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St Saviour's Church, is thought to be the first Anglo Catholic church built outside London in 1845. Built with an anonymous gift of £10,000 later discovered to be from E.B. Pusey the Regius Professor of Hebrew for Oxford University.

The church was designed by Irish architect John Macduff Derick who under instruction from Pusey included the inscription 'Ye who enters this holy place pray for the sinner that built it'. Pusey encouraged High Anglican worship, a section of the Anglican Church who followed the Catholic traditions of confession and confirmation. It was for this reason that the building of the church and clergy house were held up, by the Bishop of Ripon who objected to the strong Catholic architecture traditions followed in the design.

Finally completed, the 550 capacity church was consecrated by the Bishop of Ripon, 28th October 1845. St Saviour's was a poor parish whose locals suffered many socio-economic problems which the clergy attempted to alleviate.

In 1849 during a virulent cholera outbreak they went to the parishioners to give medical care and support, also besieging the council with demands for assistance and improvements in living conditions. The vicarage garden is a consecrated area containing graves and possibly a cholera pit from the 1849 epidemic.

The tower is a later addition from 1937 when the original wooden spire was destroyed during a gale. Sam Smith OBE, founder and managing director of Ringtons Tea Merchants gave an anonymous monetary gift for the construction.

St. Saviour's is the sister church of St. Bartholomew's.
It is rumoured to have more stained glass than any other church in Yorkshire.
It's commonly chosen over Leeds Minster for choir concerts as it's believed to have some of the nicest acoustics in the area.

Created: Tue, 29 Mar 2016, Updated: Tue, 29 Mar 2016