Headingley Methodist Church

 

Headingley Methodist Church

Retracing my steps along Chapel Street, having photographed several listed buildings on a short walk from Alma Cottages to Chapel Street, I went to have a good look at Headingley Methodist Church by James Simpson which, according to Historic England (HE), was built 1840-45, with the transepts and apse added in 1862 and the west front remodelled in the 1890s. 

 

A view from the east end of Chapel Street

According to the church website, the extensive range of buildings fronting Chapel Street, comprising the Sunday School, church hall and vestry were added in 1908-1909 in a Gothic Revival style to match the original design, but I just took a few general record photos. 

 

The Sunday School and church hall

 

Looking from the other side of the road, the large blocks of blacked masonry appeared just like the tooled gritty sandstone that I had already seen in several buildings on my walk around Headingley to date and, crossing the road to take a closer look, the large quartz pebbles in the sawn stone dressings could be clearly seen – confirming that this was another use of Rough Rock from the Millstone Grit Group. 

 

A detail of pebbly Rough Rock

The church was open for a coffee morning and I popped inside to ask if I could have a quick look around the interior of the church, which was unlocked for me. In the few Victorian churches that I had visit during my days out, I wasn’t surprised to see that there was no stonework to be seen. 

 

A view west along the nave from the gallery

 

That said, although there wasn’t anything to to see that was obvious interest to this Language of Stone Blog, I was quite struck by its box pews, galleries, roof timbers and cast iron columns with capitals – all of which are brightly painted. 

 

A painted Corinthian capital on an iron column

 

The listing description by HE states that an inspection of the interior wasn’t undertaken, which is actually a great omission given the architectural quality that is recognised by the local community. Taking note of the dark brown veined alabaster and the greyish sandstone used for the base of the pulpit and short sections of walling at the west end of the aisles, I thanked the churchwarden and continued with my exploration of Headingley. 

 

Alabaster and sandstone

Stopping to take a single photograph of the east front of the church, without attempting to explore the south elevation and churchyard, I then turned down North Lane – a part of Headingley that is dominated by C20 architecture - where I had a very brief look at the south-west corner of the church, before heading off to my find the next building on my Photo Challenge.

 

The south-west corner of the church