Churches and chapels’ past

As a child, I used to moan when my dad dragged me and my siblings around churches.

But now I’m doing the same with my children, taking them off the beaten track to see historic inscriptions on gravestones and ornately- carved altarpieces.

Though not religious, I love looking around churches, and now I’ve got my hands on historian Alan Whitworth’s book Yorkshire Churches, I’ve got more fodder for future visits.

Packed with information and carefully-selected images, the book is an alphabetical journey around the churches and chapels of Yorkshire.

Each of those featured is pictured as it is today, and how it looked in the past.

St Michael in Haworth would not be recognised today by the village’s most famous one-time residents, the Bronte family. It is built on an entirely different plan to the old church.

“Nevertheless,” writes the author, “It is a place of pilgrimage for all Bronte lovers, for the Reverend Patrick Bronte – father of the literary sisters – was clergyman from 1820 to 1861.

“A brass plate near the chancel screen marks the site of the Bronte vault. A marble tablet in the chapel records the names of all the family, but Anne was buried alone at Scarborough where she died.”

Patrick Bronte’s previous post as incumbent at St James’s in Thornton also features, with descriptions as to how the church was repaired in his day.

“The Revd Bronte had erected an octagonal cupola and the ‘old’ bell replaced inside, which led to the local name of ‘owd bell chapel’”, writes Alan.

The Grade ll-listed ruins of the old chapel of St James stand in the redundant graveyard across from the present parish church.

The parish church of All Saints in Ilkley was largely rebuilt in 1860, but retains a 13th century doorway and 15th century west tower. Inside, there is a fine effigy of an early 14th century knight and among the seating arrangements is a pew dated 1633.

Elsewhere, there is a significant collection of Anglo-Saxon crosses and mutilated Roman altars used in the building of the first church.

Bradford Cathedral graces the book’s cover. It is fascinating to see how the site has changed over time.

The site of the first market in the 13th century, a large swathe of the churchyard and a cluster of dwellings known as The Rookery, disappeared within 50 years of the older photographs being taken.

The book opens your eyes as to the number of interesting places of worship waiting to be discovered. I won’t tell my children.