The Unitarian Church
THE UNITARIAN CHURCH, HONEY HOLE ROAD
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1228988
- Date first listed:
- 22-Nov-1966
- List Entry Name:
- The Unitarian Church
- Statutory Address:
- THE UNITARIAN CHURCH, HONEY HOLE ROAD
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2006-01-25
- Reference:
- IOE01/14925/35
- Rights:
- © Mr Nigel Wood. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1228988
- Date first listed:
- 22-Nov-1966
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 22-Feb-1984
- List Entry Name:
- The Unitarian Church
- Statutory Address 1:
- THE UNITARIAN CHURCH, HONEY HOLE ROAD
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- THE UNITARIAN CHURCH, HONEY HOLE ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Calderdale (Metropolitan Authority)
- Parish:
- Todmorden
- National Grid Reference:
- SD 93564 23861
Details
SD 92 SW TODMORDEN (former M.B.) HONEY HOLE ROAD
5/150 The Unitarian Church (formerly listed as Unitarian Church, bankside) 22.11.66
G.V. I
Church. 1865 to 1869 by John Gibson for Samuel, John and Joshua Fielden. The alignment of the church does not correspond to the elaborate Gothic employed. Nave and aisles, transepts and chancel, porch to ritual west end and large tower and spire attached to 6th bay of nave (on ritual south side) covering another entrance. Pitch faced stone with ashlar dressings, slate roof. 7-bay nave with 2-light windows with traceried heads. Set back buttresses and string with carved heads and flowers. Straight parapet. Ritual west end has elaborate rose window in gable above enclosed rectangular porch. This has deeply moulded doorways in its 3 sides. Beyond the nave, but in line with its walls are the gabled transept facades each of 2 bays, with taller 2-light windows and spherical triangle above. The very short one bay chancel has a large 5-light window in its end wall. 3-stage tower with angle buttresses and 2-light belfry windows. Octagonal stone spire connected by flyers to the pinnacles and with tall lucarnes in the principal faces. The bottom stage forms an open porch with a palm vault with banded webbing. Tall doorway with deeply moulded arch surrounding door and cusped mandorla with stained glass. The church was prominently sited to form a landmark visible from Dobroyd Castle (q.v.)
Interior: 7-bay nave with pointed arches carried on Devonshire marble columns to arcade to aisles. Brattished rail, hammer-beam roof truss carried on marble collonnetes. Aisles have similar arched-braced roof. Chancel arch carried on coupled marble collonnettes. Chancel has banded stone arched roof of 5 bays. Open arcades to chapels, now used as vestry and organ chamber, have fine lierne vaulted roofs with banded stone enriched with carved bosses at junction of ribs. All capitals are enriched with foliage carving.
Furnishings: Choir stalls and pews original with fine carved poppy heads and plate tracery. Pulpit similarly carved carried on collonnettes of differing coloured marbles. Font has similar base with carved white marble bowl. Chancel window of stained glass by J B Capronnier (Brussels, 1868) of Scenes of the Life of Christ. Memorial tablets in aisle to the founders. Aisles also retain original decorative gas brackets (converted to electricity) and also candelabras to choir stalls. The lavish decorative scheme remains intact "This church survives complete as one of the most elaborate Non conformist churches to adopt the style and arrangements of the Established Church during the High Gothic Revival Ken Powell, The Fall of Zion (SAVE Britain's Heritage, 1980) unpaginated". N. Pevsner, Yorkshire West Riding London, 1979), p.521.
Listing NGR: SD9356723861
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 403730
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Powell, K, The Fall of Zion, (1980)
Pevsner, N, Radcliffe, E, The Buildings of England: Yorkshire: The West Riding, (1967), 521
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 28-Jun-2026 at 02:06:28.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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