History
An early 7th century church on this site was burned down in 633 AD. A church at Ledes is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The church was rebuilt twice, after a fire in the 14th century, and again in the 19th century. Walter Farquhar Hook, Vicar of Leeds from 1837 until preferment as Dean of Chichester in 1859 was responsible for the construction of the present building, and of the re-vitalising of the Anglican church throughout Leeds as a whole. The architect was Robert Dennis Chantrell. At the time of its construction, it was the largest new church in England built since Sir Christopher Wren's St Paul's Cathedral erected after the Great Fire of London and consecrated in 1707. The new parish church was rebuilt by voluntary contributions from the townspeople at a cost of over £29,000 and consecrated on 2 September 1841. Florence Nightingale and Dr Edward Bouverie Pusey were among the congregation and Dr Samuel Sebastian Wesley played the organ.
The east end was altered between 1870 and 1880.
The parish church became Leeds Minster in a ceremony on Sunday 2 September 2012, the exact 171st anniversary of the 1841 consecration of the building.
Read more about this topic: Leeds Parish Church
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