Leeds Minster, also known as 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 and Wales, most notably York Minster in Yorkshire, Westminster Abbey in London and Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire. The term ''minster'' is first found in royal fou ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, 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 or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

one, designed by Robert Dennis Chantrell and completed in 1841. It is dedicated to

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

and was the

Parish Church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

of Leeds before receiving the honorific title of "Minster" in 2012. It has been designated a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

History

The building

A church at ''Ledes'' is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

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) 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, Vicar of

from 1837 until preferment as Dean of

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

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, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

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 Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...

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 Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during th ...

and Dr Edward Bouverie Pusey were among the congregation and Dr

Samuel Sebastian Wesley Samuel Sebastian Wesley (14 August 1810 – 19 April 1876) was an English organ (music), organist and composer. Wesley married Mary Anne Merewether and had 6 children. He is often referred to as S.S. Wesley to avoid confusion with his father Sa ...

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 and Halifax Minster; 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,

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and 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 t ...

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

and Wortley; Adel and Whitkirk were separate parishes. On founding the Benedictine Priory of the Holy Trinity, York in 1089 Ralph Paynel 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 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 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 began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

, 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), Kirkstall electoral ward, ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds Central and Headingley (UK Parl ...

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 1843 ( 6 & 7 Vict. c. 37) and Walter Hook's Leeds Vicarage Act 1844 ( 7 & 8 Vict. c. cviii). 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,

(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,

(1847); and St Michael's, Farnley (1851).

Architecture

Cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

in plan, the minster is built in

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

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 ro ...

roofs, in an imitation of the English Gothic style of the late 14th century, a period of transition from the Decorated to the

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

. The church is long and wide, its tower rising to . The

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

and

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 ...

each have four bays of equal length with clerestories and tall

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

s. 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

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 (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es terminating in crocketed turrets with openwork

battlement A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

s 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 main ...

s. The clock was made by Potts of Leeds.

Furnishings, fittings, glass and treasures

The windows exhibit Perpendicular

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 th ...

and there is a five-light east window from 1846 containing glass collected on the continent. At the east end the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

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 (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

by Salviati of Venice, and the

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

is made of coloured marble and

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alab ...

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 eccl ...

. 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 Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

in 1932. The tenor bell weighs . The

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, parts of which date from 1841 and earlier, is essentially a Harrison and Harrison of 1914 vintage, but incorporating significant amounts of pipework by Edmund Schulze. 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, in West Yorkshire, England. It is located near Rothwell, West Yorkshire, Rothwell, Oulton, West Yorkshire, Oulton, Woodlesford, Mickletown and Aller ...

. Among many artefacts and memorials in the Minster are the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

Leeds Cross (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 of Scott's Antarctic expedition, who had Leeds connections. Flemish stained glass enhances the

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

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. The Christopher Beckett memorial and most of the architectural sculpture is by Robert Mawer.''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, which was designed by

Sir Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

and unveiled on 13 November 1921. It is separately a grade II listed building.

Minster

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

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, the ...

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

and

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

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

Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

, Boar Lane and the congregation of St Mary's

Lincoln Green Lincoln Green is a mainly residential area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England around Lincoln Green Road, and is adjacent to and southwest of St James's University Hospital. It falls within the Burmantofts and Richmond Hill ward of the City o ...

worshipping weekly in the Hall of St Peter's

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

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 Paul Maybury is the Incumbent, licensed in December 2022. 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 Conservatoire. There is a weekly organ recital from September to July inclusive on Fridays at 1 pm, featuring the resident organists and guest recitalists. Leeds Minster is a member of the Greater Churches Group. Sir John Betjeman in a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Broadcast remarked that: "There's

High Church A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...

Low Church In Anglican Christianity, the term ''low church'' refers to those who give little emphasis to ritual, often having an emphasis on preaching, individual salvation, and personal conversion. The term is most often used in a liturgical sense, denot ...

and Leeds Parish Church". The church is illuminated at night by floodlights donated by Tetley's brewery. The building is open to visitors, Tuesday to Saturday 11 am to 2 pm and during worship on Sunday. The Minster archives are held at the Leeds office of West Yorkshire Archive Service. 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 A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish Church (building), church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefect ...

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 * Walter Farquhar Hook D.D. 1837 (formerly vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Coventry, later Dean of

Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of th ...

) * James Atlay D. D. 1859 (later

Bishop of Hereford The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury. Until 1534, the Diocese of Hereford was in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church and two of its bishop ...

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

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary (officer), 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 ...

) * John Gott 1873–1885 (later Chaplain to the Bishop of Ripon; Dean of

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and Blessed Mary the Virgin, is a Church of England cathedral in Worcester, England, Worcester, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Worcester and is the Mother Church# ...

from 1885; afterwards Bishop of Truro) * Francis John Jayne 1886–1888; afterwards

Bishop of Chester The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York. The diocese extends across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the ...

* Edward Stuart Talbot 1888–1895 (later

Bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester, Kent, Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Rochester Cathedral, Cathedral Chur ...

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'' the offic ...

* Edgar Charles Sumner Gibson 1895–1905 (later

Bishop of Gloucester The Bishop of Gloucester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Gloucester, England, Diocese of Gloucester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the Gloucestershire, County of Gloucestershire and part ...

) * Samuel Bickersteth 1905–1916 then Canon and later Librarian of

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

* Bernard Oliver Francis Heywood 1916–1926 (subsequently Bishop of Southwell, later Bishop of Hull and finally

) * Canon William Thompson Elliott 1926–1938 (later Canon of Westminster) * Canon Wilfred Marcus Askwith 1938–1942 (later Bishop of Blackburn, then

* Canon Arthur Stretton Reeve MA 1943–1953 (later

Bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West M ...

) * Canon C B Sampson 1953–1961 (formerly vicar of

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

, later Canon Residentiary of Ripon Cathedral) * Canon William Fenton Morley 1961–1971 (later

Dean of Salisbury The Dean of Salisbury is the primus inter pares, head of the cathedral chapter, chapter of Salisbury Cathedral in the Church of England. The Dean assists the archdeacon of Sarum and bishop of Ramsbury in the diocese of Salisbury. List of deans ...

) * Canon Ronald Graham Gregory Foley 1972–1982 (later Bishop of Reading and Assistant Bishop 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 ar ...

) * Canon James John Richardson OBE 1982–1988 (subsequently Secretary of the Council of Christians and Jews, Rector of St Peter's Bournemouth and – in retirement – Canon Pastor of

Sherborne Abbey Sherborne Abbey, otherwise the Abbey Church of St. Mary the Virgin, is a Church of England church in Sherborne in the English county of Dorset. It was formerly a Saxon Catholic cathedral (705–1075) and a Benedictine abbey church (998–1539) ...

. 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) * 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

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. * The Reverend Canon Paul Maybury was licensed as Incumbent in December 2022.

Music

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

1842–1849, Dr Edward Bairstow 1906–1913, Dr Alfred Melville Cook 1937–1956, Dr Donald Hunt OBE 1957–1975, and Dr Simon Lindley who came to Leeds after service at

St Albans Cathedral St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban, also known as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Normans, Norman times. It ceased to be an abb ...

and churches in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. 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 Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow (formerly Park Lane), Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built be ...

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 Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...

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 Liverpool Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Liverpool, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Liverpool and is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, diocese of Liverpool. The church may be formally re ...

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) 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 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

(afterwards organist at

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

and

Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity and formerly St Peter's Abbey, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishme ...

) *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, England. 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. Although no longer the principal residence ...

*1891 Alfred Benton (afterwards organist of Covington Roman Catholic Cathedral,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

USA) *1906 Dr Edward Bairstow (from Wigan Parish Church, afterwards organist and master of the choristers of

York Minster York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...

) *1913 Willoughby Williams (afterwards organist of St Peter's Episcopal Church,

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, USA) *1920 Dr Albert Charles Tysoe (afterwards organist of

) *1937 Dr (Alfred) Melville Cook (afterwards organist and master of the choristers of

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Hereford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Hereford and the principal church of the diocese of Hereford. The cathedral is a grade I listed building. A place of wors ...

and conductor of the Three Choirs Festival) *1957 Dr Donald Frederick Hunt OBE (afterwards master of the choristers and organist of

and conductor of the Three Choirs Festival) *1975 Dr Simon Geoffrey Lindley (from

) – President of the

Royal College of Organists The Royal College of Organists (RCO) is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, with members worldwide. Its role is to promote and advance organ playing and choral music, and it offers music education, training and de ...

, 2000–2002 – Vice-President, from 2003; President of the Incorporated Association of Organists, 2003–2005. *2016 Paul Dewhurst from St Giles' Church

: 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 Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. It is loosely based on the canonical hours of vespers and compline. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which ...

on Sunday 4 July 2010 followed by a Gala Choral Recital. Worship on Sunday 15 August was broadcast on

BBC Radio Four BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at B ...

. 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.

Graveyard

The church had a

graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

and grounds on the opposite side of the Kirkgate road. The graveyward was closed to burials in the 1830s and that land eventually became Penny Pocket Park.

Rugby league

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

team from Leeds Parish Church joined the Northern Rugby Football Union (now

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...

) 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 A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

)
St Peter's Singers Website
{{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