Bradford Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter, is an Anglican

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

in Bradford,

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, one of three co-equal cathedrals in the Diocese of Leeds alongside

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...

and

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

. Its site has been used for Christian worship since the 7th century, when missionaries based in Dewsbury evangelised the area. For many centuries it was the

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, ...

of St Peter and achieved cathedral status in 1919. The cathedral is a

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 ...

Background

The first church on the site was believed to have been built in Anglo-Saxon times and fell into ruin during the

Norman Invasion The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...

in 1066. A second church was built around 1200. The first mention of the parish of Bradford as distinct from being part of the parish of Dewsbury appears in the register of the Archbishop of York in 1281. Alice de Lacy, widow of Edmund de Lacy, one of the descendants of Ilbert de Lacy, gave a grant to the parish of Bradford that is recorded in the register of the Archbishop Wickwayne. Around 1327, Scottish raiders burnt down most of this stone church. During the 14th century the church was rebuilt and some of the older masonry may have been used in the reconstruction of the

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 ...

. The construction of the third church was completed in 1458. The tower in the

Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It ca ...

style was added to the west end and finished in 1508. A clerestory was added by the end of the 15th century. Proprietary chapels were founded, on the north side of the chancel by the Leventhorpe family, and on the south by the owners of

Bolling Hall Bolling Hall (December 25, 1767 – February 25, 1836) was a United States Representative from Georgia. He was born in Dinwiddie County, Virginia. He served in the American Revolutionary War at the age of 16. After the war, he moved to Hanc ...

. In 1854

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 ...

carved a new reredos in

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 ...

for the church. There is a photograph of it in the church archive. This reredos was lost during the 1950s rebuild by Edward Maufe. Originally in the

Diocese of York The Diocese of York is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. It covers the city of York, the eastern part of North Yorkshire, and most of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The diocese is headed by the ...

, the church was in the

Diocese of Ripon The Diocese of Ripon (Diocese of Ripon and Leeds from 1999 until 2014) was a former Church of England diocese, part of the Province of York. Immediately prior to its dissolution, it covered an area in western and northern Yorkshire as well as ...

before becoming a cathedral in 1919, when the

Diocese of Bradford The Diocese of Bradford is a former Church of England diocese within the Province of York. The diocese covered the area of the City of Bradford, Craven district and the former Sedbergh Rural District now in Cumbria. The seat of the episcopal ...

was created; it became one of three co-equal cathedrals of the new Diocese of Leeds upon its creation on 20 April 2014. The building was extended in the 1950s and 1960s by

Edward Maufe Sir Edward Brantwood Maufe, RA, FRIBA (12 December 1882 – 12 December 1974) was an English architect and designer. He built private homes as well as commercial and institutional buildings, and is remembered chiefly for his work on places ...

. The east end of the cathedral is Maufe's work, as well as the two west wings which contain the Song Room and Cathedral offices. In his east end extension he reused the Morris & Co. stained glass from the old east window. There is Victorian stained glass throughout the building including at the west end, where there is a window showing women of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

, and stained glass in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

memorial window dating from 1921. The many wall monuments include a sculpture by

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several ye ...

. In 1987 the nave and west end were re-ordered to accommodate a growing number of visitors. The roof panelling was cleaned and restored, and new lighting was installed. To enable flexibility of use, the Victorian

pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thirt ...

s were replaced by chairs. The nave organ was removed to give more light and space at the west end, and a Bradford Computer Organ was installed, complementing the pipe organ in the choir with loudspeakers in the nave, though this is no longer in use. At the beginning of the 21st century, the cathedral authorities decided to develop a museum of religion in St Peter's House (built in the 19th century as Bradford's main

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

). The visitor numbers were much lower than expected, and the project collapsed, leaving the cathedral in debt, from which it was discharged in 2007. St Peter's House is now owned by a South Asian arts group, Kala Sangam. The cathedral is set in a small conservation area which includes the close to its north. The close provides modern housing for the

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

and canons residentiary, the bishop's official residence, ''Bishopcroft'', being in Heaton, approximately from the city centre. The cathedral and its predecessors were built on the shelf of alluvial land that had formed on the outside of the bend where Bradford Beck turns north, but the town grew up on the lower ground on the other side of the beck, so the church was always just outside the centre of town. In the 19th and 20th centuries the cathedral was partly hidden from the centre by buildings, first by the post office just below it, and subsequently by the 1960s developments of

Forster Square Forster Square in central Bradford was redeveloped in the (2006) Broadway development, but gives its name to Bradford Forster Square railway station and a retail park. History Forster Square was laid out in the late-19th century at the bott ...

and Petergate. The latter areas were demolished in 2006, leaving the cathedral more visible than for many years prior to the completion of the Broadway Centre in 2015. File:Exterior of Cathedral.jpg, Exterior of the cathedral File:The clerestory.jpg, Pre-reformation font cover, and the clerestory File:The nave inside the Cathedral.jpg, The nave inside the cathedral

Dean and chapter

As of 4 September 2022: *

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

– Andy Bowerman (since 19 June 2022) *Acting Canon Precentor – Pete Gunstone (since 19 September 2022) *Interim Canon Missioner – Ned Lunn (since 17 October 2022

Music

Bradford Cathedral has long been a place of music. During term-time, Choral Services are sung as follows: Sunday 10.30 am Choral Eucharist (rotates girls/adults, boys/adults or Cathedral Consort); Sunday 3:30 pm Choral Evensong (adults choir); Monday 5:30 pm Choral Evensong (girls choir); Tuesday 5:30 pm Choral Evensong (boys choir) The boys and girls of the Choir sing as separate top lines and are drawn from as many as 20 local schools at any time. New entrants spend a couple of terms as a probationer, receiving basic training in singing and musicianship, before progressing to full membership. Full choristers have the opportunity to take up individual, free-of-charge tuition in singing, musicianship, theory or piano on a 1:1 basis each week. The lay clerks of the Choir are highly skilled volunteers, most of whom make their living outside of music. In September 2015 residential choral scholarships were introduced. The Cathedral Consort, a high standard chamber choir consisting of adult sopranos and lay clerks, completes the Choral Foundation. In addition to the schedule above, the Choir also performs other concerts and services within and outside the diocese. Although foreign tours have been undertaken, the most recent being to Barcelona in 2010 and Bavaria in 2008, touring more recently has been within the UK, with the girls and boys each undertaking a residential tour annually, with or without the choir adults. Tours have been undertaken in recent years to Bristol, Worcester, Edinburgh and Durham. The girls and men are involved with the annual Yorkshire Cathedrals' Girls' Choirs' Festival and hosted the Festal Evensong in March 2015. The boy choristers had not been involved with the Yorkshire Three Choirs Festival since 1981, but with the recent renaissance of an independent boys' top-line at the cathedral they, along with the lay clerks, were re-included in this annual festival from October 2015. Bradford Cathedral hosted the festival in October 2016. In July 2012, the Choir recorded two services for the BBC Radio 2 Sunday Half Hour programme, which were broadcast in Autumn 2012, and the girls and men sang live for BBC Radio 4 Sunday Worship in December 2012. The Choir recorded a CD of Evening Canticles, including Humphrey Clucas's 'Bradford Service' in November 2013, and February 2014 saw the Choir recording two programmes of BBC Songs of Praise, airing on 2 March 2014 and

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Hol ...

, 13 April 2014. Since 2015, the Choir has performed annually with the European Union Chamber Orchestra, singing

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widesprea ...

's '' Gloria'',

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

's '' Little Organ Mass'', and

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

's '' Mass No. 2 in G major''. A specification of the William Hill pipe organ (1904), with later modifications by Hill, Norman & Beard (1961) and J. W. Walker (1977), can be found on the

National Pipe Organ Register 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 ...

. A flourishing series of organ recitals takes place on many Wednesday lunchtimes throughout the year at 1.00pm, attracting many well-known players. An Organ Appeal was launched in February 2013, aiming to raise £250,000 over several years, in order to secure the continued reliability of the instrument, as well as making possible several tonal adjustments. A. J. Carter of

and Andrew Cooper are working in conjunction to carry out this work on a phased basis over the coming years. The first phase, entailing the substantial upgrading of the console, was carried out in October 2014. The second phase, to clean, revoice and extend the Chancel (Positive) Division, was completed in the first half of 2018.

Organists and Directors of Music

* John Simpson – 1860 * Absalom Rawnsley Swaine – 1893 * Henry Coates 1893–1939 * Charles Hooper 1939–1963 * Keith Vernon Rhodes 1963–1981 * Geoffrey John Weaver 1982–1986 * Alan Graham Horsey 1986–2002 * Andrew Teague 2003–2011 * Alexander Woodrow 2012–2016 * Alexander Berry 2017–present

Sub Organists and Assistant Directors of Music

* Martin D. Baker 1982–2004 (Asst. Organist) * Jonathan Kingston 1997–2000 (Sub Organist) * Paul Bowen 2004–2011 — Paul Bowen held the office of Cathedral Organist from late 2011 to late 2014 * David Condry 2009–2012 * Jonathan Eyre 2012–2016 * Jon Payne 2016–2018 * Ed Jones 2018–2019 * Graham Thorpe 2019–present

Monuments of interest

*Memorial to Abraham Balme main promoter of the

Bradford Canal The Bradford Canal was a English canal which ran from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Shipley into the centre of Bradford. It opened in 1774, and was closed in 1866, when it was declared to be a public health hazard. Four years later it reop ...

, sculpted by

RA.Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660–1851 by Rupert Gunnis p. 150 *Monument to Abraham Sharp (d.1742) by

Peter Scheemakers Peter Scheemakers or Pieter Scheemaeckers II or the Younger (10 January 1691 – 12 September 1781) was a Flemish sculptor who worked for most of his life in London. His public and church sculptures in a classicist style had an important influenc ...

*Monument to Robert Lowry Turner and George Whyte Watson *The Bradford City Football Ground Fire Disaster Memorial *The Battle of the Steeple / Market Charter plaque *Memorial to Joseph Priestley

References

Bibliography

The Dioceses Commission's Yorkshire Review — A Guide to the Report

External links

* * * {{Bradford Churches completed in 1965 20th-century Church of England church buildings Buildings and structures in Bradford Anglican cathedrals in England Grade I listed cathedrals Grade I listed churches in West Yorkshire Church of England church buildings in West Yorkshire English Gothic architecture in West Yorkshire Diocese of Bradford Anglican Diocese of Leeds Basilicas (Church of England)