Leeds Minster, Kirkgate, LS2 7DJ, September 1st, 8th and 15th at 12.1pm.
For the Heritage Open Days 2024 festival of heritage and culture, Leeds Minster has organised a special series of illustrated lectures which will explore fascinating aspects of the origins and history of this outstandingly important Grade I listed building. When the present building opened in 1841 not only was it the largest new church to be built in England since the completion of St Paul’s Cathedral in 1710, but the influence of its design and the liturgy that the Vicar of Leeds, Dr Hook, introduced was to spread across the Anglican world. It really is a remarkable and exceedingly impressive building.
Sunday, September 1st.
‘The Medieval Parish Church of Leeds.’ Speaker Dr Kevin Grady.
This lecture tells the amazing story of how the small church with its Viking crosses at the heart of the original medieval settlement of Leeds became a massive parish church which endured until its demolition in 1838 for the erection of the present-day Minster.
Sunday, September 8th.
‘Dr Hook’s New Church: The National Context,’ Speaker Dr Christopher Webster.
This wide-ranging and beautifully illustrated lecture describes the building of Anglican churches in the late-Georgian period and sets the building of the present-day Leeds Minster in its national context.
Sunday September 15th.
‘Dr Hook’s New Church: The Design and Erection of Leeds Minster, 1837 – 1841 and its Innovations in Worship and Ceremony’
Speaker Dr Christopher Webster.
Admission to the lectures is free. No booking is required.
The lectures begin at 12.15 p.m. and will last approximately 45 minutes.