Former Church Of St Luke

The former Church of St Luke is an 1845 parish church designed by William Wallen, and was made redundant in 1982. It is constructed of coursed and hammer-dressed sandstone with freestone dressings, covered by slate roofs. The building’s plan comprises a nave and a lower, apsidal chancel.

The church is in a Neo-Norman style, with a tall, wide nave originally intended to accommodate a three-sided gallery. The nave has five bays and windows set within recessed surrounds, featuring a sill band, pilasters, and pseudo-machicolations. Round-headed windows have colonnettes with scalloped capitals, and an impost band that acts as hood moulds above the windows. A projecting surround defines the north doorway, which has two orders of shafts to roll-moulded arches and chevrons to the label. High-relief carvings of Agnus Dei, crossed keys, and a bishop's mitre are positioned above the doorway. A large, modern five-part window dating from around 1965 is set into the west wall. The lower apse has recessed panels and windows similar to those of the nave.

The interior was inaccessible during a survey in June 2009. Originally, the chancel had a rib-vaulted ceiling. Chancel and apse arches were supported by semi-circular responds with scallop capitals. Several memorials were present, including one to James Armitage, who died in 1803 after being shot by natives in the River Waikato, New Zealand.

The churchyard is accessed through a Gothic gateway.

William Wallen (1807-53), an architect from Huddersfield, built the church between 1843 and 1846. Notably, the Neo-Norman style represented a departure for Wallen, whose other church designs typically employed a simpler Gothic style – the interior with its galleries being more characteristic of his work. The church was later used for storage.

The church is designated Grade II for its Neo-Norman style, which was popular in the 1840s and retains its external character and detail, and for its prominent siting above Manchester Road, which exemplifies how 19th-century churches in Huddersfield were often positioned to command views.