900 Years of History
Introduction
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The church that is now known as Halifax Minster has existed in some form for approximately nine hundred years. From the rural epoque of Ingelard Turbard, the first Vicar of Halifax, to the industrial changes observed by the diarist Anne Lister, the Minster has remained steadfast as Halifax’s oldest spiritual sanctuary.
The Minster’s survival can be attributed to its community, both within and outside its core congregation. Even during the turbulent periods of the Reformation, the growth of Nonconformism, industrialisation and de-industrialisation, the Minster remained a part of Halifax’s cultural, civic and religious life. Indeed, the history of Halifax Minster is deeply intertwined with the history of its surrounding town. As the Minster looks to the future, it draws on its heritage, to times of ease and endurance, which inspire a sense of love, patience and perseverance.
A Medieval Parish Church
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The history of Halifax before the twelfth century is cloaked in mystery. The town is missing from the Domesday Book and it is unclear whether a church existed there at all before 1100. By 1200, however, Halifax Parish Church was a Romanesque construction at the heart of one of the largest parishes in England. The church was built due to two developments that occurred in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest (1066). The first was the overwhelming seizure of land by the victorious Norman nobility, including the manor of Wakefield (containing Halifax). The second was the spread of the Cluniac movement, a current of the Benedictine reform movement, into England. The Priory of Lewes, Sussex (below) became the first Cluniac monastery in England in 1077.
In the early twelfth century, feudal privileges concerning Halifax were transferred from the Norman Warenne family to the Cluniac monks of Lewes. The Priory of Lewes then oversaw the construction of Halifax’s first parish church, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. Fragments of this Anglo-Norman church survive, most obviously the chevrons still visible in pieces of masonry and the twelfth century grave covers which depict cropper’s shears. Frustrated by the absentee rectors appointed by the Warenne family, the monks of Lewes began to appoint resident vicars with papal approval. Vicars thus appeared in Halifax from the thirteenth century. The monks would continue to appoint Vicars of Halifax until the Reformation, the Crown claiming patronage in 1540.
The first Vicar of Halifax, Ingelard Turbard, rebuilt the church in the late thirteenth century. Turbard’s church stood to the north of the present building and remained largely unchanged until the mid-fifteenth century. By that time, Halifax had become a small town with regular market activity and textile production. From 1437 onwards, the church underwent major construction work including the chancel, the nave and the building of the west tower.
In 1502, the monks of Lewes appointed perhaps the most prominent pre-Reformation Vicar, William Rokeby. Rokeby is well-known for holding the senior positions of Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of Dublin in Ireland. He also assisted with the baptism of Mary Tudor in 1516, who would famously attempt to reverse the English Reformation later in the century. Rokeby is better known in Halifax for matters concerning his death. He made a bequest for the building of a chantry chapel on the north side of Halifax Parish Church, which survives today as the Rokeby Chapel. Rokeby also unusually requested that his heart be buried beneath the chancel. The rest of Rokeby’s remains are located some fifty miles away in St. Oswald’s Church in Kirk Sandall, near Doncaster.
A Legacy of Reformation
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The early Reformation in Halifax coincided with the tenure of Robert Holdsworth as Vicar (1525-1556). Holdsworth was the last Vicar to be appointed by the Priory of Lewes, which was dissolved in 1537. By the end of the century, the Crown would be responsible for appointing Halifax’s vicars. Holdsworth was responsible for carrying out the Protestant reforms of Henry VIII and Edward VI in Halifax, which resulted in the introduction of an English Bible and the closure of the chantries. He remained Vicar during the reign of Mary I, therefore overseeing the reintroduction of the Latin mass following Mary’s restoration of Catholicism in England. The Holdsworth chapel was built during his lifetime in honour of his father, John Holdsworth, a local Halifax merchant.
Protestantism was evidently growing in Halifax and at the end of the sixteenth century, the office of Vicar was granted to the enthusiastic Puritan, John Favour. An alabaster monument dedicated to Favour was built on the south wall of Halifax Parish Church (today’s Minster).
By the early seventeenth century, Halifax was a hotbed of Puritanism and in the 1640s, the townspeople supported parliamentarianism in the wake of the English Civil War. This put them at odds with the Laudian (Anglo-Catholic) Vicar, Richard Marsh, who fled the town in 1642. Marsh returned, however, for a second period as Vicar in 1660 after the restoration of the monarchy. Upon his return, he immediately reinstalled the font cover, which had been removed by Scottish Presbyterian soldiers in 1645.
Enduring symbols of the Interregnum period are the distinctive plain-glazed windows, donated by Dorothy Waterhouse in memory of her husband Nathaniel, a Halifax Puritan merchant and philanthropist in 1652, the year that the Commonwealth Arms were installed in the church’s west end.
Another relic of the seventeenth century is the effigy of Old Tristram, photographed above c1890. Tristram was a licensed beggar who operated within the precincts of Halifax Parish Church clutching an alms box and bearing a scroll with the legend: ‘Pray Remember the Poor’. Tristram’s effigy stands facing all visitors to the Minster, a constant reminder of the
importance of grace and charity. The pews of the nave are also of seventeenth century origin and were originally installed in the decade before the Civil War. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the nave’s ceiling was decorated with heraldry associated with previous Vicars, local families and the tribes of Israel.
Many of the profound subsequent changes of the eighteenth century were musical. The Church’s eight bells, present in since the fifteenth century, were replaced en masse. A spectacular organ was erected in the west gallery by the Swiss organ builder, John Snetzler. William Herschel became the first organist. Herschel would soon move on, however, famously developing a passion for astronomy that would result in his discovery of Uranus.
Throughout the eighteenth century, Halifax was profoundly affected by Evangelical Nonconformism, which spread rapidly among textile workers. Halifax’s artisanal textile industry had grown since the Middle Ages and began to flourish, leading to the opening of the Piece Hall in 1779. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, first visited Halifax in 1742 and preached in the Parish Church with permission of the Vicar. By the early nineteenth century, there had been a rapid increase in Nonconformist chapels and meeting houses, including the Square Chapel which now stands near Halifax Central Library. Responding to this trend, H. W. Coulthurst, Vicar from 1790 to 1817, founded a new Anglican church in Halifax dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Coulthurst is also known for his association with the Loyal Georgean Society and his role in suppressing the Luddite movement in Halifax. The memorial built for James Green, the founder of the Loyal Georgean Society, remains in the Minster.
An Industrial Heritage
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By the mid-nineteenth century, the town that surrounded Halifax Parish Church had been transformed. It was now the location of over 250 textile mills with a growing population of industrial workers. Halifax’s financial sector also took off around this time, with the emergence of the building society movement, a development that would define Halifax’s future identity.
In response to Halifax’s rapid population growth, Charles Musgrave, Vicar remarkably from 1827 to 1875, followed in the footsteps of Coulthurst by constructing or restoring no less than thirty-eight churches. The Parish Church’s exterior, like so many buildings in Halifax, darkened during this period due to the amount of soot and grime present in the air.
Some colour was added, however, with the magnificent stained glass east window, presented by the industrialist Edward Akroyd and designed by George Hedgeland in 1856, based upon a prize-winning design from the Great Exhibition of 1851 (photo on p23).
In 1867 Musgrave opened Halifax Parish Church Day School in Dispensary Walk on the site of the old Waterhouse Almshouses. The building was subsequently used as a Church Hall and is now mainly leased as offices.
In the last quarter of the century, the church underwent a dramatic refurbishment by George Gilbert Scott, the results of which can still be seen today. An ostentatious triple-decker pulpit was removed, as were several large eighteenth-century galleries. The pews were also taken out and cut down.
The organ was repositioned in the chancel and John Oldrid-Scott was responsible for a magnificent, new organ case. Snetzler’s original organ case was reused in the north aisle but has since been replaced. Some original Snetzler pipes remain in use.
Halifax’s transformation was observed and commented upon by many associates of the Parish Church. Indeed, Musgrave’s successor, Francis Pigou, remarked that Halifax had become home to many ‘unostentatious’ men who nevertheless had ‘large fortunes’.
Halifax’s most famous nineteenth century observer, however, remains the remarkable lesbian diarist, Anne Lister. Lister, a keen entrepreneur, played a role in Halifax’s industrialisation by investing in mines and canals. Simultaneously, Lister was aware of the consequences of industrialisation and remarked upon Halifax’s declining air quality in 1837.
Anne maintained an Anglican faith throughout her life and worshipped at the Parish Church, where she was baptised and laid to rest. Anne’s rediscovered tomb remains in the Minster and attracts visitors from across the globe. Anne’s life has recently been the subject of the prominent BBC/HBO series Gentleman Jack.
The Aftermath of War
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Halifax’s inhabitants were profoundly affected by the two world wars during the first half of the twentieth century. Thousands of men from Halifax died in the bloodshed of the First World War (1914-1918). Almost half had been members of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, then based at Highroad Well in Halifax. In 1922, a large cenotaph, based on E. L. Lutyens’ Whitehall Cenotaph, was erected in Belle Vue to honour the fallen. This monument was moved to Duffy’s Park in the 1980s.
The present church clock was also installed during the inter-war period and features a double three-legged gravity escapement, similar to the mechanism in Big Ben.
After hundreds more from Halifax lost their lives in the Second World War and the Korean War, memorial plaques were added to the Cenotaph to remember their sacrifice. Within the Parish Church itself, the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment adopted the south-eastern chapel as their own. In 1951, an official dedication occurred to establish what is now known as the Wellington Chapel. The Regiment’s colours are proudly displayed in acknowledgement of their historic campaigns, which include Waterloo and Crimea.
Halifax Parish Church and its vicars continued to play a prominent role in post-war town life. Eric Treacy was a notable Vicar of Halifax during this time. Known as ‘the Ecclesiastical Mayor of Halifax’, Treacy held the office between 1949 and 1962, before becoming Bishop of Pontefract and subsequently Bishop of Wakefield. He organised the provision of a pedestrian zone near the church which blocked off Upper Kirkgate and part of Causeway to vehicles. He was also a railway photographer and thousands of his pictures are currently being digitised by the National Railway Museum. A memorial under the Minster’s tower remembers his life and subsequent passing on Appleby Station.
Small alterations were made during this time to the interior of the Parish Church. A dais (now replaced) was installed in 1983 after the removal of certain pews from the nave. New pieces of carpentry were added in the later twentieth century, crafted by Robert ‘Mousey’ Thompson, who enjoyed adding wooden mice to his finished works. Thompsons’s mice can be found on chairs in the Wellington Chapel and on the panelling behind the altar in the chancel. The organ was cleaned and modified in 1976, having been completely rebuilt in 1926. The bells were re-cast and re-hung in 1951 and re-hung once more in 1993. Considered some of the best church bells in Britain, the Minster’s peal continues to attract bellringers from across the country. The Tenor bell current weighs just under 1.5 tonnes.
Like much of the North, Halifax’s manufacturing industry declined between 1950 and 2000. Some remnants still survive today, however, such as the Nestlé factory near the train station, continuing a long tradition of confectionery production in Halifax.
A Modern Minster
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Since 2000, the Minster has undergone significant modernisation. This was partly overseen by the Minster’s first female Vicar, Wendy Wilby, (2001-2006). In 2005, the south-west porch was redeveloped with a new glass doorway, complete with a quotation from Saint John the Baptist: ‘Behold, the Lamb of God’.
In 2007, Hilary Barber was appointed Vicar and oversaw the church’s transition from parish church to minster status. The church was selected for minster status due to its large size and monastic heritage. The change also occurred as part of a strategy to improve the reputation of Halifax after the near collapse of HBOS during the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
The word ‘minster’ is an honorific in reference to the early medieval mynster churches, which were widespread in England before the tenth century. The title has been resurrected since the 1990s and has been given to a small number of extraordinary parish churches throughout Britain. The Minster is now part of a prominent group of Yorkshire minsters, which includes Leeds, Doncaster, and most famously, York.
Hilary Barber remains Vicar and has sought a balance between modernisation and recognition of the Minster’s traditions. He has sought to revive the church’s association with Benedictine spirituality by providing at least three public services a day, including a Eucharist (excluding Saturdays). At the same time, the Minster now hosts an increasingly diverse range of secular and spiritual events for the town’s communities. In 2016, Hilary Barber oversaw a significant reorganisation of the nave, which included the introduction of a new altar and lectern, a removeable octagonal dais together with new stalls for the choir. This, alongside an improved west end, allows for the Minster’s space to be flexible to suit the requirements of concerts, conferences and civic functions.
The Minster’s civic function has proved vital for Halifax in recent years. During the COVID19 pandemic, the Minster was used for council meetings and mayor-making ceremonies due to its vast space. The Minster also hosted memorial services for the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, providing a ring of muffled bells for the former.
The Minster is now equipped for media broadcasts and has hosted a number of broadcasts on the BBC. The Minster has also acquired a reputation beyond Britain. It has established connections with the Lutheran community in Aachen, Germany (twinned with the town of Halifax) and the Cathedral Church of St Peter in Kowak, Tanzania (twinned with Halifax Minster). The Minster choir have undertaken tours of France and Germany in recent years, a reflection of the church’s sophisticated and professional musical direction.
Sources and Further Reading
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The information in this booklet derives primarily from the research of John A. Hargreaves in John A. Hargreaves, A History of Halifax: From Prehistoric Times to the Present Day, 3rd edition, (Lancaster: Carnegie Publishing, 2020). Additional sources have been kindly provided by Andy Barber and include Selwyn Crabtree and Geoffrey Washington’s Parish Church Guide, written in 1994 during the tenure of Vicar Robert Swinton Gibson; Margaret Whiteley’s booklet, The Organ of Halifax Minster, first written in 2001 and revised by Andy Barber in 2024; David Baker’s 2015 booklet, Snetzler Comes to Halifax; the Architectural History Practice’s Assessment of Heritage Significance (Nave Seating in Halifax Minster, Halifax), written in 2010; Richard C. Lister, A Rare Survival the Loyal Georgean Society, Halifax, 1779-2009, (Halifax: The Loyal Georgean Society, 2009); T.W. Hanson, ‘Halifax Parish Church – Norman Era’, Transactions of the Halifax Antiquarian Society 489 (1953), pp. 21-30.
The direct quotation of Francis Pigou can be found in Francis Pigou, Phases of My Life, (London: Edward Arnold, 1898), pp. 83-86 and in John Hargreaves’ History of Halifax, p. 189.
Further research on Halifax Minster and the wider town can be found within the transactions of theHalifax Antiquarian Society, accessible online at https://www.halifaxhistory.org.uk/transactions-list/. Several introductions to the life and diaries of Anne Lister exist. Anne Choma has recently written Gentleman Jack: The Real Anne Lister, published 2019, which contains a preface by Sally Wainwright, the writer of Gentleman Jack.
Photo credits: All © Halifax Minster/Andy Barber, except as below:
Lewes Priory, p3 Taken by John Armagh 2012. Licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
p11, 12 (top), 17 – Calderdale Libraries
p7, 12, 14 (bottom) – Calderdale Museums
p13, 16, 20 – Mark Sykes https://www.flickr.com/photos/marksykesphotography/