History of LCES
As the Nineteenth Century
unfolded Leeds, like many other northern industrial towns, began to
expand in its population and industry. New urban areas were developed
and filled largely with back-to-back houses. Many of the new areas were
not served by the Church of England. Nonconformity got there first and
built its chapels. The Established Church was represented by the old
Leeds Parish Church and the four other town-centre churches of St.
John’s, Holy Trinity, St. Paul’s, and St. James’s. The three
Commissioners’ Churches of Christchurch, St. Mary’s, and St. Mark’s
were added in the 1820’s. But most of the seats in these churches were
taken up by the wealthier inhabitants of the town. The poor were not
catered for, so if they had any church allegiance at all it was to
Methodism. Little in-road was made into the newly developed urban areas
until W. F. Hook came as Vicar of Leeds in 1837. He quickly set about
rebuilding the Parish Church, which was re-opened in 1841, and then
dividing up the extensive Parish of Leeds into separate parishes, each
with its church, vicarage and school. When he left Leeds in 1859 to
become Dean of Chichester eighteen new churches had been founded.
The expansion of Leeds
continued, and again by 1864 there were new urban areas not served by
the Church of England. Hook’s successor as Vicar of Leeds, Dr. James
Atlay, helped to found the Leeds Church Extension Society, which was to
run for ten years. Its three main objectives were: i) to increase the
incomes of underpaid incumbents, ii) to establish additional incumbents
in new districts which were to be cut off from over-populated parishes,
and iii) to erect new churches. A fourth task was added later, namely
iv) to provide temporary places of worship and the maintenance of
curacies in areas which were destined to become separate parishes.
During the first ten years the Society was instrumental in the erection
of nine churches. A temporary, moveable ‘iron church’ was provided as a
centre for mission in new areas.
In spite of these great
advances, church building had not kept up with the rapid expansion of
population in Leeds. In 1875 the Society was re-constituted for another
ten years, and endeavoured to raise £100,000 for the erection of
churches, one of which was to be in memory of Dr. Hook. The
fund-raising target was not met, but at the end of ten years another
nine churches had been opened. In 1887 the Leeds Church Extension
Society was made a permanent Society with the object of making grants
towards providing churches or mission rooms, and towards the stipends
of mission clergy.
The Nineteenth Century had seen
the great expansion of population in Leeds, followed by church
provision in the inner areas of the city. But by the beginning of the
Twentieth Century improvements in public transport led to the
depopulation of the centre of the city and an increase in new suburbs.
Many of the churches built by W. F. Hook were becoming redundant, as
Leeds pursued its slum-clearance policy. The Leeds Church Act of 1901
provided for some rationalisation of church plant, and withdrawal from
redundant parishes in order to concentrate scarce resources into new
areas. Churches were built to serve the suburbs and new Corporation
estates as they were developed, but it was concluded that the promotion
of church building had become primarily the concern of the diocese, and
that the Society could serve the Church best by concentrating on
the maintaining and improving of existing church plant. This remains
its primary concern today.
The Twenty-first Century has
seen the rapid expansion of the city centre in its business, commercial
and leg al sectors. Alongside this there has been a repopulation of the
city centre, largely through the building of flats. The next challenge
for the Leeds Church Extension Society is to explore ways of bringing a
church presence to those who live here.
For a full story of Church
Extension in Leeds see R. J. Wood Church
Extension in Leeds (Leeds 1964)
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