Summary
Ukrainian Catholic Church of Holy Trinity and Our Lady of Pochaiv, formerly St John’s Wesleyan Chapel, 1878-1879, by Christopher Obee Ellison of Liverpool, Gothic style.
Reasons for Designation
Ukrainian Catholic Church of Holy Trinity and Our Lady of Pochaiv (formerly St John’s Methodist Church), Bradford, designed by Christopher Obee Ellison of Liverpool and built in 1878-1879, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* for the quality of the design in a Gothic style by Christopher Obee Ellison of Liverpool;
* the completeness of the building’s 1878-1879 plan form and much of its interior fittings, including the gallery, pews, and timber and etched-glass screens;
* its new use as a Ukrainian Catholic Church from the 1960s onwards has remained sensitive to these features, while also incorporating striking iconostasis, altars, baldacchino, and paintings.
Historic interest:
* as an illustration of the importance of Methodist worship in Manningham, Bradford in the late C19;
* a reflection of the growth of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the North of England in the mid- to late C20.
Group value:
* with the nearby listed Church of St Cuthbert (Roman Catholic) (Grade II*) and the Presbytery to St Cuthbert’s Roman Catholic Church (Grade II).
History
St John’s Wesleyan Chapel was built in 1878-1879 and opened on the 11 June 1879. The architect was Christopher Obee Ellison of Liverpool (1833 to 1904) and the general contractor was William Ives and Company of Shipley. Ellison designed several Wesleyan Methodist chapels across the country and his notable work includes the Grade II* Birkenhead Town Hall. The total cost of the building, including the purchase of the site, was reported to be approximately £10,000. When it opened, the ground floor was designed to take 750 sittings, with a further 250 to the gallery. The stained glass in the north-west window dates to around 1900 and is probably by the Leeds firm of Powell Brothers. The stained glass to the lancet windows at aisle level contains commemorative windows dating to around 1900 and later, including two pairs by Heaton Butler and Bayne, and one pair by Charles Steel. In 1966 it was purchased by the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London and opened as the Ukrainian Catholic Church of Holy Trinity and Our Lady of Pochaiv.
The first notable migration from Ukraine to England was in the late C19 and early C20 when several hundred people from western Ukraine settled in Manchester. Although most of them had either returned to Ukraine or relocated to the USA or Canada by the outbreak of the First World War, a small community remained in the city. After the Second World War around 35,000 Ukrainians came to the United Kingdom, including many former soldiers and other displaced persons. Many were recruited into the European Volunteer Workers Scheme, which addressed labour shortages by offering paid employment in industry and agriculture. Most of these post-war migrants remained here, and they and later generations of their families formed Ukrainian communities in towns and cities across England, with concentrations in London, Manchester, West Yorkshire and the East Midlands.
More immigration occurred after the loosening of restrictions in (and later, the collapse of) the Soviet Union. By around 2005 there were estimated to be 100,000 Ukrainians in the United Kingdom. The ongoing conflict with Russia, which escalated in 2022, has brought (to date) around a further 160,000 refugees here. As Ukrainian communities have developed, they have often shared or adapted existing buildings to create spaces for worship, education, cultural celebrations and community activities. The two major Christian traditions - the Ukrainian Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church - are represented by a number of buildings across the country. These have been adapted for purposes including the installation of an iconostasis (a wall of icon paintings which separates the nave from the altar). The decorative metal framed iconostasis at this church was erected under the guidance of Ukrainian priests of the Basilian Order who were born and educated in Canada. The large painting of the Crucifixion in the vestibule was painted by a Yugoslavian-born Ukrainian and was also commissioned at the same time as the paintings of the icons in the iconostasis.
To the south-east of the church is a black marble memorial commemorating the Millennium of Christianity in Ukraine 988 - 1988.
Details
Ukrainian Catholic Church of Holy Trinity and Our Lady of Pochaiv, formerly St John’s Wesleyan Chapel, 1878-1879, by Christopher Obee Ellison of Liverpool, Gothic style.
MATERIALS: coursed rock-faced sandstone, sandstone ashlar dressings, slate roof coverings.
PLAN: the church sits in a plot of land bounded by Park View Road to the south-east, Birr Road to the north-east and Wilmer Road to the south-west, with the chancel at the north-west end (liturgical east) and the main entrance to the south-east (liturgical west). The church is rectangular in plan with a projecting vestry to the north and a projecting porch to the east. There is a basement at the north-west end.
EXTERIOR:
The walls are coursed rock-faced sandstone with a chamfered plinth, ashlar dressings and string courses. The main south-east end has a central gabled doorway approached by four stone steps with a moulded pointed arch, a hoodmould with foliate stops and marble shafts with foliate capitals. It is flanked by two, two-light pointed-arch windows, also with hoodmoulds and foliate stops. Above the doorway is a large, seven-light pointed-arch window with C13 geometric tracery, a hoodmould with foliate stops, and diaper lower panels. To the left is a tall spirelet with a shallow set-back buttress. To the right is the tower with shallow set-back buttresses, a three-light pointed-arch window at aisle level, a two-light pointed-arch geometric window at gallery level and two circular windows above, all with stopped hoodmoulds. The belfry has a louvered three-light pointed-arch geometric window with stone shafts, foliate capitals and a stopped hoodmould. The parapet is pinnacled with small flying buttresses and a tall spire with lucarnes. At the left end is a side entrance approached by a modern access ramp with a moulded pointed-arch doorway and lean-to slate roof with kneeler and copings. At the right end is the porch with a set-back buttress, two circular windows with linked stopped hoodmoulds and a three-light square-headed window with diaper lower panels and a slate roof. A flying buttress rises from the porch to the tower.
To the north-east side the nave is of four bays each with two lancet windows at aisle level, and one three-light four-centred segmental-arch geometric window at gallery level. The bays are divided by buttresses. To the right is a slightly projecting two-bay gabled transept with kneelers and copings, two pairs of lancet windows at aisle level and two three-light pointed-arch geometric windows at gallery level. There is a smaller unglazed three-light opening to the gable. At the left end is a projecting porch with a central doorway approached by four stone steps with a moulded pointed-arch and geometric details, above which is a circular geometric window with stopped hoodmould. The buttress to the left incorporates a foundation stone (now partially weathered) which is inscribed: TO THE GLORY OF GOD / THIS / STONE WAS LAID / BY / HENRY MITCHELL ESQ JP / AUGUST [unreadable] / S.O. ELLISON [unreadable]. A further flying buttress rises from the right-hand buttress to the tower. To the return wall of the porch are two circular windows with linked stopped hoodmoulds. At the right end is the projecting gabled vestry with kneelers, copings and a slate roof. There is a doorway to the left, approached by a single broad step, with a pointed arch and to the right a square-headed four-light mullioned and transomed window. Above is a circular geometric window and a slit window to the gable. The left return of the vestry has a three-light mullioned window. Directly behind the vestry is a smaller tower with a tall slate roof, an arcade of cusped windows and a four-light mullioned and transomed window.
The nave and transept to the south-west side are similar in design to the north-east side. At the left end are the blank walls of the organ chamber, slightly set back from the transept. At the right end is a projecting polygonal staircase tower with a tall slated roof and a single-light window at aisle level and a two-light pointed-arch window at gallery level.
The north-west end has a large five-light pointed-arch geometric window. Below it is a semi-sunken square-headed window with relieving arch, surrounded by iron railings. Slightly set back at the left end is the vestry with two-light mullioned window at ground-floor level and a small kneelered gable. Set back to the right is the blank wall of the organ chamber. A flight of stone steps with iron railings and gate leads to the basement.
INTERIOR:
The south-east entrance leads into an entrance lobby with a timber and etched glass screen with doors, which in turn provides access into the vestibule, also with a timber and etched glass screen with doors. To the north and south of the vestibule are the gallery stairs, with closed strings, handrails, turned balusters and newel posts. To the north-west wall of the vestibule is a full-height painting of the Crucifixion.
The nave has a hammerbeam roof on moulded stone corbels. There are two central aisles and sixteen rows of numbered pews. The commemorative stained-glass windows at aisle level date from around 1900. Confessionals have been inserted into each of the transepts and two marble altars have been added to each side of the chancel arch. The gallery runs around three sides of the nave and is supported on iron columns with foliate capitals. It has a panelled front with geometric designs and painted red and gold details. At gallery level there are three sets of pews to the east and west, and four sets of pews to the south with an addition six sets of pews over the vestibule. The windows at this level are original and contain decorative leaded glazing. The windows to the transepts also contain original decorative leaded glazing.
The moulded pointed chancel arch has marble shafts, foliate capitals and a foliate stopped hoodmould. Painted onto the wall below the hoodmould is a phrase in Cyrillic script which translates as: HOLY TRINITY OUR GOD GLORY TO YOU. The east window, also with a foliate stopped hoodmould, has stained glass dating to around 1900, depicting a Christ in Majesty and Transfiguration subjects, with the Last Supper in predella sections. A decorated metal-framed iconostasis with painted panels separates the nave from the chancel. A pair of central (Royal) doors provide access into the sanctuary, which has a marble altar beneath a tall, slender, decorated metal-framed baldacchino. Behind the altar is a timber screen of pointed arches and niches, incorporating religious paintings, which separates the sanctuary from the preparation area. The chancel roof is panelled and vaulted. To the left of the chancel is an organ bay with arched openings into the nave and chancel (the organ is now partially boxed in).
A doorway to the right of the chancel arch, at both aisle and gallery level, leads into a suite of rooms within the vestry. The hallway in this area is partially tiled, and there is a closed string staircase with handrail, turned balusters and newel posts. The aisle level office has timber benches and coat hooks.
