- Christ Church, High Harrogate
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Christ Church, High Harrogate 
Christ Church, High Harrogate53°59′38″N 01°31′31″W / 53.99389°N 1.52528°WCoordinates: 53°59′38″N 01°31′31″W / 53.99389°N 1.52528°W Denomination Church of England Churchmanship Broad Church Website www.church-square.co.uk History Dedication Christ Church Administration Parish Harrogate Deanery Harrogate Archdeaconry Richmond Diocese Ripon and Leeds Province York Clergy Vicar(s) The Revd Nicholas Henshall Curate(s) The Revd Helen Bailey Laity Organist(s) Christine Alp Christ Church, High Harrogate is a parish church in the Church of England located in Harrogate. It was the first church building to be built in Harrogate and is today home to a thriving congregation and - along with the attached Parish Centre - an important focus of community activities.
Contents
History
The history of Christ Church starts in 1749 when a Chapel of St John was built as a chapel-of-ease to the mother church of St John the Baptist at Knaresborough. Although known as ‘St John's Chapel' it was dedicated on 17 June 1749 as Christ Church. [1]
Christ Church became a parish in its own right in 1852. Later four other parishes were formed from its parish:
- St John's Church, Bilton 1858
- St. Peter's Church, Harrogate 1870
- St Luke's Church 1898
- St Andrew's Starbeck in 1911
The parish quickly outgrew the building and a new church was built on the Stray adjoining the old chapel.The architect was John Oates of Huddersfield. The church was dedicated on 1 October 1831 by the Bishop of Chester, Dr John Bird Sumner (later Archbishop of Canterbury). In 1836 it moved into the Diocese of Ripon.
The church was extended between 1860 and 1862 with a new chancel, sanctuary and transepts, to designs by the architects Lockwood and Mawson of Bradford.
In 1988 a Church Centre was built at the north-west corner of the church, with a hall, meeting rooms, kitchen, and offices.
List of Vicars
Perpetual Curates (1755 - 1831)
- 1755 - 1759 William Leigh Williamson
- 1759 - 1765 Nevile Stow
- 1765 - 1769 John Hinde
- 1769 - 1825 Robert Mitton
- 1825 John Lloyd Lugger
- 1825 - 1831 Thomas Kennion (and see Vicars below)
Vicars (1831 - present)
- 1831 - 1845 Thomas Kennion
- 1845 - 1858 Thomas Sheepshanks
- 1858 - 1870 Horatio James (Canon of Ripon)
- 1870 - 1887 William Winter Gibbon (Canon of Ripon)
- 1887 - 1903 Richard Wentworth Fawkes
- 1904 - 1926 Douglas Sherwood Guy (Canon of Ripon)
- 1927 - 1935 Paul Fulchrand Delacour de Labilliere (subsequently Bishop of Knaresborough and Dean of Westminster)
- 1935 - 1937 Claude Cyprian Thornton (Canon of Ripon)
- 1937 - 1943 Martin Kiddle
- 1943 - 1954 William Frederick Vernon
- 1954 - 1970 Thomas Arthur Bendelow
- 1970 - 1994 Richard Thomas Wright McDermid (Chaplain to HM the Queen, Canon of Ripon)
- 1995 - 2007 John Edward Colston (Canon of Ripon)
- 2008 - present Nicholas James Henshall
This list is taken directly from the board at the west end of the church and all spellings are as on the board.Organ
In 1908 a brand new organ by Norman & Beard was installed. It was rebuilt by John T. Jackson in 1980 with a new detached console. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.
Organist and Director of Music
- Matthew Arnold ca. 1867
- John Septimus Dickinson ???? - 1870
- Ernest Farrar ARCO 1912 - 1916 [2]
- Warner Yeomans ca. 1920
- Douglas Robinson 1946 - 1974?
- Ralph Franklin FTCL FGSM ca. 1980s
Derek Bolton 1980's
- Dr John Beilby BMus PhD FLCM LRAM LTCL 2005 - 2008
- Jonathan Eyre BMus (Hons) ARCO ATCL 2008 - 2009
- Christine Alp GRSM LRAM LGSM 2009 - present
References
- ^ British Spas from 1815 to the Present: A Social History, Phyllis May Hembry, Leonard W. Cowie, Evelyn Elizabeth Cowie, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1997 ISBN 0838637485
- ^ Dictionary of Organs and Organists. First Edition. 1912
Categories:- Diocese of Ripon and Leeds
- Church of England churches in North Yorkshire
- Churches in Harrogate
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