Church of the Epiphany, Gipton
Statement of Significance
The Church in its urban environment
The Anglican Church of the Epiphany is a Grade 1 listed building dominating its site at the
junction of Amberton Road and Beech Lane in Gipton, Leeds. It is constructed of a reinforced
concrete frame with brick cladding, chamfered concrete plinth, concrete floor bands and
raised coped parapets. The roof over the nave and chancel is covered with plain tiles, whilst
the roofs to the transepts and the ambulatory are covered with stainless steel.
The settlement of Gipton has a long history dating back to Domesday Book. It was absorbed
into neighbouring Leeds when the city underwent rapid expansion in the Victorian period.
During the 1930s Leeds City Council embarked on a programme of slum clearance from the
city centre and Gipton was chosen as the site for one of the North of England's first garden
suburbs, which was to include the building of houses, shops and schools. The first new
council houses were completed in 1935, and the following year a temporary Mission Church
known as the "tin hut" was opened.
Plans for the Church of the Epiphany were prepared by Nugent Cachemaille-Day whose
designs were strongly influenced by a new church in Coutances, Normandy. The Epiphany
was built by Armitage Hodgson of Leeds, the foundation stone being laid on 12 July 1937 by
Elsie Burroughs, sister of the late Bishop of Ripon, Rt. Revd. Edward Burroughs who died in
1934. The church was consecrated by the next Bishop of Ripon, Rt. Revd. Dr Geoffrey Lunt,
on 14 May 1938 in the presence of the Princess Royal. The full title of the church is “The
Bishop Burroughs (of Ripon) Memorial Church”, but it is never used.
The total cost of the building was £15,000 of which all but £1,000 came from the Bishop
Burroughs Memorial Appeal Fund and the Bishop's Centenary Fund. An intended 100 foot
bell tower over the south porch was considered too expensive and was not built; instead,
a steel and masonry spire, surmounted by an illuminated star, was erected over the east
gable, but was removed in November 1976 for safety reasons.
The chancel is barely distinguishable from the nave, under one roof, with an apse of the same
height and an ambulatory around. To the west of the nave are single storey porches to the
north and south, and to the east square north and south transepts. The sanctuary is slightly
raised on a circular plinth with simple curved altar rails and built-in furniture. To the east of
the altar and raised by 16 steps is the Lady Chapel, also with a curved east end and originally
intended to be dedicated to St Edmund; below is a vestry, meeting room, office, toilets and
kitchen, with external access via further north and south porches. This east end arrangement
is most impressive, composed of sweeping curves and stepped up in the manner of the
French Romanesque church--low semicircle of the Lady Chapel, higher semicircle of the
ambulatory, and yet higher pitched roof. The choir galleries are, most unusually, behind the
altar, facing the nave on the same level as the Lady Chapel.
The interior is light and spacious with 18.5 m high circular concrete piers supporting flat
ceilings, those of the aisles being slightly lower than the nave. . A small pulpit originally
wound round one of the columns but was replaced by a larger one, later removed. The
windows- the subject of this application- are very slim, narrow and straight headed and very
close to each other. Most of them are damaged, with badly- fitting , poorly matched
misshapes, and unattractive guards. The repairs to the West window ,part of the successful
repairs project just completed , show what can be expected with professional attention. The
stained glass in the Lady Chapel is by Christopher Webb, depicting the Epiphany stars, with
blue the dominant colour. "Expressionist, not to say jazzy", thought Pevsner. Fortunately it
has suffered minimal damage.
Early structural problems included roof panels coming loose because the fixing nails were too
short and made of iron rather than copper; the wooden floor tiles rose. Problems with the
acoustics were known as "the Epiphany echo". Furnishings donated by other churches
included the limestone font from St Paulinus’.
In 1962 a single storey development to the west end of the church provided a church hall
which was extended five years later. Current provision is of a large hall with stage, a small
hall, a meeting room, kitchen and toilet facilities; access is available both directly and through
the church. The church and additional halls provide significant available social space for the
community in an area generally deprived of large buildings; they contribute significantly to the
activities of schoolchildren, uniformed organisations, local clubs and societies; the church
provides a weekly community cafe in the hall and is renowned for hosting and supporting the
annual pantomime. The present population of the parish is around 9,500.
A garden area has been created at the north-west corner of the site, which has a car-park
along the south side. The original parsonage house was on Amberton Road, but this was sold
in 2008, a modern vicarage having been built in the 1980s to the south-west of the site, with
access from Beech Lane.
The proposed repairs, predominantly to the windows but also including concrete string
courses and pointing to brick-work, round off improvements to an “At Risk” building and
secure its future. The suggestion to continue with, and the funding for, the windows came
largely from English Heritage and is a tribute to the quality of the work of the architects and
tradesmen in the earlier project. In a ward where new-build estates are beginning to win the
battle against the inner city gloom, the new windows will add to the declaration which
Epiphany makes about the value of shared beauty in a mixed community.
Acknowledgements
Richard Jaques-- English Heritage, architectural report, Nov.2010
Leeds City Council -- Listed Building description
Pevsner -- Yorkshire West Riding, 2009 edition
CS03/2013