire Neoclassical church buildings in England