The history of our church

Lees - a village and a community
In Anglo-Saxon, 'leys' means meadows and the name was spelt in this way until about 1770. In mediaeval times land in the village belonged to Rievaulx Abbey and Nostell Priory. Some properties which still exist in the village were built in the 1600's, the earliest being those at Vale Lane Top. The main road into Keighley was not built until 1794, while other developments in the village mainly took place in the 1800's; these included the Lees and Cross Roads Co-op, the Wesleyan School (where our present Methodist Church is now located) and Lees Primary School which was built in 1899. The Parish Church of St. James was not built until 1910. During the 1960's and '70's, considerable numbers of new houses were built in the village forming estates at Lees Bank, Canberra and Fellwood. During that period the fine house, Longlands, became a Youth Hostel and today attracts visitors from many parts of the world, some of whom have joined us for worship on a Sunday morning. We have been joined for worship by Christians from as far away as Fiji, Canada, America, Australia and from Spain, Belgium and Ireland, to name but a few. Today the village is a busy place as commuters and other travellers pass through it from neighbouring villages on their way to and from Keighley, Bradford, Halifax and places beyond. In more recent years the village has seen further expansion with new building taking place at Long Acres, Howards Dean, Bamlett Brow, Collins Close, Ryelands Meadow, Massey Fields and Fowlers Garth. Our Church has moved with the times, introducing facilities for the disabled, improving access to the premises and adapting our services and outreach to match the needs of 21st Century people.

"And it's from the old we travel to the new.... keep me travelling along with you"!

The Story of Lees Methodist Church
Our story begins not in Lees, but in Palestine, almost two thousand years ago. There men and women had seen Jesus in their community; they had heard Him teach; they had seen His good works and had come to love Him. However, they had seen men and women shout for Him to be killed and He had been crucified. They could not understand. Three days later that same Jesus was alive and had appeared to some of those same followers. After a few weeks they found a new power in their lives, what we call the Holy Spirit, and gradually they started telling others about Jesus Christ and about God. In some cases large crowds heard the news; in other instances it was one person telling personal friends. Some were persecuted because of what they said; some even killed, but gradually the' Good News, the story of Jesus Christ was spread and eventually it reached these islands.

Several centuries later, in about 1700, the Rev. Samuel Wesley became Rector of Epworth in Lincolnshire and brought his family to live in the Rectory. 'Jacky' Wesley as he was known in the family, John Wesley as we know him, was born there in 1703. His young life, however, nearly came to an abrupt end in 1710 when he was only six years old when a fire in the thatched roof nearly destroyed the whole house. Later in his life he remembered that night when he and his younger brother Charles were rescued, and John thought of himself as 'a brand plucked from the burning!' (A more modern translation of these words, from the book of Zechariah [chap.3 v2] is 'One snatched from a fire.') . Both John and Charles grew up, and like their father became Anglican clergymen. How-ever it was on the night of the 24th May 1738, 'at a quarter before nine' that John 'felt his heart strangely warmed.' He said later, 'I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.' John would spend the rest of his life travelling the country on horseback, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ; his brother Charles became the poet of Methodism, writing many thousand hymns.

Both John and Charles Wesley visited Keighley and Haworth so it is quite likely that they passed by the site of our Church, and also that people in the village would have walked to one or other place to hear John Wesley preach. Rev. William Grimshaw, the rector of Haworth, became a close friend of this travelling preacher, one who drew crowds of several thousand people when he preached in Haworth churchyard.
We know John Wesley preached in the area several times in the 1740's and whilst we cannot confirm any development at Lees for a further century, early chapels were erected in Keighley, Haworth, Oxenhope, Lowertown and Laycock. Alas, little appears to have been recorded of how Lees Wesleyan Chapel came into being, but we know that the first building that we have record of was built in 1844. We know that the first trustees were Thomas Midgeley, Nathaniel Walbank, Tabor Bancroft, William Thomas, Thomas Craven, Jno. Craven, Jonas Sugden, James Sugden, Hiram Craven, Sam Smith, Jno. Holmes, James Bailey, Jno. Robertshaw and William Laycock. Some of these men were also trustees of other chapels, something not unusual at the time. The first Trustees were leading manufacturers, founders of schools in the area, designers and builders of bridges at York and Haworth and of the local mills. (Interestingly it was precisely in 1844 that the Merrall family built their new mill and warehouse on Lees Lane and shortly after, Michael Merrall and Stephen each built dwelling houses at Lees, within easy walking distance of the new mill and presumably within walking distance of our church).

The 1850's saw a period of growth in the population of the area, although this was later to turn into a rapid period of decline towards the end of the century. Prior to the building of Lees Wesleyan Chapel, the Keighley Circuit in 1836 had a membership of 1418, which rose to 2121 in 1855, and of this Lees was able to contribute 91 members. Unfortunately local newspapers did not appear for another twenty years and even then Lees members do not appear to have been frequent contributors to the columns. However, on 5 November 1864 we are told 'that collections were made at the close of both services in aid of the Day School, these amounting to £9.' The previous Thursday evening an examination of the scholars was held in the schoolroom, under the superintendence of the Secretary when the children were examined in scripture, geography, reading, history and mental arithmetic. Three of the female scholars gave a recitation entitled 'The Hero and the Coward' or 'Why children don't get on well at school' - so sadly it would seem that bullying was probably a problem in those days! The evening ended by the children singing 'in their finest style' a Round in three parts. From the minutes of the Day School Committee of 1856 we learn that Mr. Bell, the schoolmaster, received £65, in addition to what was allowed for training pupil teachers. The pupil teachers had to be at school at ' 1/4 before 9 0' clock' to dust all the school and classroom furniture and to ring the bell. The master had to assist the pupil teachers to take great care of all the books, maps, slates and chalk, and have all things put in their proper place. The desks had to be removed on Friday evenings and brought back on Monday. During 1864 when Mr. Mittam was the schoolmaster it was 'resolved to request Mr. Mittam to remain for another year' at a salary of £78, and he had to provide a mistress for the 'sowing' department. The Day School Committee paid the monitors and pupil teachers out of a government grant. The school must have been doing well for we read in the minutes that two more desks were ordered from the joiner! The minutes of the Day School continue to make interesting reading as the years pass by, for in 1865 they had obviously been inspected by the Committee of Council on Education.
Later, in 1870 it was agreed that the school holidays would be two weeks at Christmas, one week at Haworth Rush Bearing and one week at Bingley Tide. 

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In 1867 it was felt that the original Chapel was 'very insufficient to meet the moral and religious necessities of the locality' and that it be enlarged 'to provide comfortable accommodation for all who wish to attend, and at the same time make it worthy of the neighbourhood.' It was anticipated that the alterations would cost at least £ 1 000.In those early days the musical accompaniment was provided by a small orchestra or harmonium, and it wasn't until 1870 that a pipe organ was installed at a cost of £300. As has frequently been the case in the story of Lees Chapel money was short and so in 1875,on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day a bazaar was held in the schoolroom from noon- until 10pm on each day! The present building was also erected at this time for it bears the date 1873.In 1897 it was decided by the Lees and Bocking Wesleyan Churches Trustees meeting 'that the request for new hymn books for the Chapel Choir be not entertained at present. ' Perhaps this was because a new hymn book was on the horizon, being published in June1904.
We have some idea of the size of membership at Lees at that time for on 11th May 1906 the trustees instructed the Chapel Stewards to take a vote of 'seat holders' as to whether they introduce the new book. 160 voted for it and 48 against, and as a result four dozen hymn books were purchased for 'the use of visitors' - regulars presumably were expected to supply their own. In 1911 the Chapel was fully renovated and certain internal changes were made, and in 1925 Miss Jane Green of Hermit Hole bequeathed £1250 for the provision of two stained glass windows (These are the beautiful windows which Mr. John Snaith paid to be removed to what was then the Primary Room in about 1966 and which today are such a focal point of the new sanctuary.) 

Lees Methodist Chapel celebrated it's centenary in April 1944, during the Second World War. Special services were held and from the Centenary brochure we note that things were not as good as they had been in the earlier years as the author records' that all the sittings were fully occupied at one period, and the names of worshippers who required pews were placed on a waiting list, such, alas! is not the case today - but we have faith and we are hoping! And so the work of the Lord goes on at Lees. Those years, and those of the next two decades were not easy years at Lees, but they were times of enjoyment in other ways for during this period there was a strong Dramatic society, and later a Gilbert and Sullivan Society, the Wesley Guild, and already the Pleasant Hour was meeting. The leaders at Lees had seen changes taking place in other societies and in 1962 they decided to cease the afternoon Sunday School and have the children join the congregation in morning worship, before leaving after the children's hymn for their lessons. It was with great sadness that the congregation at Lees, and those who had known the Chapel over so many years, saw their much-loved building demolished in 1966. However the trustees had already decided that the Primary Room would be transformed to become their new place of worship, a sanctuary within a building that had many memories, but also one with much potential for the future. Their hopes however were to be a long time in coming to fruition and many frustrations and difficulties had to be overcome on the way. At first the by now rather small congregation and Sunday School transferred into the larger schoolroom, but in 1976 a scheme was approved, incorporating the vision of those trustees that the Primary Room become the new sanctuary, but in addition to this it was now agreed that the whole building be transformed to meet the needs of the present and future generations, the needs of the Church but also to give opportunity to be of service to the local community. Again finances were at a low ebb, there was only about £80 in the Trust account, but with monies kindly earmarked by friends at Bridgehouse Chapel on the sale of their premises, and with grants from the Joseph Rank Trust, Methodist Property Division and with much hard fund-raising by members and friends the work was able to go ahead. The scheme was developed by a small working party and carried through by local tradesmen. All the decorating and many other works were completed by members of the congregation. Once again the stained glass windows were seen as providing not only a continuity with the old building but a central focus during worship. The pulpit, communion table and communion rail, the font and the book stand were all made from the forms in the schoolroom -they were designed and manufactured by other local craftsmen and over the years have been much admired. The organ was built by Keith Craven and served us faithfully for many years. At this time, whilst few names have been mentioned, one name must be recorded, that of our minister during that period, the Rev. Ian D. Johnson who so ably guided us through and encouraged and worked alongside us. Our thanks to him are most sincere. 

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On Sunday 16 October 1977 Services of Dedication and Worship were held, and on the following Saturday, a Service of Thanksgiving was held in the presence of a Church which was so full that many had to stand in the vestibule. Since that time many of the hopes of the Church Council have been realised. The site of the old Church is now occupied by twelve flats built by the Headrow Housing Association, the community have made continuous use of our premises and today many and varied groups and organisations meet on our premises, some sharing in our Parade Services. New people have joined our worshipping congregation and the Junior Church and we are glad.
In the years coming up to our 150^th Church Anniversary a new organ was installed, and subsequently a loop system provided for the hard of hearing and new kneelers to enhance the sanctuary. The Church has been outgoing in its support of SOS Sahel, NCH Action For Children, and other worthy causes and  we look forward to doing so for others in the future. Plans were implemented to provide a lounge for Church and day care use with new ramped access from the car park. This is a partnership project with Social Services whereby the church provides a meeting place for elderly and frail members of the community to enjoy opportunities for friendship, activities and for them to share lunch together. This scheme has been running now for ten years.  And so it was that we came to our 150^th Church Anniversary in 1994 with grateful thanks for all that has been the past and trusting God for our future … but what has happened in the 12 years since then?