Leeds Minster, or the Minster and Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds (formerly Leeds Parish Church) is the

minster church Minster is an honorific title given to particular churches in England, most notably York Minster in Yorkshire, Westminster Abbey in London and Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire. The term ''minster'' is first found in royal foundation charte ...

of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It stands on the site of the oldest church in the city and is of architectural and liturgical significance. A church is recorded on the site as early as the 7th century, although the present structure is a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

one, designed by Robert Dennis Chantrell and completed in 1841. It is dedicated to Saint Peter and was the Parish Church of Leeds before receiving the honorific title of "Minster" in 2012. It has been designated a Grade I listed building by Historic England.

History

The building

A church at ''Ledes'' is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, although it is likely that there had been a church on the same site for much longer, as evidenced by the fragments of Anglo-Scandinavian stone crosses (known as the

Leeds Cross 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 populatio ...

) found on the site during the construction of the current church. The church was rebuilt twice, after a fire in the 14th century, and again in the 19th century.

Walter Farquhar Hook Walter Farquhar Hook (13 March 1798 – 20 October 1875), known to his contemporaries as Dr Hook, was an eminent Victorian churchman. He was the Vicar of Leeds responsible for the construction of the current Leeds Minster and for many ecc ...

, Vicar of Leeds from 1837 until preferment as Dean of Chichester in 1859 was responsible for the construction of the present building, and of the revitalisation of the Anglican church throughout Leeds as a whole. The architect was Robert Dennis Chantrell. It was originally intended only to remodel the church in order to provide space for a larger congregation. In November 1837 a scheme was approved under which the tower would have been moved from the crossing to the north side, the chancel widened to the same breadth as the nave, and the north aisle roof raised. When work began, however, it was discovered that much of the structure was in a perilous condition, and it was decided to replace the church completely. The new building was the largest new church in England built since Sir Christopher Wren's

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

erected after the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...

and consecrated in 1707. The new parish church was rebuilt by voluntary contributions from the townspeople at a cost of over £29,000 and consecrated on 2 September 1841. Florence Nightingale and Dr Edward Bouverie Pusey were among the congregation and Dr Samuel Sebastian Wesley played the organ. The east end was altered between 1870 and 1880. The parish church became Leeds Minster in a ceremony on Sunday 2 September 2012, on the 171st anniversary of the consecration of the building. Leeds is one of three minster churches in the county of West Yorkshire, the other two being

Dewsbury Minster Dewsbury Minster, the Minster Church of All Saints is the parish church in Dewsbury, Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. It dates from the 13th century and was rebuilt in 1895. It is situated on Vicarage Road and Church Street in the centre of t ...

and

Halifax Minster 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 ...

; there are two cathedrals in the county, Bradford Cathedral and Wakefield Cathedral, and Ripon Cathedral, in North Yorkshire, is in the Anglican Diocese of Leeds.

The parish

The rambling parish of Leeds covered an area of 21,000 acres. It included in it the out-townships of Allerton, Armley, Beeston, Bramley, Farnley,

Gipton Gipton is a suburb of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, between the A58 to the north and the A64 to the south. It is in the Gipton and Harehills ward of Leeds City Council and the Leeds East parliamentary constituency. The separate area a ...

, Headingley,

Holbeck Holbeck is an inner city area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It begins on the southern edge of Leeds city centre and mainly lies in the LS11 postcode district. The M1 and M621 motorways used to end/begin in Holbeck. Now the M621 is the o ...

, Hunslet and Wortley; Adel and Whitkirk were separate parishes. On founding the Benedictine Priory of the Holy Trinity, York in 1089

Ralph Paynel Ralph Paynel or Paganel ( fl. 1089) was an 11th-century Norman, a landowner, partisan of William II of England, and sheriff of Yorkshire. He was the son of Ralph Paynel (also known as Ralph de St. John; Ralph de Brehal; Ralph de Moulins; Ralph de ...

granted it the right to appoint the priest and collect the tithes from the parish of Leeds. Over years, many out-townships established local

chapels of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a 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. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...

to save parishioners the trek to the parish church: Bramley's, founded by monks at Kirkstall Abbey, may have been first, followed by Farnley's from about 1240, Beeston's from 1597, Headingley's from 1616, and Armley and Wortley's from 1649. In the town itself, the parish church was supplemented by St John's Church on New Briggate in 1634 and

Holy Trinity Church Holy Trinity Church may refer to: Albania * Holy Trinity Church (Berat), Berat County * Holy Trinity Church, Lavdar, Opar, Korçë County Armenia * Holy Trinity Church, Yerevan Australia * Garrison Church, Sydney, South Wales, also known as ''H ...

on Boar Lane in 1727 (both of which remained in the Parish of Leeds). The nineteenth century saw a large number of new Commissioners' Churches built throughout the parish.David Thornton, ''Leeds: A Historical Dictionary of People, Places and Events'' (Huddersfield: Northern Heritage Publications, 2013), s.v. ''PARISH(ES)''. Following the

English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...

, the right to appoint the parish's priest passed between different owners until 1588, when a group of parishioners bought it, putting it in the hands of Leeds's people. A proposal in 1650 to divide the parish came to nothing, but in 1826 St. Mark's Church in Woodhouse gained its own parish district and in 1829 St Stephen's 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 ...

followed suit. However, in the 1840s two parliamentary acts provided for the creation of a wave of parishes: the Spiritual Care of Populous Parishes Act of 1843 and Walter Hook's the Leeds Vicarage Act of 1844. Under the former act were created the parishes of St. Andrew's (1845); St. Philip's (1847); Holy Trinity, Meanwood (1849); All Saints (1850); St. John's, Little Holbeck (1850); St. Matthew's, Little London (1851); St. Jude's, Hunslet (1853); St. John's, Wortley; St. Michael's, Buslingthorpe; St. Matthias's, Burley; St Barnabas, Little Holbeck (1854). Under the latter act were created the parishes of St John's Church, Briggate (1845); St. Saviour's (1846); St. Mary's, Hunslet (1847); and St. Michael's, Farnley (1851).

Architecture

Cruciform in plan, the minster is built in

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 ...

stone with

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roofs, in an imitation of the English Gothic style of the late 14th century, a period of transition from the Decorated to the Perpendicular. The church is long and wide, its tower rising to . The chancel and nave each have four bays of equal length with

clerestories In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

and tall aisles. The tower is situated at the centre of north aisle. Below the tower on the north side is the main entrance. The tower has four unequal stages with panelled sides and corner buttresses terminating in crocketed turrets with openwork battlements and crocketted

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...

s. The clock was made by Potts of Leeds.

Furnishings, fittings, glass and treasures

The windows exhibit Perpendicular tracery and there is a five-light east window from 1846 containing glass collected on the continent. At the east end the sanctuary has a marble arcade with

mosaics A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

by Salviati of Venice, and the

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 ...

is made of coloured marble and alabaster by

George Edmund Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccle ...

. A peal of 13 bells was cast by Mears in 1842. These bells were then recast into the current peal by John Taylor of Loughborough in 1932. The tenor bell weighs . The

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, parts of which date from 1841 and earlier, is essentially a

Harrison and 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 ...

of 1914 vintage, but incorporating significant amounts of pipework by

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 restored in 1927 and 1949 by Harrison and Harrison; in 1965 by Wood, Wordsworth and in 1997 by Andrew Carter. The restoration of the blowing plant and refurbishment of the blower house were undertaken in 1997 by Allfab Engineering of

Methley Methley is a dispersed village in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, south east of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is located near Rothwell, Oulton, Woodlesford, Mickletown and Allerton Bywater. The Leeds City Ward is called Kippax a ...

. Among many artefacts and memorials in the Minster are the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

(an Anglian cross to the south of the marble pavement known as the altar flat) the pieces of which were discovered in 1838 when the medieval church was demolished. There is also a brass commemorating

Captain Oates Lawrence Edward Grace "Titus" Oates (17 March 188017 March 1912) was a British army officer, and later an Antarctic explorer, who died from hypothermia

of Scott's

Antarctic expedition This list of Antarctic expeditions is a chronological list of expeditions involving Antarctica. Although the existence of a southern continent had been hypothesized as early as the writings of Ptolemy in the 1st century AD, the South Pole was no ...

, who had Leeds connections. Flemish stained glass enhances the apse of Chantrell's interior – he designed the windows to fit the glass – and of more recent date (1997) is Sally Scott's Angel Screen at the north tower porch entrance, an example of contemporary glass engraving and a gift from the family of

Lord Marshall of Leeds Frank Shaw Marshall, Baron Marshall of Leeds KBE (26 September 1915 – 1 November 1990) was a British lawyer and politician who was a member of the House of Lords from 1980 until his death in 1990. Biography Marshall was born in Wakefield ...

. The Christopher Beckett memorial and most of the architectural sculpture is by

Robert Mawer Robert Mawer (Nidderdale 1807 - Leeds 10 November 1854) was an architectural sculptor, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. He specialised in the Gothic Revival and Neoclassical styles. He created the Neoclassical keystone heads on St Geo ...

.''Leeds Times'', Saturday 18 November 1854 p5: The late Mr Mawer", and p.8: "Deaths"
Outside in the churchyard, facing out onto Kirkgate, is the

Leeds Rifles War Memorial The Leeds Rifles War Memorial is a First World War memorial outside Leeds Minster on Kirkgate in Leeds, West Yorkshire in northern England. The memorial was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, one of 15 instances of his War Cross and the only one com ...

, which was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and unveiled on 13 November 1921. It is separately a grade II listed building.

Minster

St Peter, Leeds Parish Church - East end - geograph

The Minster and Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds is in the Diocese of Leeds (which has its cathedrals at Ripon, Wakefield and

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

), in the ''Parish of Leeds City'' along with the

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

Church of

Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

, Boar Lane and the congregation of St Mary's Lincoln Green worshipping weekly in the Hall of St Peter's Church of England Primary School, Cromwell Street, Burmantofts. The minster is at the easternmost extremity of the city centre, within a precinct bordering two of the city's oldest thoroughfares – Kirkgate (now part of the Inner City Loop Road) to the north, and The Calls to the south. Another ancient pathway, High Court Ings, connects the western precinct with High Court. The Reverend Canon Sam Corley is the Priest-in-Charge and Rector-Designate of Leeds Minster, he was licensed at Leeds Minster on 6 October 2015 Work with young people undertaken by the parish includes ''The Market Place'' drop-in centre. During choir terms there are at least three choral services each week sung by an adult chamber choir of skilled volunteers and choral scholars drawn from Leeds and York Universities as well as Leeds College of Music. There is a weekly organ recital from September to July inclusive on Fridays at 12.30pm, featuring the resident organists and guest recitalists. Leeds Minster is a member of the

Greater Churches Group The Major Churches Network, founded in 1991 as the Greater Churches Network, is a group of Church of England parish churches defined as having exceptional significance, being physically very large (over 1000m2 footprint), listed as Grade I, II* ( ...

. Its mission and vision for future service to the city, the diocese and the Church of England are a constant care and concern of those who seek to serve the church and parish.

Sir John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...

in a BBC Broadcast remarked that: "There's High Church, Low Church and Leeds Parish Church". The church is illuminated at night by floodlights donated by Tetley's brewery. The building is open to visitors for at least seven hours each day. Parishioner volunteers serve refreshments and light meals in the refectory in the City of Leeds Room constructed in the north-west aisle in 1975. The Minster archives are held at the Leeds office of

West Yorkshire Archive Service West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

. The church has memorials to families who were prominent in the parish, including the Kitchingman, Fenton, Lodge, Milner, Cookson, and Ibbetsons.

Present

On 2 September 2012 Leeds Parish Church became a minster; it may be designated the pro-cathedral of the new Diocese of Leeds if the diocesan bishop so decides.

Vicars of Leeds from 1220 and Rectors of Leeds from 1991

''This list is incomplete'' ;Vicars * Hugo 1220 * Alanus de Shirburn 1242 * Johannes de Feversham 1250 * Galfridus de Sponden 1281 * Gilbertus Gaudibus 1316 * Alanus de Berewick 1320 * William Brunby * William Mirfield 1392 * Johannes Snagtall 1391 * Robert Presselew 1408 * Robert Newton * William Saxton 1418 * Johannes Herbert 1424 * Jacobus Baguley * Thomas Clarell,Data from the 'Collectio Rerum Ecclesiasticarum' from the year 1842
from the original book published by George Lawton in 1842, accessed 7 November 2020 1430 * William Evre B.D. 1470 * Johannes Frazer (Bishop of Ross) 1482 * Matrinus Collins 1499 * Robert Wranwash B.A. 1500 * William Evre 1508 * Johannes Thompson * Johannes Thornton * Christopher Bradley 1556 * Alexander Fawvett 1559 * Robert Cooke B.D. 1590 * Alexander Cooke B.D. 1615 * Henry Robinson B.C. 1632 * Peter Saxton M.A. 1646 * William Styles M.A. 1652 * Johannes Lake D.D. 1661 * Marmaduke Cooke D.D. 1663 * Johannes Milner B.D. 1677 * Johan. Killingbeck B. D. 1690 * Josephus Cookson M.A. 1715 * Samuel Kirshaw D.D. 1746 * Peter Haddon M.A. 1786 * Richard Fawcett M.A. 1815 – founder of The Choir of Leeds Parish Church *

D.D. 1837 (formerly vicar of

Holy Trinity Church, Coventry Holy Trinity Church, Coventry, is a parish church of the Church of England in Coventry City Centre, West Midlands, England. Above the chancel arch is an impressive Doom wall-painting. History The church dates from the 12th century and is t ...

, later Dean of Chichester Cathedral) *

James Atlay James Atlay (3 July 1817 – 24 December 1894) was an English churchman, Bishop of Hereford from 1868 to 1894. Life James Atlay was born in Wakerley, Northamptonshire, the son of Henry Atlay (Rector of Great Casterton) and Elizabeth Rayner Hovel ...

D. D. 1859 (later

Bishop of Hereford The Bishop of Hereford is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury. The episcopal see is centred in the Hereford, City of Hereford where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is in the Hereford Cathedr ...

) * Canon James Russell Woodford D.D. 1868–1873 (later

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with a section of nort ...

) * John Gott 1873–1885 (later Chaplain to the Bishop of Ripon; Dean of Worcester Cathedral from 1885; afterwards Bishop of Truro) *

Francis John Jayne Francis John Jayne (1 January 1845 – 23 August 1921) was a British bishop and academic. Born in Pant-y-beiliau, Gilwern, Llanelli, Jayne was the eldest son of John Jayne, a colliery owner and his second wife, Elisabeth Haines. He was edu ...

1886–1888; afterwards Bishop of Chester *

Edward Stuart Talbot Edward Stuart Talbot (19 February 1844 – 30 January 1934) was an Anglican bishop in the Church of England and the first Warden of Keble College, Oxford. He was successively the Bishop of Rochester, the Bishop of Southwark and the Bishop of Wi ...

1888–1895 (later

Bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was foun ...

then Bishop of Southwark and, finally

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except dur ...

Edgar Charles Sumner Gibson Edgar Charles Sumner Gibson (23 January 1848, Fawley, Hampshire, England - 8 March 1924, Fareham) was the 31st Bishop of Gloucester. He was born into a clerical family. His father was a clergyman and his son Theodore Sumner Gibson Theod ...

1895–1905 (later Bishop of Gloucester) * Samuel Bickersteth 1905–1916 then Canon and later Librarian of

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

Bernard Oliver Francis Heywood Bernard Oliver Francis Heywood (1 March 1871March 1960) was a bishop in the Church of England. Family and education Heywood was born into a distinguished ecclesiastical family, the sixth son of Henry Robinson Heywood, priest and honorary canon of ...

1916–1926 (subsequently

Bishop of Southwell __NOTOC__ The Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham in the Province of York.''Crockford's Clerical Directory'', 100th edition, (2007), Church House Publishing. . The ...

, later

Bishop of Hull The Bishop of Hull is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of York, England. The suffragan bishop, along with the Bishop of Selby and the Bishop of Whitby, assists the Archbishop of York in overseeing t ...

and finally

) * Canon William Thompson Elliott 1926–1938 (later Canon of Westminster) * Canon

Wilfred Marcus Askwith Wilfred Marcus Askwith (24 April 1890 – 16 July 1962) was the 2nd Bishop of Blackburn who was later translated to Gloucester. Born in Hereford and educated at Hereford Cathedral School, Bedford School ''Who Was Who 1897–2007''. London, A & ...

1938–1942 (later Bishop of Blackburn, then Bishop of Gloucester * Canon

Arthur Stretton Reeve (Arthur) Stretton Reeve (11 June 1907 – 27 January 1981) was Bishop of Lichfield from 1953 until 1 December 1974. Early life and education Born into an ecclesiastical family, son of The Reverend Arthur Reeve and his wife Violet Inez Reeve was e ...

MA 1943–1953 (later Bishop of Lichfield) * Canon C B Sampson 1953–1961 (formerly vicar of Maidstone, later Canon Residentiary of Ripon Cathedral) * Canon William Fenton Morley 1961–1971 (later Dean of Salisbury) * Canon Ronald Graham Gregory Foley 1972–1982 (later

Bishop of Reading The Bishop of Reading is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford, which is within the Province of Canterbury, England. The current bishop of Reading is Olivia Graham (formerly Arc ...

and Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of York) * Canon James John Richardson OBE 1982–1988 (subsequently Secretary of the Council of Christians and Jews, Rector of

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

and, currently – in retirement – Canon Pastor of Sherborne Abbey, Dorset. Edward David Murfet, later Minor Canon at Ripon Cathedral was Priest-in-Charge prior to the establishment of the Parish of Leeds City in 1990 ;Rectors of Leeds from 1991 * Canon Stephen John Oliver (born 1947) 1991–1997 (later Precentor of

, then Bishop of Stepney until 2010) * Canon Graham Charles Morell Smith 1997–2005 (later

Dean of Norwich The Dean of Norwich is the head of the Chapter of Norwich Cathedral in Norwich, England. The role is vacant since Jane Hedges' retirement on 1 May 2022. List of deans Early modern *1538–1539 William Castleton (last prior) *1539–1554 J ...

) * Canon Anthony Francis Bundock 2005–2014. (later House for Duty Priest at Lacey Green, St John the Evangelist in the Princes Risborough Team Parish, Diocese of Oxford. * The Reverend Canon Charles Dobbin MBE Rector of the Moor Allerton Team Ministry took office as Interim Priest at Leeds Minster in November 2014 and undertook that work until September 2015. * The Reverend Canon Sam Corley was licensed as Rector-designate and Priest in Charge of the Parish of Leeds City on Tuesday 6 October 2015 at 7.30 pm. Canon Corley was installed as an Honorary Canon of Ripon Cathedral at Evensong in Ripon on Sunday 11 October.

Music

St Peter, Leeds Parish Church - Window - geograph

Leeds Minster has a long choral history. The Boys' and Men's Choir sang services on an almost daily basis until 2015, with a separate Girls' Choir founded by Jonathan Lilley in 1997. Organists from 1842 include Samuel Sebastian Wesley 1842–1849, Dr

Edward Bairstow Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow (22 August 18741 May 1946) was an English organist and composer in the Anglican church music tradition. Life and career Bairstow was born in Trinity Street, Huddersfield in 1874. His grandfather Oates Bairstow was ...

1906–1913, Dr Alfred Melville Cook 1937–1956, Dr Donald Hunt OBE 1957–1975, and Dr

Simon Lindley Simon Lindley (born 10 October 1948) is an English organist, choirmaster, conductor and composer. He was Leeds City Organist from 1976 to 2017 (named City Organist Emeritus in Summer 2017) and is Organist Emeritus of Leeds Minster, having been o ...

who came to Leeds after service at St Albans Cathedral and churches in the City of London. Organist and Master of the Music 1975–2016 and only the ninth musical incumbent since Wesley's day, Lindley remained organist at Leeds Town Hall until Summer 2017 when his place there as City Organist, Host of the Organ series and Organ Curator, has been taken by Darius Battiwalla. Paul Dewhurst, previously Organist of Pontefract Parish Church ( St Giles), succeeded as Director of Music at Leeds Minster from November 2016. Dewhurst is also conductor of Hull Choral Union and Wakefield Festival Chorus and moved to Bridlington Priory as Director of Music in January 2020. He was succeeded at Leeds by Alexander Woodrow, with David Houlder remaining in post as Sub-Organist, a position he has held since moving to Leeds from Liverpool Cathedral in 2003. Following the suspension of boy and girl choristers in 2015, the present Choir of Leeds Minster is an adult chamber choir of approximately two dozen voices, consisting of skilled volunteer singers alongside a complement of choral scholars (undergraduates from the Universities of Leeds and York and

Leeds College of Music 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 populatio ...

) and supernumerary singers. During term time, Evensong is sung by the full choir on Thursday evenings as well as the two fully choral services each Sunday. A semi-professional adult chamber choir,

Saint Peter's Singers of Leeds Saint Peter's Singers (SPS) is a chamber choir associated with Leeds Minster, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England that celebrated during the Season 2017/2018 the fortieth anniversary of the choir's formation by Harry Fearnley in 1977. An anniversary ...

founded in 1977 meets for rehearsals on Sunday evening during term time and presents regular concerts as well as singing at a number of choral services each season both with the Minster Choir and on their own as a separate unit. The Minster Choir has been associated with the Royal School of Church Music since the early 1930s through links with RSCM's founder Sir Sydney Nicholson and with churchwarden Herbert Bacon Smith. Previous Organist Simon Lindley was one of the RSCM's longest-serving special commissioners and has directed RSCM courses on four continents.

Organ concerts

Friday lunchtime organ recitals are held weekly between September and July, featuring both the Minster's professional organists and a wide array of guest recitalists. Sunday evening concerts have taken place weekly in August since the restoration of the instrument was completed.

Organists

*1842 Dr Samuel Sebastian Wesley (afterwards organist at Winchester Cathedral and

Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishment of a minster dedicated to S ...

) *1849 Robert Senior Burton (afterwards organist at St. Peter's Church, Harrogate) *1880 Dr William Creser (afterwards organist of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal

St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Altho ...

*1891 Alfred Benton (afterwards organist of Covington Roman Catholic Cathedral, Kentucky USA) *1906 Dr

(from Wigan Parish Church, afterwards organist and master of the choristers of York Minster) *1913 Willoughby Williams (afterwards organist of St Peter's Episcopal Church,

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

, California, USA) *1920 Dr Albert Charles Tysoe (afterwards organist of St Albans Cathedral) *1937 Dr (Alfred) Melville Cook (afterwards organist and master of the choristers of

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Hereford in Hereford, England. A place of worship has existed on the site of the present building since the 8th century or earlier. The present building was begun in 1079. S ...

and conductor of the

Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester) and originally featu ...

) *1957 Dr Donald Frederick Hunt OBE (afterwards master of the choristers and organist of Worcester Cathedral and conductor of the

) *1975 Dr Simon Geoffrey Lindley (from St Albans Cathedral) – President of the Royal College of Organists, 2000–2002 – Vice-President, from 2003; President of the Incorporated Association of Organists, 2003–2005. *2016 Paul Dewhurst from St Giles' Church Pontefract: from 1 November 2016 *2020 Alexander Woodrow (from Solihull School and St. Alphege's Parish Church, Solihull, formerly Organist and Director of Music at Bradford Cathedral)

Samuel Sebastian Wesley 200th Anniversary Celebrations

The 200th-anniversary celebrations for Samuel Sebastian Wesley, born 14 August 1810, began with Festal Evensong on Sunday 4 July 2010 followed by a Gala Choral Recital. Worship on Sunday 15 August was broadcast on BBC Radio Four. Dr Lindley gave a commemorative recital of Wesley's organ music in the evening and a commemorative recital of music by Wesley at Leeds Town Hall on 13 September.

Rugby league

A rugby league team from Leeds Parish Church joined the Northern Rugby Football Union (now Rugby Football League) in 1896. Leeds Parish Church played for five seasons from 1896–97 to 1900–01 after which it withdrew.

References

External links

Leeds Minster WebsiteLooking at buildings: from the Pevsner Architectural GuidesRSCM WebsiteSimon Lindley Website
( Dr. Simon Lindley previous Director of Music)
St Peter's Singers WebsiteLeeds Minster organ recitals
{{Listed buildings in Leeds Grade I listed churches in Leeds Church of England church buildings in West Yorkshire Anglican Diocese of Leeds Churches completed in 1841 Rebuilt churches in the United Kingdom 19th-century Church of England church buildings Gothic Revival architecture in Leeds