Church of All Saints, Harlow Hill

The building was opened by the Bishop of Ripon on Tuesday 11 April 1871. After the opening, the Bishop, clergy and guests were treated to a cold collation at the Adelphi Hotel, Harrogate.[3][4] Due to "some technical informalities in connection with the title deeds in the conveyance of the church and land", the consecration was delayed until after the opening, so that for the opening the Bishop had to be granted a licence for holding the service in the church.[4] The building and graveyard were therefore consecrated on Friday 25 August 1871 by the same bishop in a "strong breeze" and under a sun of "great power", accompanied by a large group of clergymen and church officials in their vestments. This was more than a year after the foundation stone was laid, the consecration cross having long been carved in the wall below the foundation stone in the porch.[1][5] The Building News and Engineering Journal said: "The building itself is not unostentatious, yet not without architectural pretensions; and is designed in the continental style of Gothic architecture ... The roof is open-timbered, and the whole interior is effective and handsome. The exterior is bold in style, and free from much ornamentation."[6]

All Saints Church from the west

The church was run by the vicar of St Mary's, who hosted the vestry meetings, and appointed churchwardens and sidesmen. It never had its own vicar.[7] A major figure in the early days of All Saints was Rev. G. O. Brownrigg, who worked for seventeen years in the large parish of St Mary's, All Saints and Oatlands Mount, with their respective day and Sunday schools. He became ill and moved to Eastbourne, succeeded in 1893 in the parish by Rev. J. Chapman of Christ Church Highbury.[8] The organist and choir master at All Saints in the early days was Frederic Bartle (1834–1895), father of twelve children and headmaster of St Mary's Church School.[9][10]

A major event in April 1888 was the funeral of Joseph Fletcher (1824–1888) a saddler of Royal Parade, who had many friends and business acquaintances. Blinds were drawn in Royal Parade, and the hearse and four carriages were preceded by tradesmen walking solemnly, two abreast, all the way to Harlow Hill. His pallbearers were his workmen, and his coffin was pitch-pine with brass mountings and an engraved plate. He is buried on the north side of the cemetery.[11][12][13]

Tubular bells in tower

The three-stage, circular bell tower on the south-west corner of the church is attached to the building,[1] but appears from some viewpoints to stand separately. The long first stage has lancet windows at the bottom, and quatrefoil windows level with the nave roof. The first and second stages are divided by a sloping course supported by bud corbels and surmounted by four trefoil gablets, or small decorative gables, set above the four quatrefoil windows. The second stage is the belfry originally designed for a single bell, and this has lancet windows with decorative wooden louvres or abat-sons. The spire is built of stone laid in decorative bands.[1] It now contains a carillon of eight tubular bells donated in 1914 by the family of Melville M. Walker, controlled at ground level by an Ellacombe chiming rack. There is no public access to the tower.[14]

Nave during restoration 2014

It was designed for a congregation of 230.[3] It is a three-bay nave, that is, there are three spaces between the main timber roof trusses. This scissor braced truss roof is supported on hand-carved but fairly plain corbels.[1]

There are two tiny transepts, and the entrance of each is supported by a central pillar dividing arches echoing the design of the chancel arch and its pillared corbels. Above the transept windows and west windows are ventilation slits which are now glazed: a reminder that this is a cemetery chapel. One window of the south wall and two windows on the north wall of the nave contain stained glass. When the building was listed in 1975 it still had the original stained deal pews, but during the restoration of 2014 some of these were removed, and some were stacked in the chancel.[1] The Church of England has removed the "beautiful font of Harehills stone ... of elegant design and artistically wrought," although as of 2014 the lid still existed, hanging on its pulley. Both font and lid were carved and installed in 1871.[15]

Chancel roof trusses

The chancel arch is in doubled form, having an inner and an outer structure. The inner structure is supported on pillared corbels: a half-capital carved with acanthus leaves is supported on a short, smooth, round, half-column which is supported in turn on a corbel in the form of an inverted, fluted half-cone. The chancel window has three lights with a lancet window on either side; all filled with stained glass. The vestry is attached to its south wall, and the organ chamber is a lean-to opening from the chancel's north wall and connecting to the north transept via a door. The hardwood choir stalls, the south pulpit, the lectern and the communion rail were made by Thompson of Kilburn (1876–1955) and are not original to the building. The remaining north pulpit is original as designed and commissioned by the architects.[1]