Whitechapel Church, Cleckheaton

Whitechapel Church, Cleckheaton

Whitechapel Church is constructed of hammer-dressed stone with quoins and a stone slate roof. The building comprises a nave and chancel aligned east-west beneath a single roof, with a bell cote at the west end and a south porch.

The nave and chancel are not differentiated externally. A low plinth runs around the base of the building. The east gable end is topped with a stone cross and contains a three-light pointed arch window with simple tracery, hood mould and shield stops. Above the window is a small blocked opening.

Both the north and south sides of the church have six two-light pointed arch windows with Y tracery and hood moulds. On the south side, an arched doorway approached by three steps is positioned between the fifth and sixth windows. Above the doorway is a sun-dial dated 1606 and a decorative stone shield, with another shield nearby. The second window on the south side is partially obscured by a porch with a pitched roof, corbelled eaves and diagonal buttresses. The porch has a pointed arch opening to the front with hood mould and two-light round-arched windows to either side beneath a squared hood mould.

At the west end is a central tower corbelled out on two brackets at first floor level and octagonal above the roof line. A single ground floor window sits in the base of the tower with another above the corbel brackets and an oculus above that. Smaller windows are positioned to either side at a higher level. Just above the roof line is the restored bell chamber with louvred openings and a short spire above with an original finial.

The interior has a carved oak chancel screen dating from 1924 crossing between the fourth and fifth windows, which defines the chancel and nave. The carved oak altar is also from 1924. An organ from 1963 stands to the left of the altar, and an enclosed kitchen area is positioned to the right. An oak pulpit dating to 1911 stands in the north-east corner of the nave.

The nave contains timber pews arranged with a central aisle and two side aisles, with an open area to the rear beneath the gallery. The gallery is supported on two steel columns and has a panelled timber front. Access to the bell-ringing chamber is provided at the rear of the gallery, where the 'Ellacombe' system allows one person to play all eight bells from a single panel. Only the central part of the gallery is open; the rest is occupied by organ pipes.

At the rear of the nave is a restored Norman stone font on a later base. It is cylindrical and decorated with intersecting arches, abstract shapes and faces with cable moulding at the top. All but the two easternmost windows contain stained glass dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with most dedicated to individual families.

The graveyard contains a number of chest tombs and other substantial memorials, some pre-dating the current building. It contains the headstone of a niece of Patrick Brontë.