St Bartholomew's Church, Armley is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

Armley Armley is a district in the west of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It starts less than from Leeds city centre. Like much of Leeds, Armley grew in the Industrial Revolution and had several mills, one of which houses now the Leeds Industrial ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

. The church is one of two Church of England churches in Armley; the other being Christ Church. Worship at St Bartholomew's is firmly rooted in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England with a solemn mass being celebrated weekly.

History

The first chapel at Armley was built in 1630 but not consecrated by Richard Sterne,

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

, until 1674. In 1737 it was extended to the north, the roof was raised and a small balcony was added at the west end. In 1825 the chapel was much enlarged through the benevolence of

Benjamin Gott Benjamin Gott (24 June 1762 – 14 February 1840) was one of the leading figures in the industrial revolution, in the field of textiles. His factory at Armley Mills, Armley, Leeds, was once the largest factory in the world and is now home to the ...

, a local industrial businessman with woollen mills in Leeds. A new church was built starting in 1872 to designs by the architects Henry Walker and Joseph Althron of Leeds, and is now a Grade II* listed building. It was consecrated in 1877 but the tower was not dedicated until 1904. The church is constructed of Horsforth sandstone. The old chapel was demolished in 1909.

List of vicars

*George Metcalfe, 1766-91 *Richard Fawcett, 1791-1815 *Thomas Barber, 1815-22 *Charles Clapham, 1822-48 *David Hartley *Frederick George Hume Smith, 1877-1906 * James Buchanan Seaton 1906–09 (later

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 now ...

, 1928–38) *

Ralph Creed Meredith Ralph Creed Meredith, M.A., (7 October 1887 – 10 January 1970) was an Anglican cleric who succeeded Edward Keble Talbot as Chaplain to His Majesty, King George VI and afterwards Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In New Zealand he was president ...

1914–17 (later Vicar of

St John the Baptist Church, Windsor St John the Baptist Church is a parish church in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is dedicated to St John the Baptist. The church was rebuilt in Gothic Revival style in 1822. It is the civic church of Windsor, and many Mayors of Wi ...

, 1940–58, and Chaplain to

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

and

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

, 1946–52) * Lovell Clarke 1923–33 (previously Vicar of

All Saints' Church, Nottingham All Saints' Church, Nottingham, is an Church of England, Anglican church in Nottingham, England. The church is Grade II listed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as it is a building of special architectural or historic inter ...

and subsequently

Archdeacon of Leeds The Archdeacon of Leeds, previously Archdeacon of Ripon, is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Leeds. As such he or she is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within the four deaneries (Allerton, Armley, ...

) * William Johnston 1949-56 (later

Archdeacon of Bradford The Archdeacon of Bradford is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Leeds. The archdeaconry was originally created within the now-defunct Diocese of Bradford by Order in Council on 25 February 1921. As Archdeacon she or he is resp ...

and then

Bishop of Dunwich The Bishop of Dunwich is an episcopal title which was first used by an Anglo-Saxons bishop between the 7th and 9th centuries and is currently used by the suffragan bishop of the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. The title takes its name af ...

) *Norman Ernest (Norry) McCurry 1963–73 *Owen Conway, 1973-81 *Nicholas Plant, 1982-92 *Timothy Lipscomb, 1992-2005 *Ian Wright, 2006-14 *Michael Wood, 2016–2022

Features

The

Caen stone Caen stone (french: Pierre de Caen) is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen. The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about ...

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

erected in 1877 has

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that includes ...

carvings, representing the

Magi Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin ''magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius th ...

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

and

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

figures.

John Wormald Appleyard John Wormald Appleyard (10 September 1831 – 14 January 1894) (active 1851–1893) was a British sculptor and monumental mason based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. He was sixteen years old when his apprenticeship as a stone carver was cur ...

was present at the

consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on 24 August 1877, listed alongside the architects Henry Walker and Joseph Athron who designed the building and reredos. Since no other stone carver is credited for this work, it is reasonable to suppose that it could be the work of Appleyard. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

is of alabaster and marble, designed by architect Thomas Armfield after the pulpit at the shrine of

Sebaldus Sebaldus (or Sebald) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary to Germany in the 9th or 10th century. He settled down as a hermit in the '' Reichswald'' near Nuremberg, of which city he is the patron saint. According to legend, Sebaldus was a hermit and a mi ...

St. Sebaldus Church, Nuremberg St. Sebaldus Church (''St. Sebald'', ''Sebalduskirche'') is a Medieval era, medieval church (building), church in Nuremberg, Germany. Along with Frauenkirche, Nuremberg, Frauenkirche (Our Lady's Church) and St. Lorenz, Nuremberg, St. Lorenz, it i ...

. It was carved originally by

Mawer and Ingle Mawer and Ingle was a company of architectural sculptors, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, between 1860 and 1871. It comprised cousins Charles Mawer (born 1839) and William Ingle (1828–1870), and Catherine Mawer (1804–1877) who was ...

for the former St Bartholomew's Church, on the occasion of its 1861 restoration, then moved along with the font and the old tomb memorials to the new building after the consecration. There is a sculpture by Joseph Gott at the west end of the north aisle, a memorial to

of Armley House who died in 1839. In the south aisle there is ''Faith comforting the Mourner'', commemorating the two sons of Benjamin and Elizabeth Gott who died in Paris and Athens. Benjamin Gott's son

William Gott Lieutenant-General William Henry Ewart Gott, (13 August 1897 – 7 August 1942), nicknamed "Strafer", was a senior British Army officer who fought during both the First and the Second World Wars, reaching the rank of lieutenant-general while s ...

was interred in the family vault in the former St Bartholomew's Church.

Organ

The church is perhaps best known for its organ. It was built by the German builder

Edmund Schulze Heinrich Edmund Schulze (26 March 1824 - 13 July 1878) was a German organ builder. He was the last of five generations of the Schulze family to build organs, starting with Hans Elias Schulze (1688–1762), Edmund's great-great-grandfather. He die ...

. It was originally installed in

Meanwood Towers Meanwood is a suburb and former village in north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The area sits in the Moortown ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds North East parliamentary constituency. Origins and history The name Meanwood goes back t ...

in 1869. In 1877 it was inaugurated in St. Peter's Church, Harrogate. Following a dispute with the vicar, the organ was installed in St. Bartholomew's in 1879. It was rebuilt in 1905 by

James Jepson Binns James Jepson Binns (c. 1855–11 March 1928) was a pipe organ builder based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Organs Pipe organs at the following locations were either built or rebuilt by James Jepson Binns or his JJ Binns company. A number of ...

and other restoration work took place in 1956 by

Hill, Norman and Beard William Hill & Son & Norman & Beard Limited (commonly known as Hill, Norman and Beard) were a major pipe organ manufacturer originally based in Norfolk. History They were founded in 1916 by the merger of Norman and Beard and William Hill & Sons ...

, 1974 by John T. Jackson and Son and 2004 by

Harrison & Harrison Harrison & Harrison Ltd is a British company that makes and restores pipe organs, based in Durham and established in Rochdale in 1861. It is well known for its work on instruments such as King's College, Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, and the R ...

. The organ has been awarded a Grade II* listing by the

British Institute of Organ Studies The British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS) is a British organisation and registered charity which aims to promote study and appreciation of all aspects of the pipe organ. Further, it acts as a lobbying body to raise awareness of organ issue ...

for organs which are good representatives of the work of their builder, in substantially original condition. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

Organists

*1862–1868:

John Varley Roberts John Varley Roberts (25 September 1841 - 9 February 1920) was an English choirmaster, organist and composer. He spent most of his career at Magdalen College, Oxford. Life Family and early years John Varley Roberts was born on 25 September 1 ...

''Dictionary of Organs and Organists''. Frederick W. Thornsby (afterwards organist of

Halifax Parish Church Halifax Minster is the minster church of Halifax, Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. The church is dedicated to St John the Baptist. Formerly the parish church of the town, it was granted minster status in 2009. Halifax Minster is one of thr ...

) *1878–1921: Thomas Cawthra *1921–1924: Thomas E Pearson (afterwards organist of

) *1924–1937: Herbert Bardgett (afterwards chorusmaster of

Nottingham Harmonic Society Nottingham Harmonic Society is Nottingham's civic choir, and has established itself as one of the leading provincial choruses in Britain. It started life as the Vocal Music Club of the Nottingham Mechanics' Institution under the direction of Alfre ...

) *1937–1938: John B Dalby (afterwards organist of

St Machar's Cathedral St Machar's Cathedral usually called Old Machar (Scottish Gaelic: Cathair-eaglais Naomh Machar), (or, more formally, the Cathedral Church of St Machar) is a Church of Scotland church in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is located to the north of the c ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

) *1938–1939: Donald H Martin *1939–1940: Eric Whiteside *1940–1953: W Iles Pulford *1953–1955: Alan A Tranah *1955–1962: John J F Watkins *1962–1966: John Snow *1966–1973: Anthony Norcliffe (later organist of

St Chad's Church, Far Headingley St Chad's Church, Far Headingley is the parish church of Far Headingley in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The church is Grade II* listed in Gothic Revival style. The dedication is to Chad of Mercia, who was bishop of York and died in AD 672. It ...

and currently

Mill Hill Chapel Mill Hill Chapel is a Unitarian church in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians. The building, which stands in the centre ...

) *1973–1986: Arnold Mahon *1986–present: Graham Barber

References