Holy Family

Introduction

Holy Family Church in Wortley, within the Diocese of Leeds, dates from 1895 and is now the only nineteenth-century Catholic church in the city of Leeds still in use. This red brick Gothic Revival church is architecturally the least ambitious of three churches in the diocese designed by John Kelly.

History

Bishop Gordon laid the foundation stone of the new church, designed by John Kelly, on 17 June 1894. The completed church opened on 5 August 1895, having cost £3,100 and seating 450. Bishop Cowgill consecrated the church on 26 May 1923. In the late 1950s a new entrance porch was added at the west end. The parishes of St Gianna Beretta Molla and Christ the King were canonically amalgamated to form the new Parish of Christ the King and Holy Family, effective from 2 April 2023.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is built of red brick in English garden wall bond (3:1) with stone dressings and a Welsh slate roof. The building comprises a nave, aisles, apsidal sanctuary with flanking chapels, and a later western porch or narthex. There is no tower. The main entrance west front has an asymmetrically-placed red brick porch or narthex, added in the 1950s, with lancet windows and a lean-to slate roof.

The interior has four nave arcades supported on circular piers with moulded capitals, bases and arches. The gabled west front is dominated by a large west window of six lights with curvilinear tracery. The Sacred Heart altar was moved to the north side and a marble altar installed at the time of the consecration in 1923. There are some good original painted and framed Stations of the Cross, of Flemish character.

The side elevations have windowless aisles, with blind Gothic arcading on the north wall face. Above the aisles are square-headed and paired clerestorey lights with cusped tracery. The canted apse to the sanctuary is blind, with the wall surface articulated by blind brick arcading. The glass throughout is mottled with a blue border.

Above the clerestory is a timber wagon roof with the principals carried down as plain wall shafts. The division between nave and sanctuary is marked by triple colonettes carrying cusped principals. Three blind arcades to the apsidal sanctuary have carved wooden screens, possibly original, separating this space from the flanking chapels. The present sanctuary furnishings are of oak, including rails which have more the character of cancellae.

There is a projecting dais and timber forward altar in front of the original steps up to the sanctuary. The nave seating consists of plain pine pews.

Music and liturgy

Candidates mark their faith journey through liturgical rites in the presence of the parish community, including the Rite of Welcome and the Rite of Election. Non-baptised adults are received into the Church through baptism during the Easter Vigil, and baptised non-Catholics are also confirmed during that Vigil.

Parish life

The parish supports the St Monica's project, which provides a refuge for vulnerable single asylum-seeking women. The parish uses the Diocese of Leeds materials 'Heart Speaks to Heart The Gift of Holy Communion' to prepare children for First Holy Communion.

Sacraments and pastoral care

On 3 December 2025, 36 children from the schools and parish were confirmed at Holy Family church by the Bishop. Children are prepared for First Reconciliation when they are in Year 3 or above.

In November, the parish lists the names of deceased loved ones and places them on the altar. Baptisms are normally carried out after Mass on Sunday.

Visiting

The parish runs a food bank, food parcel provision, a school uniform project, and helps evicted families furnish and establish new homes. The local parish SVP conference is a small group that meets monthly to check on visits and plan future work.