Batley church to celebrate Heritage Open Days and Yorkshire Churches Day

The church, on Brookroyd Lane, will be taking part in the annual nationwide event for the fifteenth year. It will also be participating in Yorkshire Churches Day on the same day, an occasion where numerous churches in Yorkshire open their doors to the public.

On the day, St Saviour’s will be open from 11am until 3pm, with light refreshments available and various activities for visitors of all ages. Stewards will be on hand to answer questions about the treasures to be found in the building, while DVDs featuring the church will be shown at the free event.

St Saviour’s Church is a Grade II listed building and contains a unique stained glass widow commemorating Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. This window has been verified by the Victoria and Albert Museum as the only one in the world showing the Queen with her husband and consort, Prince Albert.

There is a frieze of Minton tiles, a beautiful East Window, a Millennium Window designed by the congregation, an altar rail by Robert Thompson (‘The Mouseman of Kilburn’) and a painting of Christ by Hans Richter-Damm. The church has a historical connection to Charlotte Brontë as her friend Ellen Nussey lived nearby in Brookroyd House.

Heritage Open Days are coordinated and promoted nationally by The National Trust, and are England’s contribution to European Heritage Days taking place in fifty countries. Other events are held in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.