Church Of St Agnes

Church of St Agnes

An Anglican church built in 1886-7 by the Leeds architects Kelly and Birchall, with alterations and additions by Lord Grimthorpe. The building is constructed of coursed stone with ashlar dressings in the Gothic Revival style.

The church consists of a nave and chancel under a single steeply-pitched roof with gable ends, orientated according to liturgical requirements. The exterior features low aisles with flat-headed windows topped by cusped lights and 2-light clerestory windows. The chancel has a circular clerestory window with a foundation stone below, laid by Mrs Boyd Carpenter, wife of the Bishop of Ripon, on 9 July 1887. A large 5-light east window displays geometric tracery, while a 4-light west window faces the street. A very slim south-east bell tower with buttresses rises to the belfry with lancet windows, above which sits an octagonal stage supporting a short stone spire. The south-west entrance is sheltered by a gabled porch in stone with a cusped pointed arch.

The interior contains a 4-bay nave with squat octagonal piers and wide chamfered arches. The rafter roof features twisted tie bars, while the aisles have cusped roof trusses supported on stone corbels. The single-bay chancel has no arch and contains a panelled barrel-vaulted ceiling. The organ is positioned on the north-east side and the vestry on the south-east.

A notable Burmantofts faience reredos made in 1891 displays three cusped arches in a moulded frame with angels' heads and pinnacles, though the original colours and details are obscured by a coat of white gloss paint. A terracotta memorial in the same style below the west window commemorates James Holroyd (1839-1890), founder of the Burmantofts Faience Works, with an inscription stating it was erected "by his employees". Tiled walls below a moulded string line each side of the chancel.

Fittings include moulded bench pews with pierced fronts to the front rows. An octagonal font in the south-west corner is made of green and brown polished fossiliferous marble and was given by the Sunday School scholars. A brass eagle lectern was given by the Whalley family in 1918 and 1931. A war memorial from the demolished Church of St Stephen stands at the east end of the south nave aisle.

The west window contains stained glass from St Stephen's Church (demolished), dating to 1851 and featuring early medieval-style figures. The east window is dedicated to the memory of Willard Stansfield, the first vicar, who served from 1889 to 1927.

The church was established to serve the rapidly expanding population of the parish of St Stephen. A mission church had been built in Shakespeare Street in 1877, but by 1881 the local population had grown to around 4,000, largely employed at the James Holroyd Leeds Fireclay Company at the Burmantofts Works. Land for the permanent church was acquired in 1886, and Lord Grimthorpe's alterations and additions to the architectural plans were made in 1887, with a contribution of £500 towards the cost. In 1888, the Sunday School scholars raised £20 in pennies and halfpennies towards the cost of the font.