Church of St Peter, Church Lane, Rylstone, West Yorkshire

CONSECRATION OF RYLSTONE CHURCH - On Tuesday last, the Lord Bishop of Ripon consecrated the newly restored church of St. Peter, at Rylstone. [Leeds Intelligencer Saturday 1 October 1853 Page 8]

The remodelling of a mediaeval church subjected to a major restoration in 1820 to the designs of Sharpe and Paley later E. G. Paley alone in a mixture of Decorated and (unusually for the time) Perpendicular styles.  In 1850 the architects prepared three drawings and a specification of work. The drawings show that the church was to be rebuilt but the tower was to be retained and increased in height by 10 feet. The hand-written specification indicates that the church was to be demolished and rebuilt except for the tower, using the stone available from the demolition with additional stone from Cracoe Fell Top Quarry. It also implies new footings were to be provided. During construction the tower was found to be unstable and the decision made to demolish and replace it totally. Although doubts have been expressed as to the extent of the 1850-53 restoration work, the visual evidence suggests that the church was largely if not wholly rebuilt by Sharpe and Paley.

Reference        Leeds Intelligencer Saturday 14 December 1850 Page 1 - contracts
Reference        Leeds Intelligencer Saturday 1 October 1853 Page 8 – consecration
Reference        Buildings of England: Yorkshire West Riding 2009 page 677
Reference        Geoff Brandwood: The Architecture of Sharpe Paley and Austin 2012 page 58, 95 216
Reference        www.rylstoneproject.com