St. Wilfrid's Church, Harrogate

Parish church
name = St. Wilfrid's Church


caption =
dedication =
denomination = Church of England
tradition = Anglo-Catholic
diocese = Ripon and Leeds
province = Province of York
vicar = Revd. Mark Sowerby
curate = Revd Dr Terry Buckingham
curate1 = Revd Tim Burrell JP
organistdom =
organist = Tim Gray
warden = Mr J Lodge
warden1 = Mrs S Morris
website = [http://www.stwilfrids-harrogate.co.uk/ www.stwilfrids-harrogate.co.uk]

St Wilfrid's Church, Harrogate is an Anglican parish church in the town of Harrogate. It is a Grade 1 listed building. It was designed by the architect Temple Lushington Moore and is his most famous work.

History

The current church building was started in 1904 and the Nave and Baptistry were dedicated for use by 1908. Two sisters, Elizabeth Sophia and Jean Trotter gave large donations to fund the completion. The first gift of £10,000 allowed the chancel to be completed by 1914.

Temple Moore died in 1920 and a bequest from Jean Trotter in 1924 of £32,000 allowed the completion of the north transept. The work was completed by Temple Moore's son-in-law, Leslie Moore.

William Gunn left £9,000 in his will of 1932 and this allowed the church hall to be built.

In 1935, the generosity of Sir William Nicholson allowed the Lady Chapel to be completed.

Incumbents

*1902 William Fowell Swann (became Vicar in 1914)
*1919 Donald Mackenzie Maynard Bartlett
*1940 Kenneth Ilderton
*1951 Thomas Henry Henderson
*1963 Walter Dillam
*1973 Michael John Richard Manktelow later Bishop of Basingstoke
*1978 Howard Garside
*1990 Brian Robert Pearson
*2001 Mark Sowerby

Organ

There are two organs in St. Wilfrid's Church. The main organ dates from 1928 and is by Harrison and Harrison. Temple Moore designed a case for the main organ but this was never built. The main organ was awarded a Historic Organ Certificate by the British Institute of Organ Studies in 1998.

A chamber organ by Gray & Davison dating from approximately 1847 was acquired in 1995. it was formerly in the Christadelphian Church in Stockport.

* [http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N02927 Specification of the main organ]
* [http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N18101 Specification of the chamber organ]

Bells

The peal of six bells was obtained from High Hoyland. They were recast and dedicated in 1973. In 1976 two redundant bells were obtained and the ring was increased to eight in 1977.

References

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