The Church of St Michael and All Angels, Beckwithshaw, North Yorkshire, England, also known as Beckwithshaw Church, is an Anglican church built and furnished between 1886 and 1887 by William Swinden Barber in the Gothic Revival style as part of the Arts and Crafts movement. The stained glass windows in the same style were added in 1892. The church is listed as a Grade II historic structure; it is a pristine and unchanged example of an Arts and Crafts church retaining all its original furnishings, apart from one missing statue. However, in 2018 the church officers gained planning permission for changes which included removing all of the original pews. The first vicar of this church, from 1887 to 1894, was Charles Farrar Forster.The York Herald, 1 September 1894: Death of the Rev. C.F. Forster, vicar of BeckwithshawHuddersfield Chronicle 18 September 1894: The late Rev. C.F. Forster
Location When the church was built in the late 19th century, Beckwithshaw was a little hamlet, about two and a half miles from Harrogate, and its ecclesiastical district had to be carved from Pannal parish. In 1886 the view was described thus: "In the immense sweep of country which meets the view from the higher grounds lying between Harrogate and Otley and which, beautiful as it is, conveys an idea of loneliness to the mind from the very few habitations that are seen, the eye rests with a sense of relief upon the newly-erected edifice at Beckwithshaw."The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 1886 However, in January and February 1885 there had been an outbreak of scarlet fever, and the school was closed for at least six weeks.The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 24 January 1885: Knaresborough board of guardians As of 2014 Beckwithshaw is a small village.
Funding, design and construction
Donors Dr Henry Williams and his wife lived at Moor Park House, built in 1859 in Beckwithshaw, and acquired by them in 1882.Laminated history sheet for visitors at Beckwithshaw Church: St Michael and All Angels: a brief history of the church The household and estate, expanded in 1882, employed many local people until the late 1970s when Harrison Developments of Leeds bought the buildings and converted them into flats.BBC: Domesday reloaded, Moor Park House Retrieved 29 January 2014 The church was built "entirely at their own expense."The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 30 September 1886: "Church consecrations by the Bishop of Ripon: Beckwithshaw" They funded the building at £8,000, with an endowment of £5,000.British Listed Buildings: Mansion House, Moor Park, Beckwithshaw Retrieved 28 January 2014 Built 1859, it is Grade II listed and has been divided into apartments.
Mrs Williams insisted that there should be no graveyard at the church site, and a contemporary local tendency to fear of the subject may have some bearing on this decision. Arabella Elizabeth Tetley, a Beckwithshaw schoolmaster's wife, died of puerperal fever at age 23 years and was buried at Woodhouse Cemetery on Friday 17 April 1888.Death cert: Mar 1888, TETLEY, Arabella Elizabeth, 23, Knaresbrough, 9a/94 However gravedigger Fred Posey thought he saw "an upheaval of the earth which he had placed upon the coffin and heard a creak which led him to believe that the buried woman was alive and trying to wrench the lid away." He raised the alarm, saying that he had heard "rattling" in the coffin, and a "knocking such as I never heard afore in a grave" in 42 years of gravedigging. There was an exhumation and an inquest which ruled that there had been no disturbance within the coffin, so that the verdict was "natural causes."Lancaster Gazette, 10 March 1888
Architect
The architect was William Swinden Barber, FRIBA (fl.1855–1898) of Halifax. His listed works include at least fifteen other buildings, mostly Anglican, Neo-Gothic, Arts and Crafts churches within West Yorkshire.The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 30 September 1886: Beckwithshaw. Retrieved 29 January 2014. Includes full description of church building as of 1886.Church Plans Online: William Swinden Barber Retrieved 19 January 2014Directory of British Architects 1834-1900, comp. A. Felstead, J. Franklin and L. Pinfield (R.I.B.A., 1993)RIBA: British Architectural Library Catalogue, location of biographical file Barber designed and commissioned all interior decoration and furnishings for his buildings.
Builder The contractor for the work was James Simpson (1825–1891) of Harrogate.Harrogate people and places: Later history and development of Harrogate. James Simpson, builder, dead by 1891 In 1881 he was aged 56 and living at 22 Parliament Terrace, Harrogate, near Bettys, with his wife Ellen aged 53, and his son David aged 21, a stonemason. He and his son were born in Harrogate; his wife was born at Burniston near Scarborough.United Kingdom Census 1881, ArchRefRG11, Fol.29, p.17, PieceNo4327 He was an Alderman whose daughter died in 1890 by falling from a railway carriage at Starbeck, and Simpson won £100 damages for negligence from the North Eastern Railway Company.Yorkshire Evening Post, 20 March 1891: Yorkshire winter assizesYork Herald, 9 September 1890: Harrogate town council
History Before this church was built, the congregation had to travel to the Church of All Saints, Harlow Hill, and then to a local school room for services.Pateley Bridge & Nidderdale Herald, Saturday 29 November 1884 p5 col4: Beckwithshaw The foundation stone for this church was laid on 29 September 1884. The day was the feast day of St Michael and Mrs Williams' birthday.
Consecration in 1886
The church was completed in 1886 and it was dedicated and consecrated by Mrs Williams' uncle, The Bishop of Ripon, at Michaelmas, Thursday 29 September. (On the afternoon of the same day, the bishop consecrated another church also dedicated to St Michael and All Angels at Cottingley, near Bingley.Yorkshire Gazette, 2 October 1886: "Ecclesiastical news"Cottingley Connect: St Michael and All Angels church Retrieved 17 January 2014. Note: Cottingley church was demolished 1969. Since both churches shared the same dedication and the same consecration date by the same bishop, it is possible that there was some connection between these church buildings.Leeds Times, Saturday 2 October 1886) The church was filled, although Beckwithshaw was at that time just a hamlet with a few surrounding farmhouses. There was a grand procession into the church, headed by the robed choir. Behind them came the churchwardens, one of which was Henry Williams the donor, then the Bishop of Ripon in full vestments. Behind them followed many robed clergymen, including Samuel Owen Madden the Dean of Cork, Henry Stewart the Dean of Dromore, Rev. Canon William Winter Gibbon, MA, vicar of Christ Church, High Harrogate, Rev. Dr A. Buck of St Mary's Church, Stainburn, Rev. Mark Rowntree, MA, of St Robert's Church, Pannal, Rev. G.O. Brownrigg, MA, vicar of St Mary's Harrogate, Rev. R.G. Brownrigg of St Mary's, Harrogate, Rev. A. Robinson of St John the Evangelist Church, Bilton,The Church of England: history of St John the Evangelist, Bilton Retrieved 31 January 2014 Rev. T.F. Buckton of Christ Church, High Harrogate, and Rev. H. Kershaw of St Mary's Church, Greenhow Hill.Welcome to Greenhow: St Mary's Church Retrieved 31 January 2014Note: Leeds Mercury 30 Sep 1886 gives Buckton as vicar of St Mary's and Kershaw as vicar of Pately Bridge. Gibbon, Rowntree and Buck conducted the service, because the church did not yet have its own vicar. The organ was not yet installed, so a Miss Burnley played a harmonium, which may at that time have been placed within the organ arch. The choir was made up of local residents who had been trained by the new choirmaster, Mr Halliwell. The bishop preached the sermon, after which there was a collection amounting to £11 13s., for the Wakefield Bishopric Fund.
Jubilee in 1936 The jubilee of the church's consecration was celebrated on the evening of 30 September 1936, with a special service conducted by the Rev. H.R. Stott who had served as vicar of the parish for the preceding forty-two years. The Bishop of Ripon gave the sermon. By this time Mr and Mrs Henry Williams of Moor Park had died, but in the intervening years since funding the building and endowing the vicar's living, they had given a vicarage, the church furnishings, and the village institute. Since their deaths, their relatives had made more "substantial gifts" to the church and increased the value of the benefice. In the same year the church fabric and the organ were renovated at a total cost of £360.The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 30 September 1936: Church's jubilee
Building
This structure is fairly similar to its medieval parish church, St Robert's Church, Pannal, with a few exceptions: the tower is attached to the south-west side of the church, and it has a purpose-built organ chamber and vestry which St Robert's does not. It is built of local sandstone from Killinghall quarry.Killinghall Stone Quarry, Ripon Road, Harrogate, is still a working quarry It was described by the York Herald as a "substantial structure, well furnished in the interior, and in every respect suitable as a parish church." However the donors did not want an elaborate building in this countryside location, but settled on a "neat, plain and substantial structure." The building is in pristine condition and remains exactly as it was built and furnished on the day of its consecration in 1886, except for a missing statue described as a "group of St Michael overcoming the Dragon, placed between the west windows of the nave."Book of Revelation (12:7-9) - Archangel Michael overcomes a dragon which represents SatanTo get an idea of what the missing statue might have looked like, see image of a similar type of statue in front of a west window hereThe setting for the missing statue was the west wall of the nave, see image: :File:Beckwithshaw Church 23 Feb 2014 002.jpg
Tower The exterior shape of the tower is similar to the 15th to 16th century tower of St Robert's Church, Pannal, except that this one has an exterior staircase to the ringer's chamber and belfry. The main western entrance to the church is through the tower, so the ground floor doubles as entrance lobby. There is no public access to the tower.
Bells There is no public access to the bellringers' chamber, the belfry or the tower roof. In the tower's bell chamber there are six bells, variously described as "nicely-toned" and "richly-toned," which have been hung for full circle ringing.Leeds Mercury 30 September 1886: Consecration of a new church by the Bishop of RiponHarrogate people and places: Harrogate in brief Retrieved 28 January 2014 They were cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1886.Whitechapel Bell Foundry: Identifying old Whitechapel bells Retrieved 28 January 2014 The name of the company, Mears and Stainbank, is cast into the bells, along with the names of Henry and Ellen Williams the donors, and their children. The diameters of the bells, from smallest to tenor, are: (1) Joshua 28.25in., (2) John 30.75in., (3) Annie 33.25in., (4) Mary 34.75in., (5) Ellen 37in. and (6) Henry 42.75in. The round is D#, C#, B, A#, G#, F#. The tenor bell weighs .RiponandLeedsBells.co.uk: Beckwithshaw St Michael and All Angels Retrieved 28 January 2014 In the bell chamber is a wooden frame consisting of two tiers of three bells each. 1, 3 and 5 hang above 2, 4 and 6, such that 1 is above 2; 3 is above 4; 5 is above 6, putting the heavier bells upon one side, that is, the west side. They are hung thus: "each bell hangs from its original wooden headstock though a restoration has seen the fitting of independent crown staples and ball bearings. The third has an SG clapper whilst those of the others are wrought iron. Traditional stays and sliders."Beckwithshaw Today:The tower bells and view from top of tower Retrieved 28 January 2014