| Leeds Cathedral | |
| Cathedral Church of St Anne | |
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Leeds Cathedral
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| Location | Leeds, West Yorkshire |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
| Website | dioceseofleeds.org.uk/cathedral |
| History | |
| Consecrated | 1904 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | John Henry Eastwood |
| Style | Neo-gothic |
| Years built | 1901-1904 |
| Specifications | |
| Number of towers | 1 |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Leeds (since 1878) |
| Province | Liverpool |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | Rt Revd Arthur Roche. |
| Dean | Mgr Philip Moger |
| Laity | |
| Director of music | Benjamin Saunders |
| Organist(s) | Julie Tanner |
Leeds Cathedral, formally The Cathedral Church of St Anne, commonly known as Saint Anne's Cathedral, is the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Diocese of Leeds, and is the seat of the Bishop of Leeds. It is in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. (The city of Leeds does not have a Church of England cathedral, because it is in the Anglican Diocese of Ripon and Leeds, although Leeds Parish Church is large and architecturally significant.)
The original cathedral was located in St. Anne's Church in 1878, but that building was demolished around 1900. The current cathedral building on Cookridge Street was completed in 1904, and was restored in 2006. The reredos of the old cathedral's high altar was designed by Pugin in 1842 and moved to the Lady Chapel of the new cathedral.[1][2] The cathedral is a Grade II* listed building.[3]
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The earlier St Anne’s Roman Catholic church, built in 1838 on the corner of the Headrow and Cookridge Street was granted Cathedral status in 1878 upon the creation of the Diocese of Leeds.[3] The Cathedral's life was short-lived as in 1899, Leeds Corporation pushed ahead with plans to widen The Headrow and develop it into a Boulevard style street. This meant that the Cathedral was acquired by the enactment of a compulsory purchase order. Demolition started shortly after and the Leeds Permanent Building Society purchased the plot to build its head-office, the site is now The Light entertainment complex. Church officials considered several sites on which to build the second cathedral but after exhausting other options, the Church accepted land offered to it by the Corporation, directly adjacent to the previous church.[4] Some architectural features of the original building were salvaged and reused in the new building and some can now be seen at the Castle-by-the-Sea Hotel in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, the former residence of the artist Atkinson Grimshaw.[5]
The current Cathedral was designed in the Arts and Crafts Gothic Revival style by John Henry Eastwood (1843–1913), a Leeds born and London based architect with previous experience in designing church buildings, much work was also carried out by his assistant, Sydney Kyffin Greenslade (1866–1955).[3] The layout of the cathedral incorporated no wings in-order to accommodate it on the small site. Building work began in the autumn of 1901 and the Cathedral opened in 1904.[4]
After renovation in the Cathedral (2005-2006) relics of English Catholic martyrs, Blessed Fr.Peter Snow and Ralph Grimston, were placed in the altar.
The Cathedral is small in size due to its restricted site.[1] The cathedral has an aisled nave and chancel under a continuous roof with narrow trancepts and chapels. There is a chapter house and presbytery. It is built of Weldon stone with Ketton stone details. The west front has a tall gable between large buttresses that end in Gothic turrets.[6] The Western face has a large ornate crucifix sculpture. The Northern face has mock Georgian elements to it, including leaded bay windows. The church has a small tower to the North West corner, from which the flag of the Vatican City is flown. The interior has a conventional layout, with rows of pews facing towards the altar, there are two rows of stone pillars set along each side. Unlike earlier cathedrals which had steep pitched roofs, the ceiling has a barrelled shape so it, with only a faint apex.
Sunday
Monday - Friday
Saturday
The organ has 7 divisions and 55 ranks.[7]
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