Bradford Cathedral
Bradford Cathedral () is situated in the heart of
Bradford in
West Yorkshire,
England, on a site used for Christian worship since the 8th century when missionaries based in
Dewsbury evangelised the region. For most of its history the building was the
parish church of
St Peter.
The first church on the site was built in
Anglo Saxon times and fell into ruin during the
Norman Invasion in
1066. The Norman Lady of the manor Alice de Laci built a second church that 300 years later would be destroyed by raiding Scots.During the fourteenth century the church was rebuilt and some of the older masonry may have been used in the reconstruction of the
Nave. The Nave
arcades, the oldest parts of the present building, were completed in 1458. A
clerestory above them was added by the end of the fifteenth century.
Chantry chapels were founded, on the North side of the Chancel by the Leventhorpe family, and on the South by the owners of
Bolling Hall. The Tower in the perpendicular style was added to the West end and finished in 1508.
Originally in the Diocese of York, the church was in the
Diocese of Ripon prior to becoming a cathedral in
1919, when the
Diocese of Bradford was created.The building was extended in the
1950s and 60's by Sir
Edward Maufe. The East End of the Cathedral (shown in the photo) is Maufe's work, but he reused the
Morris and Co. stained glass from the old east window - there is therefore Victorian stained glass throughout the building including at the west end a window showing the women of the
Bible. The many wall monuments include a sculpture by
John Flaxman.
|
The east end of the cathedral |
Maufe also extended the West of the Cathedral on either side of the
Perpendicular tower.In 1987 the Nave and West end were re-ordered so as to provide the setting and amenities needed for the increasing number of visitors and the many varied occasions when large numbers of people come to the Cathedral. New entrances were made through the Tower walls to the offices and Song Room. The roof panelling was cleaned and restored and new lighting was installed.To enable flexibility of use the Victorian 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.The
kneelers were embroidered by people from many parishes in the Diocese. They depict Christian symbols and also a woolsack and the
White Rose of York. The finest embroidery is seen on the cushions in the Sanctuary and the Choir.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century the cathedral authorities decided to develop a museum of religion in St Peter's House (built in the nineteenth century as Bradford's main
Post Office). The visitor numbers were much lower than expected and the project collapsed leaving behind debt. The cathedral still owns the freehold of St Peter's House. 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 twentieth century the cathedral was partly hidden from the centre by buildings, first by the Post Office just below it, and subsequently by the 1960's developments of Forster Square and Petergate. The latter areas are currently (2006) being re-developed, and the cathedral is therefore more visible than for many years. The cathedral is set in a small
conservation area which includes the close to its north. The close provides modern housing for the
Dean and
Canons, the Bishop's palace being in a different part of Bradford.
On-Line Reference
Bradford Cathedral
