Bradford Cathedral, Nave
The nave of Bradford Cathedral from the West End.
The Grade I Bradford Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of St Peter, is built on a site used for Christian worship since the 8th century, when missionaries based in Dewsbury evangelised the area. It is notable for having a distinctly more Protestant tradition of furnishing, worship, and theology than any other Church of England cathedral, and it is under the patronage of the Simeon Trust.
The Saxon church fell into ruin during the Norman Invasion in 1066. The Norman Lady of the Manor, Alice de Laci, built a second church that three hundred years later would be destroyed by raiding Scots.
During the 14th century the church was rebuilt and some of the older masonry may have been used in the reconstruction of the nave. The nave arcades, the oldest parts of the present building, were completed in 1458. A clerestory above them was added by the end of the 15th century. Chantry chapels were founded, on the north side of the chancel by the Leventhorpe family, and on the south by the owners of Bolling Hall. The tower in the Perpendicular style was added to the west end and finished in 1508.
The building was extended in the 1950s and 1960s by Edward Maufe. The east end of the Cathedral (shown in the photo) is Maufe’s work, but he reused the Morris & Co. stained glass from the old east window— there is therefore Victorian stained glass throughout the building. In 1854 Robert Mawer carved a new reredos in Caen stone for the church – there is a photograph of it in the church archive – but this was lost during Maufe’s rebuild. There was a substantial internal reordering in 1987, which included the replacement of the Victorian pews by chairs.
St Peter’s Church became a cathedral in 1919, when the Diocese of Bradford was created out of the Diocese of Ripon; it became one of three co-equal cathedrals of the new Diocese of Leeds upon its creation on 20 April 2014.
Bradford Cathedral, Nave
The nave of Bradford Cathedral from the West End.
The Grade I Bradford Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of St Peter, is built on a site used for Christian worship since the 8th century, when missionaries based in Dewsbury evangelised the area. It is notable for having a distinctly more Protestant tradition of furnishing, worship, and theology than any other Church of England cathedral, and it is under the patronage of the Simeon Trust.
The Saxon church fell into ruin during the Norman Invasion in 1066. The Norman Lady of the Manor, Alice de Laci, built a second church that three hundred years later would be destroyed by raiding Scots.
During the 14th century the church was rebuilt and some of the older masonry may have been used in the reconstruction of the nave. The nave arcades, the oldest parts of the present building, were completed in 1458. A clerestory above them was added by the end of the 15th century. Chantry chapels were founded, on the north side of the chancel by the Leventhorpe family, and on the south by the owners of Bolling Hall. The tower in the Perpendicular style was added to the west end and finished in 1508.
The building was extended in the 1950s and 1960s by Edward Maufe. The east end of the Cathedral (shown in the photo) is Maufe’s work, but he reused the Morris & Co. stained glass from the old east window— there is therefore Victorian stained glass throughout the building. In 1854 Robert Mawer carved a new reredos in Caen stone for the church – there is a photograph of it in the church archive – but this was lost during Maufe’s rebuild. There was a substantial internal reordering in 1987, which included the replacement of the Victorian pews by chairs.
St Peter’s Church became a cathedral in 1919, when the Diocese of Bradford was created out of the Diocese of Ripon; it became one of three co-equal cathedrals of the new Diocese of Leeds upon its creation on 20 April 2014.