Todmorden Unitarian Church is a Unitarian church located in Honey Hole Road,

Todmorden Todmorden ( ; ) is a market town and civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Manchester, south-east of Burnley and west of Halifax. In 2011 it had a population of 15,481. Todm ...

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 ...

, England (). Built in honour of John Fielden, a local mill owner and a social reformer, the church was completed in 1869. It was declared redundant in 1987 and came under the care of the

Historic Chapels Trust The Historic Chapels Trust is a British Registered Charity set up to care for redundant non- Anglican churches, chapels, and places of worship in England. To date, its holdings encompass various nonconformist Christian denominations and Rom ...

. Since 2008, regular services have been held in the building, but it remains in the care of the Trust. The church 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, a ...

as a designated Grade I

listed building 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 ...

Early history

The Unitarian movement originated in Todmorden in the early 19th century, and one of their prominent members was John Fielden, a local mill owner and a social reformer, who later became a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

. Because of his work, Fielden has been nicknamed "Honest John". The Unitarians built their first chapel and school in 1823 and the congregation steadily increased in size. Fielden died in 1849. After his death the Unitarian community continued to grow and the chapel became inadequate for their needs. In 1865 building of a new church started. This was built in memory of John Fielden and paid for by his three sons, Joshua, John (junior) and Samuel. It was built on land they owned at Honey Hole. "Money was no object to these brothers" and the resulting building, costing over £35,000 (equivalent to £ in ), was large and splendid, and was built using the best quality materials. The church was completed in 1869 and at its opening service in April of that year the first

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. ...

was preached to a congregation of 800 by

William Gaskell William Gaskell (24 July 1805 – 12 June 1884) was an English Unitarian minister, charity worker and pioneer in the education of the working class. The husband of novelist and biographer Elizabeth Gaskell, he was himself a writer and poet, and ...

, widower of the novelist Elizabeth Gaskell. A lodge (or gatehouse) was built at the same time as the church.

Architecture

Structure

The church was designed by John Gibson. Gibson had previously worked for the Fielden family and had designed Dobroyd Castle for John Fielden (junior) on the opposite side of the valley. It is constructed in stone with a slate roof. Its plan consists of a seven- bay

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

s, a single-bay

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

, a porch, and a large tower with a spire. It is in

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style. At the west end is an elaborate rose window and at the east end is a five-light window. The nave windows have two lights with traceried heads. Along the nave wall are buttresses and a string course carved with flowers. The tower is in three stages with angle

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

es and two-light bell openings. Its lowest stage forms an open porch. On top of the tower are pinnacles and an octagonal spire containing tall

lucarne In general architecture a lucarne is a term used to describe a dormer window. The original term french: lucarne refers to a dormer window, usually set into the middle of a roof although it can also apply to a façade lucarne, where the gable of t ...

s. Internally the arcades consist of pointed arches carried on

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

shire

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

columns.

Fittings and furniture

The choir stalls and pews are carved with

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support the ...

and have poppyheads. The pulpit is constructed in differing coloured marbles. The font has a carved white marble bowl. In the chancel window is stained glass by Jean-Baptiste Capronnier of

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

that depicts scenes from the life of Christ. There are memorial tablets to the founders of the church in the aisles. Also in the aisles are gas brackets that have been converted to electricity, and there are candelabras in the choir stalls. There is a

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

of eight bells, all cast in 1868 by Mears and Stainbank of the

Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells ...

. Also in the tower is a clock and a carillon. Tod Uni Church Bells

Later history and present day

The Unitarian congregation continued to thrive into the 20th century but, as the century progressed, its size declined and it became increasingly difficult to raise funds to keep the church going. It finally closed in 1987. Services continued to be held in the lodge, but these ended in 1992. After the church closed its fabric deteriorated due to a combination of decay and vandalism. It was acquired in 1994 by the Historic Chapels Trust. The Trust has carried out a £1 million programme of repairs. These have included repair of the church roofs, stained glass, clock and peal of bells, restoration of the lodge and the interior of the tower, and the installation of a new heating system, toilets and kitchen. The surrounding historic landscape, including the burial ground, have also been restored. Services began again in 2008 and continue. The church is licensed for weddings. The church is still listed as a member of the

General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (GAUFCC or colloquially British Unitarians) is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christians, and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom and Irelan ...

, the

umbrella organisation An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

for British Unitarians. It is currently the location of regular meetings of the Incredible Edible Todmorden project.

Associated buildings

The church is set on a steep slope, surrounded by ornamental gardens, and has a wooded, landscaped burial ground. The lodge associated with the church is a Grade II listed building. It is in a single storey and constructed in stone with a slate roof. Its plan is T-shaped, the projecting wing having two steep

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s, a Gothic-style doorway, and a canted

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. Types Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or ...

. The original Unitarian chapel and Sunday school in Wellfield Terrace is also listed Grade II. It also has a burial ground, and this contains the grave of John Fielden.

References

{{List of Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist churches, state=autocollapse Grade I listed churches in West Yorkshire Churches completed in 1869 19th-century churches in the United Kingdom 19th-century Protestant churches Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in West Yorkshire Former churches in West Yorkshire Churches preserved by the Historic Chapels Trust Unitarian chapels in England Buildings and structures in Calderdale Todmorden 1869 establishments in England