Whitkirk Church
Vicars of St Mary’s Church, Whitkirk can be traced back to AD 1185 although there was probably a church on this site before that date.
It is possible that there was a Saxon church of blackened timber which was then replaced by a stone church giving rise to the name “Whitechurche” (Whitkirk). The earliest reference to “Whitechurche” is in a charter of Henry de Laci conferring land to the Knights Templar. The names of the witnesses prove the date of this charter to be between 1154 and 1166.
The font and the piscina date from the 12th century although the present Grade 1 listed building is predominantly from the 14th and 15th centuries, with later additions and alterations. The font is a single piece of magnesium limestone identified as being from the quarry which provided stone for the construction of York Minster.
Temple Newsam House
At St Mary’s Church there is an inscribed tablet in the Holy Trinity Chapel (previously known as the Ingram Chapel or the Irwin Chapel) which commemorates Sir Arthur Ingram (1565-1642) who, in 1622, acquired a manor house (a former residence of the Lennox family and originally built in 1522) at Temple Newsam situated three quarters of a mile from the church. Sir Arthur Ingram and later generations of the Ingram family rebuilt and extended Temple Newsam House into a large stately home.
On the 19th September 1922 the mansion and park were sold to Leeds Corporation for a nominal sum of £35,000. As part of this sale Edward Frederick Lindley Wood (created Lord Irwin in 1925 and 1st Earl of Halifax in 1944) insisted on three covenants, one of which stated that a service of Holy Communion should take place once a year according to the rites of the Church of England to commemorate the transfer of the house and the park to the City of Leeds. This annual Sung Eucharist is usually celebrated in the Long Gallery at Temple Newsam House on the Sunday that falls nearest to the 19th September.
If you’re interested in the five centuries of history between the Church and Temple Newsam House, you can find out more in our 2021 lecture The Country House and the Parish Church.
John Smeaton
“The Father of Civil Engineering in Britain”, John Smeaton was born, raised and ultimately died in the parish of Whitkirk. He is buried within the Church.
Discover more about John Smeaton
Vicars of Whitkirk
Whitkirk is fortunate to have a complete list of vicars responsible for the parish back to its earliest recorded mention in 1185.
See the list of Vicars of Whitkirk
Parish Records
If you’re looking for records kept by the Church, please see our Parish Records page for more help.
Read more about Parish Records
Remembrance
We have several war memorials at Whitkirk, and we have led the annual Act of Remembrance at the local war memorial on Selby Road for around a century.