The Parish of
Lightcliffe
Formal church worship according to the
Anglican tradition began in Lightcliffe in the year 1529. A chapel
was built, one of the twelve outlying centres within the ancient parish of
Halifax, at one time the largest parish in the country, and a curate was
appointed. The chapel was called Eastfield because
it was close to a field of that name. This remained the only place of worship in
the village until 1775, when the first chapel was demolished and a new and
bigger Lightcliffe Chapel was erected, of which the tower is now the only
part still remaining. At some point in the 350 years from 1529
the church was dedicated to St. Matthew the Apostle, though no records remain of
the exact date. In 1846 Lightcliffe ceased to be a part of the
parish of Halifax and became a parish in its own right, including within its
boundaries Hipperholme, Norwood Green and Bailiff Bridge.
In the early 1870's Major Johnston Jonas
Foster of Cliffe Hill offered to build and pay for a new church at Lightcliffe
and the foundation stone was laid on Tuesday, September 16th,
1873. The Church was consecrated by the Bishop of Ripon, in whose diocese
Lightcliffe was then situated, on September 21st, 1875.
On
September 21st, 1875, only two years after the laying of the foundation stone,
the new parish church of Lightcliffe was consecrated by the Bishop of Ripon, in
whose diocese Lightcliffe then was.
The Church
The Nave is 71 feet long by 22 feet wide and the
aisles are10 feet wide. The Tower is 80 feet high with a turret of a
further 8 feet.
