St Patrick's Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

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 ...

, West Yorkshire, England. It was built from 1852 to 1853 and designed by George Goldie. It is situated on the corner of Sedgfield Terrace and Westgate in the city centre. To the south and west of the church is Rebecca Street and Vaughan Street. The church is the oldest Roman Catholic church still in use in the city and is a Grade II listed building.Church of St Patrick, Presbytery and Adjoining Boys' School, Bradford
from British Listed Building, retrieved 28 December 2015

History

Foundation

In 1825, the original St Mary's Church was the first Roman Catholic church to be built in Bradford after the reformation. It was rebuilt from 1874 to 1876, but closed in 2008. St Patrick's Church was founded by Canon Thomas Harrison who was priest at St Mary's Church. In 1850, he went about buying the site for St Patrick's Church. He had to buy the land through an intermediary because of the anti-Catholic sentiment in the city.Bradford - St Patrick
from

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

, retrieved 28 December 2015

Construction

In 1852, building work started on the church. It was designed by George Goldie. On 13 July 1853, the church was opened by the

Bishop of Beverley The Bishop of Beverley is a Church of England Provincial Episcopal Visitor. The title takes its name after the town of Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Originally a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of York, the bishop's role wa ...

, John Briggs. In 1855, it became its own

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

. In the 1860s, the interior decoration of the church was completed. In 1866, a neighbouring presbytery was built and in 1869 a south porch was added to the church.

Consecration

On 11 July 1903, after the debt from the construction had been paid off, the church was consecrated. The solemn liturgical rites of the dedication of the church were presided over by Michael Cardinal Logue, the Archbishop of Armagh. The altar of Our Lady in the side chapel of the church was consecrated by Richard Lacy, the Bishop of Middlesbrough. The details of the consecration are given in Latin on the dedication stone in the church, which is translated as follows:

''To God, Most Good, Most Great'' ''During the reign of the Holy Father Leo XIII, in the diocese led by William Gordon, under the rectorship of John Earnshaw, with the assistance of priests James F. Downes, Matthew Gosse, and Michael Patrick Farrell, in the year of Our Lord 1903, on the 11th day of July, this Church of St. Patrick was consecrated by His Eminence Michael Cardinal Logue, Archbishop of Armagh. The Altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary was at the same time consecrated by Richard Lacey, Bishop of Middlesbrough. On the following days, sermons were given by Samuel Allen, Bishop of Shrewsbury, George Ambrose Burton, Bishop of Clifton, and Richard Preston, Lord of the See of Phocoea and Auxiliary Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle.'' ''For the fathers and the pious people to whom was entrusted the duty of consecrating this church, let the reader say an “Ave.”''

Developments

Between 1968 and 1972, following the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, the interior was reordered. Next door to the church is St Pio Friary, where the

Franciscan Friars of the Renewal The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (; Abbreviation: CFR) is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men founded in 1987. It follows the Capuchin Franciscan tradition. Originally formed as a mendicant congregation i ...

are based. They serve the congregation of St Patrick's Church and operate a local soup kitchen.

Parish

St Joseph's Church

Since 2009, St Patrick's Church has been a Mission church in the parish of St Joseph, centred at St Joseph's Church, which is on the corner of Pakington Street and Manchester Road (). It is a Grade II listed building and was designed by Edward Simpson. Construction on the church began in 1885. It was opened on 14 September 1887. The church was consecrated on 14 September 1937. It cost approximately £7,000. In the 1930s, internal alterations were made by the architect J. H. Langtry-Langton. In 1964, the church was extended under the supervision of his son, Peter Langtry-Langton. On 24 September 2009, the Shrine of the Annunciation of Our Lady of Bradford was established in the church. In 2016, the church became a centre for the saying of the

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or ''usus antiquior'' (), Vetus Ordo or the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) or the Traditional Rite, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church codified in ...

in the area.Leeds: New Latin Mass centre opening
from ''Independent Catholic News'', retrieved 1 June 2016

References

External links

* *
St Joseph's Parish site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradford, St Patrick Roman Catholic churches in West Yorkshire

St Patrick Saint Patrick (; or ; ) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints being Brigid of Kildare and Columba ...

Grade II listed churches in West Yorkshire Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England Gothic Revival church buildings in England Roman Catholic churches completed in 1853 Gothic Revival architecture in West Yorkshire Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds George Goldie church buildings 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Franciscan Friars of the Renewal