Part Four:  Developing parish life in St Stephen's

Above: Joseph Tempest is depicted in stained glass giving a chalice to the church on the occasion of the church's opening and dedication in 1842.

Early days

St Stephen's Church finally opened on 15 September 1842 with a High Mass sung by Fr Thomas Peter Tempest. Joseph Francis Tempest gave a 16th century German chalice which was used at this Mass on this occasion. The chalice is still in the possession of the parish. On the following Sunday about sixty people received Confirmation. The first baptism was Monica Jemima Porri on 19 September 1842 and the church was solemnised for marriages on 19 January 1860. In that year Henry Tempest was buried in the Tempest vault which is in the crypt of the church under the Altar. This vault is still in use by the Tempest family. The first recorded burial in the church cemetery was of Charles Fattorini in 1862. Initially, Mass was only said on Sundays and Holydays by chaplains from Broughton Hall. The church was kept locked at all other times and the altar requisites were kept in the house of Baldisaro Porri. John McGlincy used to carry them in a box to and from church. Finally upon the parishioners' request, Fr Thomas Peter Tempest was persuaded to take up residency in Skipton and serve as St Stephen's first parish priest. He lived above Baldisaro Porri's shop and served for two years.

Enlarging the church and building a school

In 1850 plans were drawn up to enlarge the church and build a presbytery and school. A gallery was added to the church, then transepts (to house the sacristy and a side chapel) and twenty-five feet added to the length of the church. A reredos of Caen stone designed by AWN Pugin was also added as were several stained glass windows. The opening of the enlarged church took place on 29 September 1853 and Fr George Bridges SJ became the first resident priest. St Stephen's thus became a Jesuit parish. The presbytery which he moved into has latterly become home to the religious Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary (until August 2003).

If you wish to view photographs of any of these improvements, please click here to go to the Virtual Tour pages.

St Monica's School, the FCJ & the RSHM sisters

The FCJ sisters ran St Stephen's School, having taken over from the Sisters of Mercy in 1866. They eventually opened a boarding and day school for girls of eleven years old and over named St Stephen's School. This school thrived until 1969 when financial pressures forced the nuns to close the school and leave the parish altogether. Former students of the school still return to visit the buildings, to reminisce and exchange stories and the place is very much alive in the memories of the parish. A former teacher of the school still lives in the vicinity and attends daily Mass in the church. The FCJ nuns were replaced by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM) on 15 August 1970 and they have served the parish faithfully and developed the life of the parish. In the post-Vatican II period, a great amount of work was necessary to empower the laity to take on forms of lay ministry and to help in the running of the parish. These sisters have played instrumental roles in enabling the development of lay ministry in the parish. Sadly, they too had to withdraw from the parish and a Farewell Mass was said on 14 August 2003. 

Becoming a parish of the Leeds Diocese  

The diocese of Leeds was established in 1878 but St Stephen's remained a Jesuit parish. Four years before this, Fr Richard Sharp SJ came to Skipton and he was to serve the parish for forty years. By 1897 there were 880 Catholics in Skipton. As was usual in this time, various Guilds were established in the parish, many of them surviving for over a hundred years. In 1914, Fr Sharp died and the Jesuits withdrew from the parish. Major Arthur Cecil Tempest presented the church and schools of St Stephen's to Bishop Cowgill of Leeds as a gift to the diocese. Fr Philip Bethall, a priest trained at Ushaw in the Douai tradition was the first secular parish priest of St Stephen's. Due to the outbreak of war in 1914, the church was not consecrated until 1923 by Bishop Cowgill. In 1973, a chapel of ease in Threshfield was dedicated by Bishop Wheeler to serve the needs of the Catholics in the Dales area. It was the first church in the diocese to be dedicated to St Margaret Clitherow who was canonised only three years previously. This church is still served by the parish priest of St Stephen's. In addition, the boundaries of St Stephen's parish were extended in 2012 to include Sacred Heart Chapel at Broughton Hall. The Catholic population of Skipton currently stands at around 2,200 and visitors from all over flock to the parish in the summer months and are always welcome to join in our many social activities. In 2003 work began on new buildings suited to the 21st century for St Stephen's School and an extension was opened in 2012 by Monsignor Andrew Summersgill, parish priest of St Stephen's, and Mrs Janet Tempest of Broughton Hall. In 2015 an extension to the nursery was opened by Marcus Stock, Bishop of Leeds.

A 21st century parish

Over the years, parishioners have continued to endow this church with beautiful objects but this history is not essentially one of buildings and places but a story of a community - the Catholic community in Skipton. It is the story of faith and hope through penal times, of the struggle for a voice and for common identity. The people of St Stephen's parish still live in faith and hope and they continue to share the love which is theirs from Christ. Through many parish charitable projects the parish continues to give voice to those who are oppressed all over the world. Through fund-raisers and social events, the parish continues to celebrate its common identity and heritage. Above all, in the Mass and sacraments which are celebrated daily, St Stephen's continues to celebrate its Catholic identity, a gift from so many individuals over the centuries- the great and the countless humble un-named - and which is being handed on to future generations of Christians in Skipton.

"May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, how rich is the glory of the heritage he offers among his holy people, and how extraordinarily great is the power that he has exercised for us believers..."

- EPHESIANS 1:18  

If you wish to find out more about the history of the parish or Catholicism in England, you may wish to purchase the definitive history of St Stephens by Paul Kennedy, The Struggle of a Minority for £15. Please contact us to arrange for a copy to be sent to you.