King Cross - History

History

During the First English Civil War (1642–1646) Halifax was a Royalist stronghold, with King Cross as a key outpost, on the roads between Lancashire and West Yorkshire, with the Parliamentarians holding parts of the Calder Valley.

Prior to 1850 the area consisted of small hamlets and agricultural fields, in the parish of Halifax. With the onset of the industrial revolution, through the 18th and 19th centuries, the population steadily grew and King Cross was made a separate parish in 1845. A Commissioners' church, St. Paul's, designed by Robert Chantrell in 1845, was built in 1847, with seating for 450 people.

By the end of the 19th century, with a population of some 17,000 people, the older church of St. Paul's, built in 1847, had eventually run out of space for burials. A decision was made in 1909 to build a new church designed by Sir Charles Nicholson, with seating for 1,000, nearby. Except for the tower it was completed in 1912.

Following a fire in the old St. Pauls in 1930, during which the roof was destroyed, the building was demolished in 1931, leaving only the tower and spire standing. With the increased space burials continued in the graveyard until 1969. With some 1,737 graves in the graveyard the church asked the local council to take over the maintenance of the grounds. The area was eventually designated as a 'rest garden' in 1973, though with some considerable controversy.

The current church of St. Paul's is notable for its acoustics and an unusual and highly colourful west window, dedicated in 1937 in memory of Canon Hugh Bright and designed by Hugh Easton of Cambridge, who had also designed windows for Canterbury Cathedral, Exeter Cathedral and Durham Cathedral. The window depicts an apocalyptic vision of the Holy City descending upon the smoky mills and railway viaducts of Halifax. The church was built from locally sourced stone, the inside walls being made of ashlar from the quarries at Sowerby, and the external walls of stone from the quarries of Northowram and Hipperholme.

The first vicar of the old St. Paul's church Reverend Samuel Danby, from 1847-1859, married Mary Dorothy Wainhouse, the daughter of Edward Wainhouse, the local dye works owner, who partly funded the building of the church. The stained glass east window, designed by H.W. Bryans, in the new St. Pauls is dedicated in Edward Wainhouse's memory.

in 1905 the Reverend H.S. Footman, a curate of the old St. Paul's church became the Curate of the nearby St. Hilda's Mission Church, built in 1898

• Spire of the old St. Pauls church

• New St. Paul's church