Church Of The Epiphany

The Church of the Epiphany in Gipton, Leeds, is an Anglican parish church constructed between 1936 and 1938, with alterations in 1976. Designed by NF Cachemaille Day and built by Armitage Hodgson, the church is a reinforced concrete structure faced with brick and covered with plain tiles. It is also known as The Bishop Burroughs Memorial Church of the Epiphany.

The building comprises a nave and chancel under a single roof, with square transepts, a curved east end and a projecting eastern lady chapel that also has a curved east end. The exterior features a chamfered concrete plinth, concrete floor bands, and raised coped parapets. The west gable has single-storey projecting porches to the north and south, each with double 10-panel doors and chamfered surrounds with concrete hoods. Tall buttresses flank a central window on the west gable, linked by a brick cross to flanking bell openings. The nave has three pairs of tall rectangular windows, while the transepts have four similar windows. The lady chapel features three tall rectangular windows on each side and nine similar windows to the apse, with smaller windows below.

The interior has stepped, flat concrete ceilings supported on tall, plain circular columns, which form a continuous curved arcade. There is a raised circular altar space and raised choir stalls positioned behind the second row of tall circular columns.

The church’s historical context includes connections to the Gipton estate, one of the first "garden" estates in the north of England, developed following city centre slum clearance in the 1930s. An earlier temporary church was built in 1936. Day's design was inspired by the new church at Coutances, emphasizing an uncluttered open space, furnished with pews rather than chairs. Originally incorporating an 8-foot screen wall to separate the high altar from the Lady Chapel (intended to be dedicated to St Edmund), the church also contained a small pulpit that was later replaced, and subsequently removed. A planned tall bell-tower proved too costly, resulting in a steel and masonry spire surmounted by a star, which was dismantled in 1976. The foundation stone was laid by Elsie Burroughs, sister of the late Bishop of Ripon, and the church was consecrated in the presence of the Princess Royal.

Early structural problems included loose roof panels, caused by short iron fixing nails instead of copper, and rising wooden floor tiles. Acoustic issues were known as "the Epiphany echo." Furniture, including a font from St Paulinus’, was donated by other churches; the font now has a tall cover resembling the lost spire, gifted by the Mothers' Union.