St Wilfrid's Church, Harrogate

The chancel

The construction of the church started in 1904 following a bequest of £3,485 from the estate of the late Bishop of Ripon to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.[1] This allocation was instrumental in procuring an Order in Council on 12 August 1904[2] for the formation of the new district of St Wilfrid, Harrogate. The church was estimated to cost around £24,000.

The Bishop of Knaresborough dedicated the Nave and Baptistry on 4 January 1908[3] which had consumed £11,000.

Two sisters, Elizabeth Sophia and Jean Trotter gave large donations to fund the completion. The first gift of £10,000 (equivalent to £1,020,988 in 2021),[4] allowed the nave to be completed by 1914. The church was consecrated on Thursday 11 June 1914 by the Bishop of Ripon[5] at which point the initial estimated cost of £24,000 had already been spent. The church had to be guarded all night by a band of church workers to prevent it being the object of attention on the part of militant Suffragettes.

Temple Moore died in 1920 and a bequest from Jean Trotter in 1924 of £32,000 (equivalent to £1,941,694 in 2021),[4] allowed the completion of the north and south transepts. The work was completed in 1927 by Temple Moore's son-in-law, Leslie Moore. In 1928, the organ was installed in the north transepts. The organ and transepts were dedicated by the Bishop of Oxford on 18 July 1928.[6]

William Gunn left £9,000 (equivalent to £664,665 in 2021),[4] in his will of 1932 and this allowed the church hall to be built. The hall features a lamella roof, the only example of such a construction in the United Kingdom.

In 1935, the generosity of Sir William Nicholson master builder allowed the Lady Chapel to be built by his company William Nicholson and Son of Leeds at a cost of £10,000 (equivalent to £738,500 in 2021).[4] The Calvary was the work of Alfred Southwick.[7] While most of the work after Temple Moore's death in 1920 had been sympathetic to his sketches, Leslie Moore's design for the Lady Chapel was radically different from the small chapel proposed by this father-in-law.

The church is widely considered to be Temple Moore's greatest work. It subtly dominates the Harrogate skyline, and Pevsner considers it to be "the biggest and by far the best of Harrogate's churches, the masterwork of Temple Moore". Sir Aston Webb highlights its national importance, and goes as far as to say it is "perhaps the most beautiful of all parish churches I know" (Yorkshire Post, 8 June 1935). The church is subject of Sir John Betjeman's poem "Perp. Revival i' the North", in which its elegant grandeur and traditional liturgy are identified. Elsewhere, he remarks how the building seems vast in every direction, enhanced by what he describes as "Edwardian vistas".

Leslie Moore's faithful completion of his father-in-law's masterpiece is a great credit to him. His skill as an architect is further credited by the Church Times for February 24, 1950, which writes "Mr Leslie Moore has outdone his uncle by adding the loveliest part of the building - the Lady Chapel". In a local newspaper, reviewing the dedication of the Lady Chapel, it was described as a "glorious pageant in Christian architecture".

On 4 February 1975, St Wilfrid's Church was designated a Grade I listed building.[8]

The funeral of David Simpson, freeman of the town, and four times mayor of Harrogate, was held here on 17 January 1931.[9]

• List of new churches by Temple Moore

• The Story of St Wilfrid's church, Harrogate. Third Edition. c. 1950s
• The Parish Church of St Wilfrid, Harrogate. c. 1990s

Media related to St Wilfrid's, Harrogate at Wikimedia Commons

• Specification of the organ