St Thomas of Canterbury, Fairfield, Hebden Bridge - MOS00160

The Catholic movement in Hebden Bridge appears to have taken shape during the missionary activities of Father Joseph Geary, who settled at St. Mary’s, Halifax in 1870. The few who were gathered together in Hebden Bridge began meetings in a room at Newgate End, the old name of the Bridge Lanes district. Not long after, a more central room was used in Bridge Gate where services as well as a Sunday school were held. Eventually worshippers had to leave here and move to premises on Union Street, behind Commercial Street and this was the first place where the Mass was regularly celebrated; but there is one earlier record of a Missioner from Todmorden conducting Mass in the Co-operative small Hall – now known as The Carlton Buildings.

In the early days many Catholics would walk either to Todmorden or Luddendenfoot to hear Mass. In approximately 1891, the nucleus of a church in Hebden Bridge grew and Father Maxmillian Tillman was appointed the first parish Priest, with oversight also over the cause at Luddendenfoot. He was a man of unusual energy and as soon as funds could be raised he bought a site on the Palace House estate. On the 31st October 1896 the Church was blessed by the Bishop of Leeds. The Church cost £1,500 to build but about £600 worth of work was done voluntarily by the parishioners.

The Church closed in 1991 when The Church of the Good Shepherd opened in Mytholmroyd.The building has now been converted into apartments.

PHDA - Molly Sunderland Collection

Pennine Horizons Digital Archive

MOS00160.tif