St Mary's in the Wood Church, Morley

St Mary's in the Wood Church is a United Reformed Church place of worship in Morley, West Yorkshire, England. The church built in 1876-78 on the site of a medieval church was already redundant when partially destroyed by a fire in 2010; its previous Sunday School building was known as St Mary's in the Wood Church from 2010, until being sold to Leeds City Council in 2023. As of 2025^[update] the small but active congregation of St Mary's in the Wood Church meets in the Wesley Room of Morley's Central Methodist Church.^[1][2]

St Mary’s in the Wood Church
St Mary’s in the Wood Church, Morley
The former St Mary's in the Wood Church after fire damage
53.747833°N 1.601534°W / 53.747833; -1.601534
OS grid reference	SE263280
Location	Morley, West Yorkshire
Country	England
Denomination	United Reformed Church
Website	https://stmarysinthewoodmorleyurc.org.uk/
Architecture
Functional status	Derelict
Style	Gothic revival

The church and spire seen from Commercial Street.

Current meeting place of the congregation on Commercial Street

Church and graveyard prior to fire

History

There had been a church on the site, now at the meeting of Troy Road and Commercial Road, at the time of the Domesday Book, and parts of a 13th century chapel survived in the building in the 1830s, then known as "The Old Chapel". There was major building work in the 1860s, but by 1875 the congregation had outgrown the building and it was demolished replaced by a new church, designed by Lockwood and Mawson and built at a cost of £7000, which opened in 1878.^[1] It is grade II listed although now largely destroyed.^[3] The Parsonage of the Old Chapel had been on a separate plot of land, on Commercial Street, and was also demolished in 1875. Between 1898 and 1900 a new Sunday School was built on that site. It is now a grade II listed building, listed as "St Mary's in the Wood Church Hall".^[4]

In 2008 the congregation was too small for the church, and sold it to a developer who planned to build a hotel on the site. The congregation moved to the Sunday School building, which was then renamed as the church.^[1] The church sat derelict until 2010, when a fire destroyed large parts of the church, leaving only the spire and burnt out parts of the former building remaining.^[5]

In 2023, Leeds City Council purchased the former Sunday School building, then known as the church, for use as a "learning and skills centre" operated by the Luminate Education Group, as part of a wider development scheme known as Morley Town Deal, with funding from the government's Town's Fund.^[6][7]

The congregation held their final service in the former Sunday School in September 2023,^[8] and as of 2025^[update] are meeting for worship in the Wesley Room of Morley Central Methodist Church.^[2]

Graveyard

Main article: Listed buildings in Morley, West Yorkshire

The graveyard includes many grade II listed memorials, dating from 1667 to 1740 and including the Scatcherd Mausoleum,^[9] grave slabs and chest tombs.

Gallery

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See also

• Listed buildings in Morley, West Yorkshire

References

1. Leeds Libraries (25 January 2019). "A Brief History of Morley Churches". Retrieved 16 February 2025.
2. "St. Mary's in the Wood, Morley". stmarysinthewoodmorleyurc.org.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
3. Historic England. "Church of St Mary in the Wood (Congregational) (1135116)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
4. Historic England. "St Mary's in the Wood Church Hall (1135137)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
5. "Evacuation as Morley church catches fire". 12 June 2010 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
6. "Leeds City Council purchases Morley church as part of £24.3m Morley Town Deal". Leeds City Council News. 13 November 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
7. "CGI images offer first look at multi-million pound revamp of Leeds church hall". Yorkshire Evening Post. 21 May 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
8. "Final Service". St. Mary's in the Wood, Morley. 6 November 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
9. Historic England. "Scatcherd Mausoleum (St Mary's Churchyard (1250654)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 February 2025.

Further reading

• Carr, Frederick H.; Priestley, S. G. (1950). St Mary's in the Wood Congregational Church 1650-1950 (PDF).

External links

• Media related to Former St Mary's in the Wood Church, Morley at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Exploring the Abandoned St Mary in the Wood church Morley, 2024 YouTube video of unofficial visit
• St Mary in the Wood Churchyard Record of 958 gravestones at Find a Grave