A History of St Patrick’s Church

For more than a century, St Patrick’s has stood at the heart of Catholic life in Sowerby Bridge. Its story reaches back through the industrial growth of the Calder Valley, the restoration of Catholic worship after the Reformation, and the faith and generosity of successive generations of parishioners.

Early Catholic Roots

In Saxon times, when Sowerby Bridge was still a small hamlet, a little church dedicated to St Peter stood at the top of the hill. Before the Reformation, it formed part of the Catholic Church in England. In 1526, during the reign of Henry VIII, a new church was built on the banks of the River Calder. Following Henry’s break with Rome during the 1530s, the church passed into Anglican use.

For the next three centuries there was comparatively little Catholic activity in Sowerby and the surrounding district. This began to change in 1836, when the foundation stone of St Mary’s Church in Halifax was laid. Catholic worship was gradually restored in Calderdale at a time when the textile and engineering industries were bringing a growing population into the valley. Many Irish families also settled in Halifax and the neighbouring communities, a considerable number of whom were Catholics.

The Catholic Missions of the Calder Valley

During the 1870s, Father Joseph Geary, parish priest of St Mary’s, established Catholic missions in Hebden Bridge and Luddenden Foot. Mass was celebrated in the Co-operative Hall, and Catholics from Sowerby Bridge were among the congregation.

Father Maximilian Tillman became the first parish priest of Hebden Bridge and began raising funds for the churches of St Thomas in Hebden Bridge and St Walburga at Luddenden Foot. These communities are now incorporated into the present Parish of the Good Shepherd at Mytholmroyd.

St Thomas’s Church in Hebden Bridge opened in 1896. During the same period, Father Joseph Russell, curate at St Mary’s, rented a mission room in Hollins Mill Lane, Sowerby Bridge, where Mass was celebrated. When St Walburga’s opened at Luddenden Foot the following year, Sowerby Bridge was incorporated into that parish and the local Masses were discontinued. Catholics living in Sowerby Bridge therefore had to walk either to St Mary’s in Halifax or to St Walburga’s at Luddenden Foot.

The Return of Mass to Sowerby Bridge

This arrangement continued until 1908, when Father Tillman was succeeded by Father Marchal. His curate, Father Barton Brown, a recent convert from the Anglican Church, restored the celebration of Mass in Sowerby Bridge, using an old mill off Wharf Street.

At about the same time, Sowerby Bridge was joined with West Vale and Elland under the care of Father Patrick Kealy. In 1913, a hall beneath the Victoria Assembly Hall in Bolton Brow was opened for Catholic worship. Remarkably, the premises were shared with the Salvation Army. Father Kealy also ministered to the Catholic community at West Vale.

Underbank Hall and the First Church

A new chapter began when the Church purchased Underbank Hall for £1,500. The building had an unusually long and fascinating history. Known as Broad Gates until about 1800, its origins could be traced to the fifteenth century, making it one of the oldest houses in the district.

When Underbank Hall was demolished in 1983, its original medieval timber framework was discovered encased within the later stonework. An oak beam taken from one of the bedrooms bore the inscription:

“Mad Anno Dni 1558 by L.W. for I.W. Godlynes is Greate Reches if a Man be Contente Therewyth.”

Translated into modern English, it reads: “Made in the year of Our Lord 1558 by L.W. for I.W. Godliness is great riches if a man be content therewith.” Families associated with the house included the Waterhouses, Wainhouses, Edwards, Listers, Pollitts and Bates.

Work began in 1919 on Sowerby Bridge’s first purpose-built Roman Catholic church. Underbank Hall was converted into the presbytery, while some of its stone was used to build the adjoining church, which later became the parish hall. The foundation stone was laid by Councillor Henry Blackburn, a convert to the Catholic faith, and was blessed by Canon Foley. Bishop Cowgill performed the opening ceremony the following year.

In 1921, Sowerby Bridge was established as a separate parish, with Father Patrick Kealy as its first parish priest. The beautiful statue of Our Lady that stands in the grounds was given by the widow of Mr David Moore, a convert to the faith, in memory of her husband and of their son Edward, who had been killed in the First World War.

Building the Present Church

Bernard Blackburn was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Cowgill in 1928. Three years later, Father Kealy celebrated the Silver Jubilee of his own ordination. By this time the Catholic population had grown considerably, and Father Kealy proposed the construction of a larger church.

In 1934, Bishop Cowgill laid the foundation stone of the new church, while Mr Blackburn laid the inscription stone for the Angelus bell tower. Later that year, the present church was solemnly opened and blessed by Bishop Cowgill in the presence of a large gathering of priests, parishioners and civic dignitaries.

Designed in the Romanesque style by Richard Byrom and constructed by W. Parker and Son of Sowerby Bridge, the church was built using stone from the nearby Southowram quarry. It provided seating for approximately 300 worshippers. The former church was subsequently converted into the parish hall.

Parish Life between the Wars

Throughout the 1930s, every part of the parish contributed to the considerable work of fundraising. The church became a busy focal point of Catholic and community life. Colourful religious processions passed through the streets on Palm Sunday, during May, and on the feasts of Corpus Christi and Christ the King. The largest public celebration was the united Whitsuntide procession, when the churches of the town came together in their finest dress.

Father Kealy’s housekeeper, Miss Kitty Davey, prepared the children for First Confession and First Holy Communion, while Mr Blackburn trained the boys who served at the altar. Parish life was further enriched by the Children of Mary, the Guild of the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharistic League and the Society of St Vincent de Paul.

War and Post-war Growth

When the Second World War began in 1939, many men of the parish were called into military service. Although assisted by his curate, Father Geaney, Father Kealy retired through ill health in 1940. He settled in Abergele, where he died in 1953.

Father Thomas O’Kane succeeded him as parish priest. A native of County Derry, Father O’Kane had been ordained in 1930 and had served in Dewsbury before coming to St Patrick’s.

After the war, parish life gradually returned to normal and the Catholic population continued to grow. Polish families settling in the district became an important part of the congregation. The need for additional Catholic schools became increasingly urgent, but the only schools then available were St Mary’s in Halifax and St Patrick’s in West Vale, both of which had long waiting lists.

Catechism classes served children who could not attend a Catholic school. Numerous parish organisations also flourished, including the Guild of St Agnes, the Children of Mary, the Union of Catholic Mothers and the Catholic Men’s Society.

During the 1950s, the rapidly expanding Polish community was entrusted to its own priest, Father Thaddeus Gaik, who arrived in 1951. Father Gaik and Father O’Kane worked closely together. Father O’Kane became a familiar figure on the streets of Sowerby Bridge during his pastoral visits, accompanied by his faithful dog, Wendy.

In 1952, Father O’Kane left Sowerby Bridge to become parish priest at Wath upon Dearne, where he remained until his retirement in 1978. He spent his final years with the Little Sisters of the Poor and died in 1985 at the age of eighty.

The Sisters of Sowerby Bridge

The Irish Sisters of Charity came to Sowerby Bridge at the invitation of Father Roddy to establish a Catholic school. Dressed in their long black habits and veils, they were at first an unusual sight in the town, but they soon became a much-loved part of the local community.

In addition to teaching, the sisters visited the sick and the dying. Their growing pastoral responsibilities made some form of transport essential, and the parish provided them with a van affectionately nicknamed St Michael. The vehicle proved rather more temperamental than its heavenly namesake and frequently broke down. Fortunately, the sisters were rarely short of willing assistance whenever St Michael suffered one of his mechanical failures.

The community lived in a house in Victoria Avenue. It was enlarged in 1965 when another sister arrived to work as a local social worker with the Leeds Diocesan Rescue Society. As the school came increasingly under the administration of the Local Education Authority, the sisters extended their work into other areas.

They served at St Mary’s Parish in Halifax, helped to run the Catholic Deanery Youth Club, and assisted Asian women as they settled into the local community. In 1980, another sister arrived to work in the Colne Valley.

“The love of Christ drives us on.”

The sisters lived their motto faithfully throughout their years in Sowerby Bridge. In 1998, changing social circumstances led to the conclusion of their apostolate in the district. Their departure brought sorrow both to the sisters and to the people among whom they had lived, taught and served.

A Continuing Catholic Heritage

The history of St Patrick’s is ultimately the history of a living community: priests, religious sisters, families, converts, benefactors and generations of parishioners whose faith built and sustained the church. Their legacy remains visible not only in its stone and furnishings, but in the continuing worship and witness of the Catholic community in Sowerby Bridge.