Ss Peter and Paul

Introduction

Mary Lucy Slater, mother of chaplain Thomas Slater, bought 11 acres at Hutton Henry and constructed a small Catholic chapel and presbytery.

History

The original chapel was replaced by a new church in 1895 to designs by John Kelly of Leeds. New sanctuary furniture and the organ were installed in the mid-C20 and a new parish hall was added to the north-west side of the church in c 2005.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is faced with hard red brick in garden wall bond and has a slate roof. The church has a rectangular plan with a south-west porch, an apsidal sanctuary, and a low apsidal baptistery to the west. The church is attached to the early C19 presbytery by a low link at the north-east corner. The interior has a panelled dado and an arcade with round arches between pilasters, with five central arches filled with figures painted onto metal plates.

The main altar is considered to be the later C19 original and is ornately carved timber with a front of three panels defined by carved pilasters with carved columns. The central tabernacle is ornately carved with twisted columns and decorative brass doors. A side chapel at the east end of the north wall now houses the organ and a timber altar added as a memorial in 1905. The timber-boarded barrel vault roof has painted small, square coffering, each with decorative painted panels in the form of a cross motif set within a circle and an outer square.

The Stations of the Cross (painted on metal plates) and the carved benches with roll-moulded tops are considered to be original later C19. The original round, stone bowl font on a pedestal is retained. The exterior has round-headed windows and doors, a deep moulded eaves cornice, moulded impost and sill bands, and a chamfered plinth. The apsidal sanctuary has arcading with moulded surrounds alternating with slim pilasters, blind except for two side windows.

Two large red sandstone blocks incorporated into the south-east corner of the nave might be the foundation stone. The south-west porch is pedimented with a full-height segmental-arched entrance set within a taller round-headed arch with three bands. The bellcote has a round-headed opening containing the original bell. The west end has a central low apsidal baptistery with three windows and above three large stepped windows, the central one breaking through the brick cornice into the pediment.

The nave walls are plain plastered with panelled dadoes and moulded strings linking the sills and arch springs of the windows and a moulded cornice at the wall head. The west porch has a timber-boarded ceiling and the main entrance is set within a tall round-headed arch with original six-panel double doors and door furniture. The attached parish hall is excluded from the listing. The church is listed at Grade II.