Church of St Paul, Shipley

Church of St Paul, Shipley
A low-angle shot of a stone church with the chancel foremost, and the tower in the background
Church of St Paul, Shipley
53°50′02″N 1°46′57″W / 53.8339°N 1.7826°W / 53.8339; -1.7826
OS grid referenceSE143375
LocationShipley, West Yorkshire
CountryEngland
DenominationChurch of England
WebsiteChurch website
History
StatusActive
DedicationSt Paul
Consecrated1 November 1826
Architecture
Functional statusParish church
Architect(s)John Oates
StylePerpendicular
Years built1823–1826
Groundbreaking5 November 1823
Specifications
Capacity1,488 (when built)
Bells8
Tenor bell weight15 long tons (15 t)
Administration
DioceseDiocese of Leeds
ArchdeaconryBradford
DeaneryAire and Worth
BeneficeShipley St Paul
ParishShipley
Clergy
Vicar(s)Henriette Howarth
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated24 June 1976
Reference no.1133546

The Church of St Paul, Shipley is a parish church in the town of Shipley, West Yorkshire, England. It is the only Anglican church in the benefice of Shipley St Paul. Prior to a church being built in the town, worshippers were expected to go to the Church of St Peter in Bradford. The church was opened in 1826, and consecrated in November of the same year. It is now a grade II listed structure. It was the only Anglican church in the town until a new parish of St Peter was created in 1910.

History

The settlement of Shipley was only a small village at the turn of the 19th century with a population of 2000,[1] and there being no Anglican church, worshippers were expected to go to the Church of St Peter in Bradford on foot or horseback as Shipley was in the Parish of Bradford.[2][3] Initially, the church and the funds for it were approved under the Church Building Act 1818 (58 Geo. 3. c. 45),[4] with a projected cost of £7,961, but with alterations, it actually cost in the region of £12,000 (equivalent to £1,244,000 in 2023) by 1825/1826.[5][6] The five-year interval between the church being authorised in 1818 and the foundation stone being laid in 1823, made the church one of the last to be built under that Act of Parliament.[7] The Church of St Paul was designed by John Oates, and built between 1823 and 1826, with the foundation stone being laid on 5 November 1823.[8][9] The Church of St Matthew in Wilsden, built in 1826, and demolished in 1962, was identical to St Pauls in Shipley being designed by the same architect.[10][11]

The church is in the Perpendicular style, which was fashionable at the time, and was provided with 1,488 seats, of which 332 were free seats.[12][9] A survey conducted by Bishop Bickersteth in 1858 showed a return stating St Paul's had a total of 1,460 seats, of which 640 were free, but Shipley was one of the larger churches in the region, and even though the charge for a pew was 21 shillings per year, this still generated an income of £80 per annum.[13] The church has a west tower with eight bells, a nave, a shorter and lower level chancel and two west porches.[14][15] Each side of the tower has a clock face, but the east facing clock is 12 feet (3.7 m), whereas the other three sides are all 9 feet 9 inches (2.97 m).[16] The tower is square with three stages and a doorway on the west side.[17]

The 1-acre (0.40 ha) of land made available for the construction of the church was donated by a local landowner, and the stone for its construction came from local quarries.[18][19][3] The land had been enclosed only in 1815, and up until the act on enclosure, it was a tract of moorland stretching out towards what is now Cottingley.[20] When the church was built, the adjacent road was called Moor Lane or Church Road, but at some point, the name was changed to Kirkgate.[21][22] The stained glass window in the chancel was completed in 1860, when the final seven panels, which were vacant pervious to 1860, were installed showing several saints below those of Jesus and other saints. The work was undertaken by Francis Barnett of Leith at a cost of £300.[23]

The first organ in the church was fitted in 1829,[24] but the current one was installed in 1892, being built by J. Binns of Bramley, Leeds.[25] The organ is recognised as being of national interest, and is registered by the British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS) with a grade II certificate.[26][27] The bells and clock were restored in 1912, and an opening ceremony was performed by the Bishop of Knaresborough.[28] The bells have been described as being "..a splendid peal of musical bells, whose mellow tones are heard to great advantage..."[29] The Ring O' Bells public house at the western end of Kirkgate is so named on account of it being in a place to adequately hear the bells of the church.[30] A listing from 1879 describes eight bells, with the tenor bell weighing 15 long tons (15 t).[31][32]

The church was renovated in the 1870s when a pulpit was added and some of the pews removed. It was renovated again in 1970 when toilets and a kitchen were added.[33] National Lottery funding paid for repairs to the south slope and the north slope of the nave in 2015 and 2018 respectively.[34] The church was grade II listed in 1976.[17]

Churchyard

In the 1950s, gravestones in the uppermost original graveyard were taken down and laid around the church providing pathways. Some of the graves in the lower graveyard were also taken down, but the inscriptions were recorded.[35] Two of the graves are registered with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).[36] The gates and gate piers which face onto Kirkgate are grade II listed.[37]

A separate burial ground at Hirst Wood (53°50′06″N 1°48′14″W / 53.835°N 1.804°W / 53.835; -1.804) was consecrated in 1895, and was considered an extension of St Paul's graveyard.[38][39]

Parish and benefice

The church is the parish church for St Pauls, Shipley, and is the only named church within the Benefice of St Paul's, Shipley.[40] Shipley St Paul's is one of 598 parishes in the Diocese of Leeds.[41] Historically, the parish was created as Shipley-cum-Heaton, but Heaton was created as an ecclesiastical parish in 1865, and another parish, Shipley St Peter, was created in 1910.[42] In 1983, the parishes of Shipley and Frizinghall were united as one benefice, however, this was rescinded in 1998 when the parishes separated.[43][35]

When the parish of St Pauls was created, it was in the Diocese of York. It moved into the Archdeaconry of Craven and the Diocese of Ripon in 1836,[14][44] and then into the newly-created Diocese of Bradford in 1919.[45][46] By 2014, when diocesan reform took place in Yorkshire, it was moved into the Diocese of Leeds.[47]

Clergy

Interior of church
Vicars of St Pauls[48][49][50][51][52][53]
Year Incumbent Year Incumbent
1828 Richard Horsfall ♦ 1936 William John Perrett
1828 Thomas Newberry 1954 John Keys Fraser
1845 William Kelly † 1964 Philip Harry Green
1884 William Pearson 1978 John Richard Henson
1890 Arthur William Cribb 1992 John R. Poole
1914 Bernard Herklots 1997 Colin R. Penfold
1918 Noel Harding Jolly 2008 Susan M. Hope
1930 Evan Basil Alban 2017 Henriette Howarth
  • ♦ Interim vicar until the first appointed vicar took up their post[54]
  • † Died in office

All are listed as reverend, apart from Susan Hope who was a reverend canon. Some vicars later became canons, but all were reverends during their tenure at Shipley apart from Hope.[48][55] Although the church was consecrated in November 1826, the first vicar was not appointed until 1828 as a parish council had not been convened. In the interim, the Reverend Richard Horsfall officiated until Thomas Newberry arrived in 1828.[56] Howarth's appointment in 2017 was made after the choir had made a musical video appeal for a new vicar.[57]

References

  1. ^ "Celebration at St Paul's Shipley". Bradford Daily Telegraph. 1 November 1926. p. 8.
  2. ^ St Pauls 2016, p. 3.
  3. ^ a b Firth, Gary; Davies, Keith (1983). Shipley & Windhill in times past. Chorley: Countryside Publications. p. 8. ISBN 0-86157-088X.
  4. ^ Lawton, George (1840). Collections relative to churches and chapels within the Diocese of York. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 115. OCLC 1472866652.
  5. ^ "Genuki: York Parish Registers, The Million Act Churches, Yorkshire". genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  6. ^ Speight, Harry (1891). "Shipley". Through Airedale from Goole to Malham. Leeds: Walker & Laycock. p. 142. OCLC 5824116.
  7. ^ Harding Jolly 1926, p. 9.
  8. ^ Webster, Christopher; Brandwood, Geoff (2022). Late-Georgian churches: Anglican architecture, patronage and churchgoing in England, 1790-1840. London: John Hudson Publishing. p. 287. ISBN 978-1-7398229-0-3.
  9. ^ a b James, John (1841). The history and topography of Bradford. London: Longman, Green & Son. p. 373. OCLC 235925790.
  10. ^ "Wilsden Conservation Area Assessment" (PDF). bradford.gov.uk. Bradford Metropolitan District Council. March 2004. pp. 10–11. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  11. ^ Ames, Daryl (23 August 2023). "Historian unveils new notice board about former church in Bradford village". Bradford Telegraph and Argus.
  12. ^ Spencer, John (1999). West Yorkshire Towns and Villages. Wilmslow: Sigma. p. 110. ISBN 1850586470.
  13. ^ Royle, Edward, ed. (2009). Bishop Bickersteth's visitation returns for the Archdeaconry of Craven, Diocese of Ripon, 1858. Heslington: Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York. pp. xxvii, 80. ISBN 9781904497264.
  14. ^ a b Kelly, E. R., ed. (1881). Kelly's Directory of West Riding of Yorkshire, 1881. [Part 2: Places L-Y]. London: Kelly's Directories. p. 1,332. OCLC 1131686669.
  15. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus (2003) [1959]. Ratcliffe, Enid (ed.). The buildings of England, Yorkshire; the West Riding (2 ed.). London: Yale University Press. p. 482. ISBN 0-300-09662-3.
  16. ^ Harding Jolly 1926, p. 30.
  17. ^ a b Historic England. "Church of St Paul, Shipley (Grade II) (1133546)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  18. ^ Harding Jolly 1926, p. 7.
  19. ^ Lawton, George (1840). Collections relative to churches and chapels within the Diocese of York. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 46. OCLC 1472866652.
  20. ^ Wroot, H. E. (1909). "Shipley in 1800". The Bradford Antiquary (New Series XII). Cullingworth: Bradford Historical and Antiquarian Society: 230. ISSN 0955-2553.
  21. ^ "View map: Ordnance Survey, OS town plan - Shipley - sheet CCI.11.9 - Ordnance Survey Town Plans of England and Wales, 1840s-1890s". maps.nls.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  22. ^ Harding Jolly 1926, p. 11.
  23. ^ "Stained glass; Shipley". The Builder. XVIII (921): 629. 29 September 1860. OCLC 2942596.
  24. ^ "St Paul's Church, Shipley". The Leeds Intelligencer and Yorkshire General Advertiser. Vol. lxxvii, no. 3, 933. 19 November 1829. p. 3. OCLC 17722490.
  25. ^ "Organ specifications: Shipley St Paul". London & Provincial Music Trades Review (177). London: G. Ernest: 31. 15 May 1892. OCLC 43618964.
  26. ^ Meneaud, Marc (8 November 2008). "Church bids to restore organ". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  27. ^ "NPOR | The National Pipe Organ Register". npor.org.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  28. ^ "St Paul's, Shipley". Bradford Weekly Telegraph. No. 5448. 29 March 1912. p. 4. OCLC 751652946.
  29. ^ "Opening the new organ at Shipley". The Hull Packet and Humber Mercury. No. 2348. 17 November 1829. p. 3. OCLC 20030995.
  30. ^ Firth, Gary; Davies, Keith (1983). Shipley & Windhill in times past. Chorley: Countryside Publications. p. 37. ISBN 0-86157-088X.
  31. ^ Troyte, J. E. Acland (1879). The change-ringers' guide to the steeples of England. London: W. Wells Gardner. p. 75. OCLC 163624213.
  32. ^ Harding Jolly 1926, p. 28.
  33. ^ "Shipley St Paul | National Churches Trust". www.nationalchurchestrust.org. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  34. ^ "Church of St Paul, Kirkgate, Shipley - Bradford | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  35. ^ a b St Pauls 2016, p. 7.
  36. ^ "Shipley (St Paul) Churchyard". cwgc.org. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  37. ^ Historic England. "Gates and Gate Piers to Church of St Paul (Grade II) (1133547)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  38. ^ Harding Jolly 1926, p. 25.
  39. ^ Clayton, Emma (16 June 2024). "Meet the grave restorers unearthing family stories in a Bradford cemetery". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  40. ^ "St Paul's Church". achurchnearyou.com. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  41. ^ "Parishes in Leeds Diocese". parishgiving.org.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  42. ^ Youngs, Frederic (1991). Guide to the local administrative units of England volume II: Northern England. London: Offices of the Royal Historical Society. pp. 556, 606. ISBN 0861931270.
  43. ^ "No. 49266". The London Gazette. 15 February 1983. p. 2228.
  44. ^ Royle, Edward, ed. (2009). Bishop Bickersteth's visitation returns for the Archdeaconry of Craven, Diocese of Ripon, 1858. Heslington: Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York. p. v. ISBN 9781904497264.
  45. ^ "No. 31656". The London Gazette. 25 November 1919. p. 14302.
  46. ^ St Pauls 2016, p. 5.
  47. ^ Davies, Madeleine. "Leeds: a superdiocese comes of age". The Church Times. pp. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  48. ^ a b "The Vicars of Shipley". stpaulsshipleyhistory.org.
  49. ^ Mitchinson, James, ed. (5 May 2017). "Parish children's video prayer for vicar who tells jokes is answered". The Yorkshire Post. p. 6. ISSN 0963-1496.
  50. ^ "Resignations and retirements". The Church Times. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  51. ^ Austin-Clarke, Perry, ed. (10 March 2009). "Town's new priest to be licensed". Telegraph & Argus. p. 10. ISSN 0307-3610. She succeeds the Reverend Colin Penfold who was vicar for 11 years....
  52. ^ "Local & District news". Telegraph & Argus. Vol. xxxii, no. 4967. 22 July 1884. p. 2. OCLC 500337597. The vicarage of St Paul's Shipley, vacant by the death of Rev. Kelly....
  53. ^ "A visit to Doncaster". The Musical Times. 46 (748). Berkhamsted: Musical Times Publications: 321, 372, 628. June 1905. OCLC 609886802.
  54. ^ Harding Jolly 1926, p. 13.
  55. ^ Stanford, Mark (7 May 2017). "Vicar to be installed at church after success of junior choir's internet appeal". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  56. ^ "The Church of St Paul Shipley" (PDF). stpaulsshipleyhistory.co.uk. p. 13. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  57. ^ "Singing job advert attracts new vicar to West Yorkshire". BBC News. 4 May 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2024.

Sources

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