Church of St Michael

Church of St Michael

This is a parish church in Emley, with its south wall probably dating from the early medieval period, while the majority of the structure dates from the early 15th century, with the tower added slightly later. The church was substantially restored in 1874. It is built in the Perpendicular style and is notably enhanced by the Kirkby Chapel, added in 1632.

The building comprises a two-stage square west tower, a three-bay nave with a lean-to north aisle, a gabled south porch, a three-bay chancel, and the Kirkby Chapel on the north side of the chancel. The south wall is constructed of rough coursed rubble, while the remainder is of deeply coursed stone. Stone slate roofs cover the building, with the chancel roof being lower than that of the nave.

The west tower features diagonal buttresses that reduce in size with off-sets. The west door has a moulded surround and hood mould, and a large three-light traceried west window (restored) sits above it. The bell chamber has four-light mullioned and transomed openings with traceried heads. The tower is finished with gargoyles, a crenellated parapet, and eight crocketed pinnacles.

The nave windows on the south side are large, with two lights and arched lights beneath hood moulds. The north aisle windows are square-headed: one contains two lights with cusped heads, while another has three lights with cambered heads. The chancel windows are square-headed with two lights and cusped details. The three-light east window has an arched head. On the south side of the chancel stands a priest's door and a memorial tablet to Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Cooper, dated 1784, which features fluted jambs, an apron, and a scrolled, open-pedimented top. Also set into the wall is a small medieval grave slab carved with a cross and shears.

Interior

The interior contains a three-bay north arcade supported on octagonal piers with splayed and moulded capitals, connected by double chamfered arches. A similar large chancel arch rests on small corbels and connects to a two-bay arcade to the chancel. The nave roof features queen-post roof trusses with cross struts; the tie-beams and principal rafters are moulded, though the remainder is likely a 19th-century replacement. Two tiers of curved wind-bracing are visible, with similar details on the porch roof. The chancel roof is particularly fine, with panelling and pendant finials.

The pews and chancel screen date from the 1874 restoration. An elegant 18th-century pulpit of panelled oak features a tester, stair, and door. The font is a tulip design from the late 17th century, notable for its irregular fluting and resting on a round gadrooned pedestal.

An elaborate brass candelabra from 1832 was donated by Henry Leah of Bierley Hall, Bradford. The east window contains 15th-century stained glass depicting the Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John, though all figures are incomplete. Glass of similar date in the south chancel window shows St Michael in armour and another angel. In the south wall is a reset tympanum from a Norman church that formerly stood near the site, depicting the Lion and the Lamb, though its upper portion is missing. Below this is a small piscina.

Memorials and Historical Interest

A brass plate in the chancel commemorates Robert Tallot, a yeoman from Bentley Grange in Yorkshire, who died on 14 October 1605 at the age of 76, leaving five sons and six daughters by his wife Joan. Behind the organ is a tablet from 1700 with a scrolled surround commemorating Mary, wife of Richard Woolfendin of Lodge. A vertical grave slab marks Richard Wortley, who died in 1687 aged three months. A marble memorial to William Wheatley of White Cross dates from 1766. A memorial to Henry Leah of Emley, a mason who died in 1800, is of black and white marble and depicts an ascending soul with an angel; it is signed by W. Williams of Huddersfield. Above the nave door is a wooden table from the late 18th century recording benefactions to the poor of Emley.