Bradford Cathedral

Bradford Cathedral
Cathedral Church of St Peter
The Altar from the Nave
Bradford Cathedral Shown within West Yorkshire
Coordinates: 53°47′44″N 1°44′51″W / 53.79556°N 1.74750°W / 53.79556; -1.74750
OS grid reference	SE1671533264
Location	Bradford, West Yorkshire
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
Website	www.bradfordcathedral.co.uk
Architecture
Style	Gothic
Years built	c. 1400–1965
Administration
Diocese	Leeds (since 2014)
Province	York
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Nick Baines
Dean	Jerry Lepine

Bradford Cathedral, full name Cathedral Church of St Peter and formerly Bradford Parish Church, is situated in the heart of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, on a site used for Christian worship since the 8th century when missionaries based in Dewsbury evangelised the region. For most of its history the building was the parish church of St Peter.

The first church on the site was built in Anglo-Saxon times and fell into ruin during the Norman Invasion in 1066. The Norman lady of the manor Alice de Laci built a second church that 300 years later would be destroyed by raiding Scots.

During the 14th century the church was rebuilt and some of the older masonry may have been used in the reconstruction of the nave. The nave arcades, the oldest parts of the present building, were completed in 1458. A clerestory above them was added by the end of the 15th century. Chantry chapels were founded, on the north side of the chancel by the Leventhorpe family, and on the south by the owners of Bolling Hall. The tower in the Perpendicular style was added to the west end and finished in 1508.

Originally in the Diocese of York, the church was in the Diocese of Ripon before becoming a cathedral in 1919, when the Diocese of Bradford was created; it became one of three co-equal cathedrals of the new Diocese of Leeds upon its creation on 20 April 2014.

The building was extended in the 1950s and 1960s by Edward Maufe. The east end of the Cathedral (shown in the photo) is Maufe's work, but he reused the Morris & Co. stained glass from the old east window—there is therefore Victorian stained glass throughout the building including at the west end a window showing the women of the Bible. The many wall monuments include a sculpture by John Flaxman. Maufe also extended the west of the Cathedral on either side of the tower.