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Four hundred Years of Ilkley Grammar School
The Parish Records
Dr. Pusey and Two Leeds Churches
Another St. Margaret
Four Hundred Years of Ilkley Grammar School
There are very few state comprehensive secondary schools that can boast a four hundred year history, but Ilkley Grammar School is one of several in West Yorkshire. Not surprisingly, it has changed greatly in size and character in that time, but its purpose remains broadly the same: to provide a free education according to the fashions of the day to the children of the place. The original founder’s intention has been claimed to be to provide a free Grammar School to relieve the children of the industrious poor. The aim of the present school is to encourage all students of whatever ability to achieve their personal best.
From the start there were links between Church and school. William of Middleton had founded a chantry of St Nicholas attached to the parish church in Ilkley in 1250, and the endowment and lands attached to this chantry were granted to endow Sedbergh School, from whose governors the governors of the Foundation of Ilkley Grammar School bought in 1881 the five acres of ground in Cowpasture Road which house the oldest part of the present school. Links with both All Saints and later St Margaret’s continued. From the 17th century the Vicar of Ilkley was to be schoolmaster also if deemed fit and capable, although there were many times from the 18th century onwards when an assistant was appointed instead, and it was not until 1893, with the refounding of the Grammar School on its present site, that an independent Headmaster was appointed. His successor, Mr C. W. Atkinson, was a churchwarden at St Margaret’s, brought his pupils there every Sunday morning, and is commemorated by a plaque in the north aisle.
This link is influenced by the Church as an early place of scholarship, and by the edict of Elizabeth I in 1559 that schoolmasters should be men of learning, but also of sober and honest conversation and able to show a right understanding of God’s true religion. This was followed in 1580 by an early form of school inspection, when all tutors and their assistants were to be examined by their bishops. It is easy to forget at today’s distance the impact of the Reformation on society. The impetus to set up a school in Ilkley in 1600 was partly to educate the masses to read the Bible in English to establish Protestantism as the national form of the Christian religion. But it was also a time of rich expansion of learning and culture: literature, music, the theatre, exploration, medicine. This may have lent some added awareness of the value of education. As part of the present school’s celebrations of its 400th anniversary we have revisited some of the culture of the time it was founded, including performance of a 16th century Latin grace at the grand celebratory ball, the singing of 16th and 17th century madrigals and hymns at the school’s summer music concert and the Thanksgiving service in St Margaret’s, and the school’s performance of Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ in conjunction with the Ilkley Players.
Standards of teaching and the curriculum taught have varied. From beginning with English and Latin, with some Greek and Hebrew, through a period when basic reading, writing, and arithmetic were taught, there was tension over many years about whether the school was or should be a superior elementary school or an inferior grammar school. A school inspection report of 1867 notes that since the terms of the foundation oblige the schoolmaster to admit all the children of parishioners who are sent to him, he is thus precluded from refusing admission to any on the ground of their being mere infants, or because of their irregular attendance. Some would see here a parallel with today’s inclusive comprehensive climate of ‘Every Child Matters’, where, apart from extreme exceptions, behaviour which would not be tolerated in the private sector is not only accommodated but successfully managed in state schools and is an area in which Ilkley Grammar School excels.
Eventually new elementary schools were provided, and the grammar school was refounded on a new site. The Vicar of St Margaret’s, the Revd. H. B. Ottley, drew up a plan to ensure that the school would continue to educate the children of the industrious poor. But plans were already far advanced to provide a grammar school with an ambitious curriculum which would need fee income to be realised, and these won the day, despite pricing the proposed school out of the reach of many of the local population.
The early curriculum of English, Latin, Greek and Hebrew might seem as alien now as Citizenship, Psychology and Sociology and Government and Politics would be to the scholars of 1607 – though the latter might have been useful in the coming days of the Civil War. The school’s attitudes to war have changed significantly over the centuries, reflecting the concerns and values of the day: there were keen attempts to set up Cadet and Officers’ Training Corps in 1909, starting with use of a rifle range and drilling practice. By 1920, after the impact of the First World War in which many Ilkley Grammar School old boys gave their lives, public attitudes were changing and the Cadet Corps was never set up.
The school continued as a fee-paying grammar school for boys only until the outbreak of the Second World War when it was decided to admit girls to fill a much needed gap in their educational provision and to keep the school viable (September 1939). Although its governors would have liked it to have been maintained by direct grant from the Ministry of Education following the 1944 Education Act, it was eventually established as a County-maintained Voluntary Controlled secondary school, and continued as a Grammar School until 1970 when comprehensive education was introduced. In a pattern which has since become familiar, the new upper school had to make do for its first year in temporary accommodation on the middle school site in Ben Rhydding while building on the Cowpasture Road site was finished. The same happened in 2002 when Bradford’s education changed to a two tier primary and secondary school system.
Over the years there have been recurring issues: accommodation, lack of accessible playing fields, funding, school inspections, curriculum, standards of teaching and children’s attainment, all of which are very familiar to the school’s present governors. These are the stuff of which education is made and no doubt will still be exercising minds four hundred years hence. It is pleasing that Ilkley Grammar School in 2007 is, according to Ofsted, generally good and in some respects outstanding, and that it offers the same high quality specialised teaching and learning to all its local population, whatever their needs and aspirations, that a century ago was seen as the preserve of the advantaged few. In doing so it is surely meeting the intention of its founders.
Rosalind Beeson (with thanks to Anthony Barringer)
From the start there were links between Church and school. William of Middleton had founded a chantry of St Nicholas attached to the parish church in Ilkley in 1250, and the endowment and lands attached to this chantry were granted to endow Sedbergh School, from whose governors the governors of the Foundation of Ilkley Grammar School bought in 1881 the five acres of ground in Cowpasture Road which house the oldest part of the present school. Links with both All Saints and later St Margaret’s continued. From the 17th century the Vicar of Ilkley was to be schoolmaster also if deemed fit and capable, although there were many times from the 18th century onwards when an assistant was appointed instead, and it was not until 1893, with the refounding of the Grammar School on its present site, that an independent Headmaster was appointed. His successor, Mr C. W. Atkinson, was a churchwarden at St Margaret’s, brought his pupils there every Sunday morning, and is commemorated by a plaque in the north aisle.
This link is influenced by the Church as an early place of scholarship, and by the edict of Elizabeth I in 1559 that schoolmasters should be men of learning, but also of sober and honest conversation and able to show a right understanding of God’s true religion. This was followed in 1580 by an early form of school inspection, when all tutors and their assistants were to be examined by their bishops. It is easy to forget at today’s distance the impact of the Reformation on society. The impetus to set up a school in Ilkley in 1600 was partly to educate the masses to read the Bible in English to establish Protestantism as the national form of the Christian religion. But it was also a time of rich expansion of learning and culture: literature, music, the theatre, exploration, medicine. This may have lent some added awareness of the value of education. As part of the present school’s celebrations of its 400th anniversary we have revisited some of the culture of the time it was founded, including performance of a 16th century Latin grace at the grand celebratory ball, the singing of 16th and 17th century madrigals and hymns at the school’s summer music concert and the Thanksgiving service in St Margaret’s, and the school’s performance of Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ in conjunction with the Ilkley Players.
Standards of teaching and the curriculum taught have varied. From beginning with English and Latin, with some Greek and Hebrew, through a period when basic reading, writing, and arithmetic were taught, there was tension over many years about whether the school was or should be a superior elementary school or an inferior grammar school. A school inspection report of 1867 notes that since the terms of the foundation oblige the schoolmaster to admit all the children of parishioners who are sent to him, he is thus precluded from refusing admission to any on the ground of their being mere infants, or because of their irregular attendance. Some would see here a parallel with today’s inclusive comprehensive climate of ‘Every Child Matters’, where, apart from extreme exceptions, behaviour which would not be tolerated in the private sector is not only accommodated but successfully managed in state schools and is an area in which Ilkley Grammar School excels.
Eventually new elementary schools were provided, and the grammar school was refounded on a new site. The Vicar of St Margaret’s, the Revd. H. B. Ottley, drew up a plan to ensure that the school would continue to educate the children of the industrious poor. But plans were already far advanced to provide a grammar school with an ambitious curriculum which would need fee income to be realised, and these won the day, despite pricing the proposed school out of the reach of many of the local population.
The early curriculum of English, Latin, Greek and Hebrew might seem as alien now as Citizenship, Psychology and Sociology and Government and Politics would be to the scholars of 1607 – though the latter might have been useful in the coming days of the Civil War. The school’s attitudes to war have changed significantly over the centuries, reflecting the concerns and values of the day: there were keen attempts to set up Cadet and Officers’ Training Corps in 1909, starting with use of a rifle range and drilling practice. By 1920, after the impact of the First World War in which many Ilkley Grammar School old boys gave their lives, public attitudes were changing and the Cadet Corps was never set up.
The school continued as a fee-paying grammar school for boys only until the outbreak of the Second World War when it was decided to admit girls to fill a much needed gap in their educational provision and to keep the school viable (September 1939). Although its governors would have liked it to have been maintained by direct grant from the Ministry of Education following the 1944 Education Act, it was eventually established as a County-maintained Voluntary Controlled secondary school, and continued as a Grammar School until 1970 when comprehensive education was introduced. In a pattern which has since become familiar, the new upper school had to make do for its first year in temporary accommodation on the middle school site in Ben Rhydding while building on the Cowpasture Road site was finished. The same happened in 2002 when Bradford’s education changed to a two tier primary and secondary school system.
Over the years there have been recurring issues: accommodation, lack of accessible playing fields, funding, school inspections, curriculum, standards of teaching and children’s attainment, all of which are very familiar to the school’s present governors. These are the stuff of which education is made and no doubt will still be exercising minds four hundred years hence. It is pleasing that Ilkley Grammar School in 2007 is, according to Ofsted, generally good and in some respects outstanding, and that it offers the same high quality specialised teaching and learning to all its local population, whatever their needs and aspirations, that a century ago was seen as the preserve of the advantaged few. In doing so it is surely meeting the intention of its founders.
Rosalind Beeson (with thanks to Anthony Barringer)
The Parish Records
(The beginning of a new incumbency seemed to the PCC an excellent time to put the records of St Margaret’s into some sort of order, after many years when they have simply accumulated. They therefore have been in touch with the Diocesan Records Officer to direct them in this task. Margaret Barker has very kindly submitted the following article to explain how the Diocese tackles this important work.)
The Pastoral Registers and Records Measure, 1978, provides for the care and preservation of parish registers and records, following grave concern about their care in some churches.
The Bradford Diocesan response to this Measure was to appoint a professional and experienced Archivist to work on this matter along with the Archdeacons, assisted by two voluntary Records Officers, of which I am one. An important part of the team is the Diocesan Registrar who gives invaluable support and advice.
‘Registers’ refers to the six types of register books required to be kept by each parish: baptism, banns of marriage, marriage, burial or disposal of cremated remains, confirmation and services of public worship. Since 1837 Marriage registers have differed from other registers as they are subject to civil registration legislation and for added security a duplicate register is kept and sent, when full, to the local Superintendent Registrar. ‘Records’ are defined as ‘materials in written or other form setting out facts or events or otherwise recording information’ and are very diverse. Custody of the registers is vested in the incumbent, priest-in-charge, or the churchwardens (during an interregnum), whereas the custody of the records is the joint responsibility of the PCC, incumbent and the churchwardens.
The Records Officers carry out inspections of records in parish custody at intervals, advising on their condition and making any necessary recommendations for their future welfare. During a parish visit we make a list of all the records that we find, and copies of that list are sent to the churchwardens to be kept with the parish inventory. The list should be available for the Archdeacon to see during his visitation. If a parish has inadequate storage facilities for its older records, the Archive Department at Bradford (or elsewhere if applicable) will accept these on deposit for safekeeping in ideal conditions of temperature and humidity. The registers will be filmed so that the original books do not have to be handled by enquirers. These remain the property of the parish at all times. Our work is very varied, from visiting small country chapels to large city-centre churches, and as diverse as the congregations who worship in them
Bradford has a huge geographical spread and the Diocese uses six local authority archive departments for deposition of records, these are Bradford, Leeds, Calderdale, Kendal, Preston and Northallerton. As well as storing records for the churches in the Diocese, they provide access to parochial records for family historians and other researchers. We have good relationships with Archivists in each area, and with the Archdeacons.
All registers must be kept in a safe, away from contaminating substances, and all records should be kept securely on the church premises, except for current minutes and accounts which may be with the Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer of the P.C.C.
As Records Officers, my colleague and I are available to give advice to members of the public, especially family historians, as well as members of the clergy and churchwardens, on all matters of the church records. If we do not know the answer to a query, we can usually contact someone who does!
Margaret Barker
The Pastoral Registers and Records Measure, 1978, provides for the care and preservation of parish registers and records, following grave concern about their care in some churches.
The Bradford Diocesan response to this Measure was to appoint a professional and experienced Archivist to work on this matter along with the Archdeacons, assisted by two voluntary Records Officers, of which I am one. An important part of the team is the Diocesan Registrar who gives invaluable support and advice.
‘Registers’ refers to the six types of register books required to be kept by each parish: baptism, banns of marriage, marriage, burial or disposal of cremated remains, confirmation and services of public worship. Since 1837 Marriage registers have differed from other registers as they are subject to civil registration legislation and for added security a duplicate register is kept and sent, when full, to the local Superintendent Registrar. ‘Records’ are defined as ‘materials in written or other form setting out facts or events or otherwise recording information’ and are very diverse. Custody of the registers is vested in the incumbent, priest-in-charge, or the churchwardens (during an interregnum), whereas the custody of the records is the joint responsibility of the PCC, incumbent and the churchwardens.
The Records Officers carry out inspections of records in parish custody at intervals, advising on their condition and making any necessary recommendations for their future welfare. During a parish visit we make a list of all the records that we find, and copies of that list are sent to the churchwardens to be kept with the parish inventory. The list should be available for the Archdeacon to see during his visitation. If a parish has inadequate storage facilities for its older records, the Archive Department at Bradford (or elsewhere if applicable) will accept these on deposit for safekeeping in ideal conditions of temperature and humidity. The registers will be filmed so that the original books do not have to be handled by enquirers. These remain the property of the parish at all times. Our work is very varied, from visiting small country chapels to large city-centre churches, and as diverse as the congregations who worship in them
Bradford has a huge geographical spread and the Diocese uses six local authority archive departments for deposition of records, these are Bradford, Leeds, Calderdale, Kendal, Preston and Northallerton. As well as storing records for the churches in the Diocese, they provide access to parochial records for family historians and other researchers. We have good relationships with Archivists in each area, and with the Archdeacons.
All registers must be kept in a safe, away from contaminating substances, and all records should be kept securely on the church premises, except for current minutes and accounts which may be with the Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer of the P.C.C.
As Records Officers, my colleague and I are available to give advice to members of the public, especially family historians, as well as members of the clergy and churchwardens, on all matters of the church records. If we do not know the answer to a query, we can usually contact someone who does!
Margaret Barker
Dr Pusey and Two Leeds Churches
The Rev’d Dr Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882), pictured left, was one of the Church of England’s greatest scholars. He was a Canon of Christ Church, Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford for over 50 years, and a leader of the Oxford Movement which did so much to recall the Church of England to its rightful Catholic heritage. Sunday, the 16th September 2007 was the 125th anniversary of Dr Pusey’s death and two Leeds churches, with which he was closely associated, St Saviour’s, Richmond Hill, and St Hilda’s, Cross Green, made sure they marked the occasion with due respect.
St Hilda’s still has strong links with Oxford where their patron is Keble College, and they invited Fr William Davage SSC, the Priest Librarian of Pusey House, to come and preach at their Sunday Solemn Mass. Fr William gave an outstanding sermon on Dr Pusey’s enormous influence on the Church and on the sheer unassuming goodness of the man, who was constantly striving for holiness, and who was known to his many followers, simply, as the “Dear Doctor.” Fr William also gave some insights into Pusey’s prayer life, and the almost monastic discipline of his devotions, including saying Mass at 4.30am every day – earlier than any religious community!
On the Sunday afternoon St Saviour’s celebrated a High Mass of Thanksgiving for the life of Dr Pusey and for the restoration of their beautiful church. On this occasion the sermon was preached by the Rev’d Professor David Brown of the University of Durham and Canon of Durham Cathedral. Professor Brown concentrated on Dr Pusey’s steadfastness, and his refusal to despair, and on how these were qualities that are needed today as our church faces its current difficulties and divisions.
Dr Pusey was more closely involved with St Saviour’s than with any other church. In 1839 Dr W. F. Hook, Vicar of Leeds wrote to his old Oxford friend, Pusey, to enquire if he could find a benefactor for the building of a new church in a deprived area near the centre of Leeds. In due course Pusey replied to say that he had found such a benefactor, who would donate the whole church, but this person wished to remain anonymous and that Pusey should deal with all matters on the donor’s behalf. The only condition was that there should be an inscription at the entrance to the church saying “Ye who enter this holy place, pray for the sinner who built it.” The donor was in fact Pusey himself.
Hook readily agreed to Pusey’s proposal but difficulties were to arise from the very start with Dr C. T. Longley, the Bishop of Ripon. Longley had little sympathy with the Oxford Movement and was far removed from Pusey in his churchmanship. He had a fear of Rome, of ritual, and of prayers for the dead. Pusey had to assure him that the donor was alive and that he would be informed if the donor died when, presumably, the inscription would be removed. This was just the first of Longley’s many interventions. The church was to be dedicated to the Holy Cross but he objected, later agreed, but then changed his mind again just prior to the consecration. At various stages Longley objected to the fixtures and fittings of the church and, on the very eve of the consecration, disapproved of some of the panels in the stained glass windows which had to be replaced with plain glass. At the same time he opposed the cross on the chancel screen and even rejected the altar linen which had been specially made for the church.
However, Longley’s final objection when he refused to bless or use the communion plate. This had been given in memory of Pusey’s teenage daughter, Lucy, and was inset with precious stones from the jewellery she had inherited from her mother. The inscription read:
PROPITIUS ESTO DOMINE LUCIAE MARIAE QUAE - DEO ET ECCL. S. CRUCIS. (Have mercy, O Lord on Lucy Maria who gave this to God and Holy Cross Church)
Longley deemed this was a prayer for the dead and sent to Leeds Parish Church for “acceptable” holy vessels. Pusey apparently remained silent but eye-witness accounts record the look of utter desolation on his face.
came on the day of consecration itself
Dr Longley, the Bishop of Ripon
Happily, these battles for the restoration of Catholic practices and privileges within the Church of England have long been won, thanks to Pusey and his followers, and the memory of such disputes seems like a distant nightmare. At the recent anniversary celebrations Lucy’s memorial plate was used at the High Mass and it was a delight to see the present Bishop of Ripon process, in cape and mitre, over Pusey’s inscribed stone at the entrance to the church, no doubt saying a prayer for “the sinner who built it.”
This was not the end of the Pusey celebrations in Leeds for, two days later on Tuesday, 18th September 2007, St Hilda’s celebrated the 125th Anniversary of the consecration of their church. Pusey was a great benefactor of St Hilda’s and he took a keen interest in its progress right up to the time of his death. On the actual day of consecration, in 1882, news had just reached Leeds that Pusey had died, at Ascot Priory, two days earlier. Although this must have cast a certain shadow over events, the proceedings went ahead as planned. A huge procession made its way from St Saviour’s to St Hilda’s watched by hundreds of people. It included over 80 priests and more than 50 robed choristers. Crosses and banners were carried and the Rt Rev’d Vincent Ryan, Bishop of Mauritius, deputising for the Bishop of Ripon, consecrated the church.
It was therefore fitting that, exactly 125 years later to the day, St Hilda’s should commemorate this event with a glorious Solemn Sung Mass. The celebrant and preacher was the Rt Rev’d Robert Ladds SSC, Bishop of Whitby, who wore Dr Pusey’s stole – one of the great treasures of St Hilda’s church. The bishop’s sermon made some interesting connections between the witness of St Hilda and that of Dr Pusey although they are separated in time by some 1,200 years. The mass was sung by the choir of Leeds Parish Church under the direction of Dr Simon Lindley and a large congregation filled the church with many people having to stand. The enthusiastic singing prompted Dr Lindley, on more than one occasion, to turn from his choir and conduct the congregation.
The saintly Dr Pusey was therefore remembered, by two Leeds churches, in a most appropriate and holy way. If you have never visited these two churches, which are only a quarter of a mile apart, please try to do so. You have a treat in store. The glory of St Saviour’s is its stained glass, with windows by Pugin, Morris, Burne-Jones and others. The beauty of St Hilda’s lies in its splendid interior proportions and its superb woodwork – particularly the tall font cover, the chancel screen and the canopy over the high altar. The Blessed Sacrament is perpetually reserved in both churches but the buildings themselves will bring you to your knees.
In order to continue their work both churches need your prayers and, if possible, your financial support.
Brian Wilson
The Rev’d Dr Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882), pictured left, was one of the Church of England’s greatest scholars. He was a Canon of Christ Church, Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford for over 50 years, and a leader of the Oxford Movement which did so much to recall the Church of England to its rightful Catholic heritage. Sunday, the 16th September 2007 was the 125th anniversary of Dr Pusey’s death and two Leeds churches, with which he was closely associated, St Saviour’s, Richmond Hill, and St Hilda’s, Cross Green, made sure they marked the occasion with due respect.
St Hilda’s still has strong links with Oxford where their patron is Keble College, and they invited Fr William Davage SSC, the Priest Librarian of Pusey House, to come and preach at their Sunday Solemn Mass. Fr William gave an outstanding sermon on Dr Pusey’s enormous influence on the Church and on the sheer unassuming goodness of the man, who was constantly striving for holiness, and who was known to his many followers, simply, as the “Dear Doctor.” Fr William also gave some insights into Pusey’s prayer life, and the almost monastic discipline of his devotions, including saying Mass at 4.30am every day – earlier than any religious community!
On the Sunday afternoon St Saviour’s celebrated a High Mass of Thanksgiving for the life of Dr Pusey and for the restoration of their beautiful church. On this occasion the sermon was preached by the Rev’d Professor David Brown of the University of Durham and Canon of Durham Cathedral. Professor Brown concentrated on Dr Pusey’s steadfastness, and his refusal to despair, and on how these were qualities that are needed today as our church faces its current difficulties and divisions.
Dr Pusey was more closely involved with St Saviour’s than with any other church. In 1839 Dr W. F. Hook, Vicar of Leeds wrote to his old Oxford friend, Pusey, to enquire if he could find a benefactor for the building of a new church in a deprived area near the centre of Leeds. In due course Pusey replied to say that he had found such a benefactor, who would donate the whole church, but this person wished to remain anonymous and that Pusey should deal with all matters on the donor’s behalf. The only condition was that there should be an inscription at the entrance to the church saying “Ye who enter this holy place, pray for the sinner who built it.” The donor was in fact Pusey himself.
Hook readily agreed to Pusey’s proposal but difficulties were to arise from the very start with Dr C. T. Longley, the Bishop of Ripon. Longley had little sympathy with the Oxford Movement and was far removed from Pusey in his churchmanship. He had a fear of Rome, of ritual, and of prayers for the dead. Pusey had to assure him that the donor was alive and that he would be informed if the donor died when, presumably, the inscription would be removed. This was just the first of Longley’s many interventions. The church was to be dedicated to the Holy Cross but he objected, later agreed, but then changed his mind again just prior to the consecration. At various stages Longley objected to the fixtures and fittings of the church and, on the very eve of the consecration, disapproved of some of the panels in the stained glass windows which had to be replaced with plain glass. At the same time he opposed the cross on the chancel screen and even rejected the altar linen which had been specially made for the church.
However, Longley’s final objection when he refused to bless or use the communion plate. This had been given in memory of Pusey’s teenage daughter, Lucy, and was inset with precious stones from the jewellery she had inherited from her mother. The inscription read:
PROPITIUS ESTO DOMINE LUCIAE MARIAE QUAE - DEO ET ECCL. S. CRUCIS. (Have mercy, O Lord on Lucy Maria who gave this to God and Holy Cross Church)
Longley deemed this was a prayer for the dead and sent to Leeds Parish Church for “acceptable” holy vessels. Pusey apparently remained silent but eye-witness accounts record the look of utter desolation on his face.
came on the day of consecration itself
Dr Longley, the Bishop of Ripon
Happily, these battles for the restoration of Catholic practices and privileges within the Church of England have long been won, thanks to Pusey and his followers, and the memory of such disputes seems like a distant nightmare. At the recent anniversary celebrations Lucy’s memorial plate was used at the High Mass and it was a delight to see the present Bishop of Ripon process, in cape and mitre, over Pusey’s inscribed stone at the entrance to the church, no doubt saying a prayer for “the sinner who built it.”
This was not the end of the Pusey celebrations in Leeds for, two days later on Tuesday, 18th September 2007, St Hilda’s celebrated the 125th Anniversary of the consecration of their church. Pusey was a great benefactor of St Hilda’s and he took a keen interest in its progress right up to the time of his death. On the actual day of consecration, in 1882, news had just reached Leeds that Pusey had died, at Ascot Priory, two days earlier. Although this must have cast a certain shadow over events, the proceedings went ahead as planned. A huge procession made its way from St Saviour’s to St Hilda’s watched by hundreds of people. It included over 80 priests and more than 50 robed choristers. Crosses and banners were carried and the Rt Rev’d Vincent Ryan, Bishop of Mauritius, deputising for the Bishop of Ripon, consecrated the church.
It was therefore fitting that, exactly 125 years later to the day, St Hilda’s should commemorate this event with a glorious Solemn Sung Mass. The celebrant and preacher was the Rt Rev’d Robert Ladds SSC, Bishop of Whitby, who wore Dr Pusey’s stole – one of the great treasures of St Hilda’s church. The bishop’s sermon made some interesting connections between the witness of St Hilda and that of Dr Pusey although they are separated in time by some 1,200 years. The mass was sung by the choir of Leeds Parish Church under the direction of Dr Simon Lindley and a large congregation filled the church with many people having to stand. The enthusiastic singing prompted Dr Lindley, on more than one occasion, to turn from his choir and conduct the congregation.
The saintly Dr Pusey was therefore remembered, by two Leeds churches, in a most appropriate and holy way. If you have never visited these two churches, which are only a quarter of a mile apart, please try to do so. You have a treat in store. The glory of St Saviour’s is its stained glass, with windows by Pugin, Morris, Burne-Jones and others. The beauty of St Hilda’s lies in its splendid interior proportions and its superb woodwork – particularly the tall font cover, the chancel screen and the canopy over the high altar. The Blessed Sacrament is perpetually reserved in both churches but the buildings themselves will bring you to your knees.
In order to continue their work both churches need your prayers and, if possible, your financial support.
Brian Wilson
Another Saint Margaret
The Penguin Dictionary of Saints records the lives of six saints bearing the name of Margaret. Unlike St Margaret of Antioch “for whom there is no positive evidence that she ever existed – she is simply a fictitious romance,” Margaret of Cortona was real flesh and blood. A recent visit to the Tuscan hill town where she spent her later years showed to us how wholeheartedly the townsfolk adopted and continue to revere Santa Margherita as she first became known unofficially very shortly after her death.
She was in fact born in the nearby town of Laviano in 1247, the daughter of a farmer. When she was seven, her mother died and two years later her father remarried. Her stepmother proved to be so harsh and unsympathetic to the young, willful and independent Margaret that at the age of 17 she eloped with a young nobleman. She bore him a son and lived as his mistress for nine years. However in 1274 on his way to visit one of his estates, he was murdered by brigands and his body buried in a shallow grave. It was his faithful dog which led Margaret to find his body in the forest.
She interpreted this event as a sign from God. She publicly confessed to the affair, and after failing to gain admission to her father’s house, traveled to Cortona to seek refuge. The Friars Minor were moved by the sincerity of her contrition and she received help from two ladies of the city.
So began a life of severe discipline and self-denial. She was still young and attractive and to make herself unappealing to men she tried to mutilate herself and was only deterred by her confessor. She devoted her time to tending the sick women of the city and by looking after children, living on alms and asking nothing for her services.
When the Franciscans were convinced of her sincerity they admitted her to the Third Order of St Francis. Her son was sent off to Arezzo to school and later joined the Franciscan Order. She founded a hospital in Cortona and gave counsel to fellow penitents when they sought her help. In 1288 she retired to a retreat to spend her days in prayer and contemplation, remaining there alone apart from visits from her confessor until her death on February 2nd 1297.
Her body was interred in the Church of St Basil but a new church was specially built nearby in 1330 to which her body was transferred. In the aisles were a series of frescoes depicting her life and the miracles attributed to her both during her life and after her death. In 1728 she was canonised by the Church. A century later in 1855 a new impressive church was built and enjoys a prominent site within the city walls. It can be reached on foot from the old city by a long and tortuous path, much easier on the return journey.
She has continued to be the subject of veneration. Over the centuries many artists have portrayed her and her good works. In the Diocesan museum is a particularly powerful interpretation of the mystic closeness between Christ and Margaret. In all these works, a dog is included in the corner of the work as a sign of the faithfulness in which she dedicated her life to her saviour.
She was in fact born in the nearby town of Laviano in 1247, the daughter of a farmer. When she was seven, her mother died and two years later her father remarried. Her stepmother proved to be so harsh and unsympathetic to the young, willful and independent Margaret that at the age of 17 she eloped with a young nobleman. She bore him a son and lived as his mistress for nine years. However in 1274 on his way to visit one of his estates, he was murdered by brigands and his body buried in a shallow grave. It was his faithful dog which led Margaret to find his body in the forest.
She interpreted this event as a sign from God. She publicly confessed to the affair, and after failing to gain admission to her father’s house, traveled to Cortona to seek refuge. The Friars Minor were moved by the sincerity of her contrition and she received help from two ladies of the city.
So began a life of severe discipline and self-denial. She was still young and attractive and to make herself unappealing to men she tried to mutilate herself and was only deterred by her confessor. She devoted her time to tending the sick women of the city and by looking after children, living on alms and asking nothing for her services.
When the Franciscans were convinced of her sincerity they admitted her to the Third Order of St Francis. Her son was sent off to Arezzo to school and later joined the Franciscan Order. She founded a hospital in Cortona and gave counsel to fellow penitents when they sought her help. In 1288 she retired to a retreat to spend her days in prayer and contemplation, remaining there alone apart from visits from her confessor until her death on February 2nd 1297.
Her body was interred in the Church of St Basil but a new church was specially built nearby in 1330 to which her body was transferred. In the aisles were a series of frescoes depicting her life and the miracles attributed to her both during her life and after her death. In 1728 she was canonised by the Church. A century later in 1855 a new impressive church was built and enjoys a prominent site within the city walls. It can be reached on foot from the old city by a long and tortuous path, much easier on the return journey.
She has continued to be the subject of veneration. Over the centuries many artists have portrayed her and her good works. In the Diocesan museum is a particularly powerful interpretation of the mystic closeness between Christ and Margaret. In all these works, a dog is included in the corner of the work as a sign of the faithfulness in which she dedicated her life to her saviour.
Her feast day is 22nd February.
John Baggaley