| Bradford Cathedral | |
|---|---|
| Cathedral Church of St Peter | |
 Bradford Cathedral from the Cathedral Close | |
  Bradford Cathedral Shown within West Yorkshire | |
| 53°47′44″N1°44′51″W / 53.79556°N 1.74750°W /53.79556; -1.74750 | |
| OS grid reference | SE 16715 33264 |
| Location | Bradford, West Yorkshire |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Previous denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Tradition | Broad church,Open evangelical |
| Website | www |
| Architecture | |
| Style | Gothic |
| Years built | c. 1400–1965 |
| Administration | |
| Province | York |
| Diocese | Leeds (since 2014) |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop | Nick Baines |
| Dean | Andy Bowerman |
| Canon(s) | Ned Lunn (Canon for Intercultural Mission and the Arts) |
Bradford Cathedral, or theCathedral Church of St Peter, is anAnglicancathedral inBradford,West Yorkshire, England, one of three co-equal cathedrals in theDiocese of Leeds alongsideRipon andWakefield. Its site has been used for Christian worship since the 7th century,[1] when missionaries based inDewsbury evangelised the area. For many centuries it was theparish church ofSt Peter and achieved cathedral status in 1919. The cathedral is aGrade I listed building.[2]
The first church on the site was believed to have been built inAnglo-Saxon times and fell into ruin after theNorman Conquest in 1066. A second church was built around 1200. The first mention of the parish of Bradford as distinct from being part of the parish of Dewsbury appears in the register of the Archbishop of York in 1281. Alice de Lacy, widow of Edmund de Lacy, one of the descendants of Ilbert de Lacy, gave a grant to the parish of Bradford that is recorded in the register of the Archbishop Wickwayne.[3] Around 1327, Scottish raiders burnt down most of this stone church.[4]
During the 14th century the church was rebuilt and some of the older masonry may have been used in the reconstruction of thenave. The construction of the third church was completed in 1458. The tower in thePerpendicular style was added to the west end and finished in 1508.[5] Aclerestory was added by the end of the 15th century.Proprietary chapels were founded, on the north side of the chancel by the Leventhorpe family, and on the south by the owners ofBolling Hall. In 1854Robert Mawer carved a newreredos inCaen stone for the church.[6] There is a photograph of it in the church archive. This reredos was lost during the 1950s rebuild byEdward Maufe.
Originally in theDiocese of York, the church was in theDiocese of Ripon before becoming a cathedral in 1919, when theDiocese of Bradford was created; it became one of three co-equal cathedrals of the newDiocese of Leeds upon its creation on 20 April 2014.[7]
The building was extended in the 1950s and 1960s by Edward Maufe.[8] The east end of the cathedral is Maufe's work, as well as the two west wings which contain the Song Room and Cathedral offices.[9] In his east end extension he reused theMorris & Co.stained glass from the old east window. There is Victorian stained glass throughout the building including at the west end, where there is a window showing women of theBible, and stained glass in theFirst World War memorial window dating from 1921. The many wall monuments include a sculpture byJohn Flaxman.
In 1987 the nave and west end were re-ordered to accommodate a growing number of visitors. The roof panelling was cleaned and restored, and new lighting was installed. To enable flexibility of use, the Victorianpews were replaced by chairs. The naveorgan was removed to give more light and space at the west end, and a Bradford Computer Organ was installed, complementing the pipe organ in the choir with loudspeakers in the nave, though this is no longer in use.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the cathedral authorities decided to develop a museum of religion in St Peter's House (built in the 19th century as Bradford's mainpost office). The visitor numbers were much lower than expected, and the project collapsed, leaving the cathedral in debt, from which it was discharged in 2007.[10] St Peter's House is now owned by a South Asian arts group, Kala Sangam.[11]
The cathedral is set in a smallconservation area which includes the close to its north.[12] The close provides modern housing for thedean andcanons residentiary, the bishop's official residence,Bishopcroft, being inHeaton, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) from the city centre.[13][14]
The cathedral and its predecessors were built on the shelf of alluvial land that had formed on the outside of the bend whereBradford Beck turns north, but the town grew up on the lower ground on the other side of the beck, so the church was always just outside the centre of town. In the 19th and 20th centuries the cathedral was partly hidden from the centre by buildings, first by the post office just below it, and subsequently by the 1960s developments ofForster Square and Petergate. The latter areas were demolished in 2006, leaving the cathedral more visible than for many years prior to the completion of theBroadway Centre in 2015.
As of 21 May 2023:[15]
Bradford Cathedral has long been a place of music.[16]During term-time, Choral Services are sung as follows:[17]Sunday 10.30 am Choral Eucharist (rotates girls/adults, boys/adults or Cathedral Consort);Sunday 3:30 pm Choral Evensong (adults choir);Monday 5:30 pm Choral Evensong (girls choir);Tuesday 5:30 pm Choral Evensong (boys choir)
The boys and girls of the Choir sing as separate top lines and are drawn from as many as 20 local schools at any time. New entrants spend a couple of terms as a probationer, receiving basic training in singing and musicianship, before progressing to full membership. Full choristers have the opportunity to take up individual, free-of-charge tuition in singing, musicianship, theory or piano on a 1:1 basis each week. The lay clerks of the Choir are highly skilled volunteers, most of whom make their living outside of music. In September 2015 residential choral scholarships were introduced. The Cathedral Consort, a high standard chamber choir consisting of adult sopranos and lay clerks, completes the Choral Foundation.
In addition to the schedule above, the Choir also performs other concerts and services within and outside the diocese. Although foreign tours have been undertaken, the most recent being to Barcelona in 2010 and Bavaria in 2008, touring more recently has been within the UK, with the girls and boys each undertaking a residential tour annually, with or without the choir adults. Tours have been undertaken in recent years to Bristol, Worcester, Edinburgh and Durham.
The girls and men are involved with the annualYorkshire Cathedrals' Girls' Choirs' Festival and hosted the Festal Evensong in March 2015. The boy choristers had not been involved with the Yorkshire Three Choirs Festival since 1981, but with the recent renaissance of an independent boys' top-line at the cathedral they, along with the lay clerks, were re-included in this annual festival from October 2015. Bradford Cathedral hosted the festival in October 2016.
In July 2012, the Choir recorded two services for the BBC Radio 2 Sunday Half Hour programme, which were broadcast in Autumn 2012, and the girls and men sang live for BBC Radio 4 Sunday Worship in December 2012. The Choir recorded a CD of Evening Canticles, including Humphrey Clucas's 'Bradford Service' in November 2013, and February 2014 saw the Choir recording two programmes of BBC Songs of Praise, airing on 2 March 2014 andPalm Sunday, 13 April 2014. Since 2015, the Choir has performed annually with theEuropean Union Chamber Orchestra, singingVivaldi'sGloria,Haydn'sLittle Organ Mass, andSchubert'sMass No. 2 in G major.[citation needed]
A specification of theWilliam Hill pipe organ (1904), with later modifications byHill, Norman & Beard (1961) and J. W. Walker (1977), can be found on theNational Pipe Organ Register.[18] A series of organ recitals takes place on many Wednesday lunchtimes throughout the year at 1.00 pm, attracting many well-known players.[19] An Organ Appeal was launched in February 2013, aiming to raise £250,000 over several years, in order to secure the continued reliability of the instrument, as well as making possible several tonal adjustments.[20] A. J. Carter ofWakefield and Andrew Cooper are working[when?] in conjunction to carry out this work on a phased basis over the coming years. The first phase, entailing the substantial upgrading of the console, was carried out in October 2014. The second phase, to clean, revoice and extend the Chancel (Positive) Division, was completed in the first half of 2018.[citation needed]
Media related toBradford Cathedral at Wikimedia Commons
