Todmorden Unitarian Church facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Todmorden Unitarian Church
Todmorden Unitarian Church
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OS grid reference	SD 935 239
Location	Honey Hole Road, Todmorden, West Yorkshire
Country	England
Denomination	Unitarian
Website	http://www.todunitarian.co.uk
History
Founded	1865
Founder(s)	Joshua, John (junior) and Samuel Fielden
Architecture
Functional status	active
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	22 November 1966
Architect(s)	John Gibson
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1865
Completed	1869
Construction cost	£35,000 (equivalent to £2,490,000 in 2021)
Specifications
Spire height	196 feet (60 m)
Materials	Stone with slate roof

Todmorden Unitarian Church is a beautiful church in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England. It's a Unitarian church, which means it belongs to a Christian group that believes in one God, not the traditional Holy Trinity.

This impressive building was finished in 1869. It was built to honor John Fielden, a local factory owner and a person who worked hard to make society better. In 1987, the church was no longer used for regular services. It was then looked after by the Historic Chapels Trust, a group that saves important old buildings. Since 2008, church services have started again, but the Trust still helps care for the building. The church is so special that it's listed as a Grade I building on the National Heritage List for England. This means it's one of the most important historic buildings in the country.

How the Church Started

The Unitarian Movement in Todmorden

The Unitarian movement began in Todmorden in the early 1800s. A very important member was John Fielden. He owned factories and was known as a social reformer. This means he worked to improve life for ordinary people. He even became a Member of Parliament, helping to make laws for the country. People called him "Honest John" because he was so fair.

Building a New Church

The Unitarians built their first small chapel and school in 1823. More and more people joined, and the chapel became too small. John Fielden passed away in 1849, but the Unitarian community kept growing.

In 1865, John Fielden's three sons, Joshua, John (junior), and Samuel, decided to build a new, much bigger church. They wanted it to be a memorial to their father. They owned the land at Honey Hole where the church was built. The brothers spent a lot of money, over £35,000, to make sure the church was grand and built with the best materials.

The church was finished in 1869. At its opening service in April that year, a famous speaker named William Gaskell gave the first sermon. He was the husband of the well-known writer Elizabeth Gaskell. About 800 people came to listen. A small house called a lodge was also built next to the church at the same time.

Church Design and Features

The Church's Structure

The church was designed by an architect named John Gibson. He had worked for the Fielden family before. He even designed Dobroyd Castle for John Fielden (junior) across the valley. The church is made of stone with a slate roof.

It has a long main hall called a nave with seven sections. On each side of the nave are aisles. There are also transepts, which are parts that stick out on the sides, making the church look like a cross. At the front is a small area called a chancel, a porch, and a tall tower with a spire. The church is built in the Gothic Revival style, which looks like old medieval churches.

At the front of the church, there's a beautiful round window called a rose window. At the back, there's a large window with five sections. The windows along the nave have two sections with fancy stone patterns called tracery. Along the outside walls of the nave, there are strong supports called buttresses and a decorative stone band carved with flowers.

The Tower and Spire

The tower has three main levels. It also has strong corner supports called buttresses. The middle level has two-section openings where the bells are. The bottom part of the tower forms an open porch. On top of the tower are tall, pointed decorations called pinnacles. Above these is an eight-sided spire that reaches high into the sky. The spire has tall, narrow windows called lucarnes. Inside the church, the arches that separate the nave from the aisles are pointed. They are supported by columns made of beautiful Devonshire marble.

Inside the Church: Fittings and Furniture

The seats for the choir and the pews (benches for the congregation) are carved with detailed patterns and have decorative ends called poppyheads. The pulpit, where the speaker stands, is made from different colored marbles. The baptismal font, used for baptisms, has a white marble bowl with carvings.

The large window in the chancel has stained glass made by Jean-Baptiste Capronnier from Belgium. It shows scenes from the life of Jesus. There are also special plaques in the aisles that remember the people who helped build the church. You can still see the old gas brackets in the aisles, which have been changed to use electricity. There are also fancy candelabras (candle holders) in the choir area.

The church has a set of eight bells. All of them were made in 1868 by Mears and Stainbank, a famous bell-making company. The tower also has a clock and a carillon, which is a musical instrument made of bells.

Church bells undergoing restoration

Recent History and Today

Challenges and Restoration

The Unitarian church was very active into the 1900s. However, as time went on, fewer people attended. It became harder to find money to keep the church running. The church finally closed its main building in 1987. Services continued in the small lodge next door, but these also stopped in 1992.

After the church closed, it started to fall apart because of age and damage from people. In 1994, the Historic Chapels Trust took over the church. This group has done a lot of work, spending about £1 million on repairs.

What Was Repaired?

The repairs included fixing the church roofs, the beautiful stained glass windows, the clock, and the set of bells. They also restored the lodge and the inside of the tower. A new heating system, toilets, and a kitchen were added. Even the gardens and the burial ground around the church were restored.

The Church Today

Regular church services started again in 2008 and are still held there. The church is also allowed to host weddings. It is still part of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, which is the main group for Unitarians in Britain. Today, the church is also a meeting place for the Incredible Edible Todmorden project, a local group that encourages growing food.

Other Buildings Nearby

The church is built on a steep hill. It is surrounded by pretty gardens and a wooded burial ground where people are buried. The lodge, the small house next to the church, is also an important historic building, listed as Grade II. It has one floor and is made of stone with a slate roof. It has a T-shape with a part that sticks out, featuring two steep pointed roofs, a Gothic-style doorway, and a bay window that angles outwards.

The original Unitarian chapel and Sunday school, located on Wellfield Terrace, is also a Grade II listed building. It also has a burial ground, and this is where John Fielden, the man the new church was built to honor, is buried.

Images for kids

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  Church bells undergoing restoration

See also

• Grade I listed buildings in West Yorkshire
• Grade I listed churches in West Yorkshire
• List of chapels preserved by the Historic Chapels Trust