St. Stephen's Church is a

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 ...

church in

Kirkstall Kirkstall is a north-western suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, on the eastern side of the River Aire. The area sits in the Kirkstall ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds West parliamentary constituency, represented by Rachel Reeves. Th ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. The church has been

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

since 5 August 1976.

Location

The church is located on Morris Lane in Kirkstall. The church sits on high ground overlooking

Kirkstall Abbey Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in Kirkstall, north-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire, England. It is set in a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded ''c.'' 1152. It was disestablished during ...

History

Construction started in 1828 and the church opened in 1829 having been built by architect

Robert Dennis Chantrell Robert Dennis Chantrell ( Newington, Surrey 14 January 1793 – Norwood, 4 January 1872) was an English church architect, best-known today for designing Leeds Parish Church, now Leeds Minster. Early life Chantrell was born in Newington, Sou ...

, architect o
Leeds Parish Church
The church was restored and extended between 1863 and 1864 by architects Perkin and Backhouse of Leeds, with further alterations made in 1874 by Henry Walker.

Architectural style

Exterior

The church is built to a gothic revival style of hammer-dresses

gritstone Gritstone or grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for pa ...

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

and has a slate roof. The nave has five lancet windows. The church has a west tower of three stages with a spire and clock.

Interior

There is a six-bay nave. The original chancel had two bays; this has been extended to three. There is a wooden reredos depicting saints and a carved square wooden pulpit. The east window is Christ in Glory flanked by

St Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

and

St Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

. Carvings dating from the 1864 renovation are by

Burstall and Taylor Benjamin Burstall (15 October 1835 – 14 January 1876) was a sculptor, architectural sculptor and stone carver, based in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Background His father was master mariner and ship owner Nathaniel Burstall ( Hull ...

of Leeds, who executed label stop heads, carved corbels and the font.''Leeds Intelligencer'', Saturday 13 August 1864 p5 col3: Reopening of St Stephen's Church, Kirkstall
/ref>

Church hall

The church has a separate church hall of mid-twentieth century construction with a barrelled roof. This is not listed. St Stephen Kirkstall 003.jpg, The church prior to 1914. St Stephen Kirkstall 002.jpg, Interior prior to 1914. St Stephen's Church Hall - Norman Street - geograph.org.uk - 665500.jpg, St. Stephen's Church Hall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkstall, St. Stephen's Church of England church buildings in West Yorkshire Grade II listed buildings in West Yorkshire Anglican Diocese of Leeds St Stephen's Church