Description

LEEDS

SE23SE TOWN STREET, Beeston
714-1/10/533 (North side)
05/08/76 Church of St Mary

II

Anglican church. Chancel 1877, nave and aisles 1885-6 by CH
Thornton. Rock-faced coursed masonry. Steeply-pitched slate
roofs.
PLAN: nave, low aisles, chancel. Gothic Revival style.
EXTERIOR: round clerestory windows with quatrefoil and trefoil
lights. Small aisle lancets and Perpendicular window in E end
of S aisle. 5-light E window with plate tracery. Rose window
in W gable with plate traceried 2-light windows below. Small
stone gabled porch to SW and slim tower, square on plan with
octagonal belfry with small gables over and short stone spire.
2 gravestones, of the Clark family of Beeston Park and Beeston
Lodge, are built into the E wall of the vestry (outside).
INTERIOR: 5-bay nave, cylindrical columns, roll-moulded caps,
stone corbels, arch-braced timber roof. NW corner: C17 font
with octagonal base, chamfered shaft, strapwork decoration to
bowl; font in use dated 1886. Shallow aisles, wall memorials
pre-date rebuilding. N Wall: John Hewitt, 1796; Samuel Walker
of Millshaw, cloth manufacturer, '...zealous for the
advancement of the/ Woollen manufacture of this
neighbourhood', d.1851. S wall: John Jackson of Cottingley
Hall, 1695; brass plaque with inscription to Christopher
Hodgson, 1642, Elizabeth Hodgson, 1648.
West gallery, cast-iron columns, organ. Pulpit given by Mary
Scales of Armley Ridge, 1886: octagonal, arcaded panels,
moulded and carved decoration.
Chancel: arch has attached octagonal columns, ribbed and
panelled ceiling, restoration and reredos panelling 1920,
altar 1950. Fragments of C16 heraldic stained glass in E
window of S chapel which is the re-set window of the earlier
chapel (see below). Chancel E window by Thomas Baillie, in
memory of William Hill, d.1841, for Harriet Hill, d.1878.
In the vestry: C12 fragments of carved stone reconstructed as
an archway, not seen.
HISTORICAL NOTE: the medieval chapel on this site had nave and
chancel with a late C15 S chapel. The chapel was rebuilt post
1789, retaining the E windows. The present chancel was added
to the late C18 rebuild in 1877 and the old building was
demolished in 1885-6 when the nave was added; the medieval S
chapel window was retained however, and built into the
corresponding position in the new church; earlier fragments

being rebuilt in the vestry.
(West Yorkshire Archaeological Service: Ryder, P: Medieval
Churches of West Yorkshire: 1993-: 141).

Listing NGR: SE2869430839

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26547369

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)