Church of St Joseph and attached Presbytery

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SE 4521 NW 7/3

PONTEFRACT BACK STREET (south side) Church of St Joseph and attached Presbytery

15.11.88

II*

Roman Catholic church and presbytery. 1806 with C20 alterations. Clad in artificial stone, Welsh and stone slate roofs. First-floor church of six bays above presbytery and former schoolroom, with staircase wing at north-west end and lower two-storey three-bay addition to presbytery at east end.

Church, south side: six first-floor keyed round-arched windows, and to right on each floor a casement window; ashlar coping, Welsh slate roof; tabled brick stack at right end. North side: ground floor, from left: 16-pane sash window; six-panel door below fanlight in round-arched artificial stone surround; side-sliding sash window; casement window in square surround; plaque recording historical importance of the church; four-panel door below fanlight with intersecting tracery; on first floor, two quatrefoils in artificial stone surrounds. At right end, projecting gabled wing, with on each floor a round-arched window, the upper one taller and lighting the staircase; gable cross. In its left return, leaved four-panel door below fanlight with intersecting tracery.

At east end, presbytery has three bays of casement windows with wedge lintels voussoired and with fluted keystones: hipped stone slate roof.

Interior: entrance hall in wing contains open-well staircase with wreathed handrail and good cast-iron acanthus balusters, leading up to church and continuing up to west gallery; modillion ceiling cornice and central acanthus ceiling decoration. Entrance to church has leaved doors of six reeded panels in fluted architrave with corner paterae and panelled door lining. At west end, gallery has panelled front; C20 infilling below gallery to form confessional; upper west wall has two blind round arches in architraves; gallery contains some original pitch-pine seating and has dado; ceiling above gallery is coved. East end of church has segmental-arched sanctuary apse with pilasters with fluted capitals and round-arched panels; in domical ceiling above, a dove in a patera; sanctuary is flanked on left by an image niche and on right by a door matching that at entrance. Ceiling has dentil cornice and three decorative features of acanthus leaves in scalloped paterae. Late C19 benches.

The church predates the Catholic Emancipation Act by over twenty years, and replaced the mission church of St Michael on Carleton Green founded in 1685 by Father Hammerton, S J, of Purston.

Listing NGR: SE4522321901