St Paul
Parsons Cross, Yorkshire
The church was designed by Basil Spence, the architect of Coventry Cathedral, and was consecrated on the Eve of the Conversion of St Paul, January 24 1959.
This historic building has been a vital community facility for 167 years, carrying on the philanthropic work of Mary Ann Rawson and her sister Emily Read of Wincobank Hall. These formidable women were highly respected social reformers and campaigners for the Temperance Movement and Abolition of Slavery. Their visitors included William Wilberforce, Lord Shaftesbury and the poet and hymn writer James Montgomery.
The first chapel was founded in 1816 in the coach house of Wincobank Hall. In 1841 this building was commissioned as a Day School by Mrs Rawson and Miss Read to serve the needs of the local children.
In 1880 the Wincobank School Trust was created to ensure the educational work would continue. When, in 1905, the building was no longer required as a school, one room was extended to create the present Undenominational Chapel.
In 1980 a mezzanine floor was added to the old school room to provide two community spaces within the remaining school room. Recently restored thanks to an English Heritage grant, the Chapel is built in typical Yorkshire style in plain coursed sandstone with slate covered roofs with gables and plain windows. It stands within a spacious informal garden.
The interior of the building has great character and features an unusual timbered roof space. There is a most imposing pipe organ made by Bower & Dunn of Sheffield one of only three surviving examples.
The perimeter railings and main window in the Chapel are awaiting restoration.
