St. Michael’s is the youngest church in the Parish of Upper Nidderdale and celebrates its 120th Anniversary on 28th April this year. To celebrate the centenary in 2006 the late Rev. Philip Clarke researched and published a very detailed history booklet, “A Century of Angels” and it is from this source that I have gleaned some of my information for this article.
Wilsill is named in the Doomsday Book but the village never grew as large as other settlements in the area and was without a place of worship.
As a result of the Education Act, Wilsill school was built as an Anglican-Methodist foundation in 1870 at the bottom of The Raikes (now Sam Hesselden’s agricultural contractor workshops) and local residents used the building for worship. The Methodist Chapel was built in 1897.
Harold Holmes writes in his “Memories” “In the early 1900s it was decided by the Right Reverend William Boyd Carpenter who was then Bishop of Ripon, the vicar of the parish Rev. Sidney Rogerson, the assistant priest Rev. A.W. Stewart and also the people of the parish that a Chapel of Ease be built at the lower end of the parish. The name selected for the Church after discussion amongst the people was St. Michael and All Angels”.
The land for the new church was given in 1905 by John H Metcalfe, whose family owned Glasshouses Mill. The site was near the school so that pupils could worship at weekday festivals. A group of students have recorded their names as they left the school on 14th July 1944, etched into the lead on various windows.
Plans were drawn up by Bland and Brown of Harrogate. They were influenced by the Norman style of St. John’s Church at Adel. The chosen builders were Cowling Brothers of Glasshouses, their price being £1,320.
Looking through an old Visitors Book I have found entries from 25th May 1970, “Charles Cowling Broughton, Grandson of the builder of this church” Perth Western Australia. He visited again in 1977 and in 1988. Also in 1978, a Patricia Blows, nee Cowling Broughton, also from Australia. Great granddaughters, Robyn Louise and Colleen recorded their visits in 1985 and 1988 also from Australia. They were obviously very proud of their family history and links with the church.
Whit Monday 12th June 1905 saw the Foundation Stone laid by Major John H. Metcalfe. Stone for the building came from the Raikes Quarry, just up the road, and Scot Gate Ash. Rev. Sidney Rogerson conducted the consecration service of the new church on Saturday 28th April 1906 and Dr. Boyd-Carpenter, Bishop of Ripon, gave the sermon and performed the consecration.
The final cost of the building was £1,533 14s 1d. Local parishioners were very generous with their donations towards the new church. The Incorporated Church Building Society and Ripon Diocesan Society each gave £30 and the debt was paid in full by May 1907.
The interior of the church is light and beautiful. All the windows were originally clear glass and in August 1936 the east window was replaced with the present glorious stained-glass picture of Christ in Glory with Archangels Michael and Gabriel. It was given by Rev. Sidney Rogerson, the vicar in 1906, in memory of his son George who died in South Africa.
Over the years the church has gained several memorials and gifts from local families reflecting the strong bond between the church and worshipers. The altar was given in 1949 in memory of W.B. Board, a long serving choir master and lay reader. A carving of St. Michael was donated in 1972 by Rev. Leslie Weatherhead. Also two new prayer desks were dedicated in memory of Reg Bentley and the former vicar W.R.H. Wright. In 1976 Tom Shuttleworth died, he’d been a long serving, very active church warden. His widow Nora donated the collection at his Memorial service for a Lectern Bible and a light in the porch. The family friends and colleagues of John Guest of Wilsill donated a new organ in his memory in 1996. In 2000 Jean Robinson gave a pine cabinet and vestment press in memory of her husband Peter. An oak bookcase was given in 2003 in memory of Mr and Mrs Camm. There have been many other gifts over the years.
The church has an unusual memorial to WW1. There is the important list of the 21 men from the parish who sacrificed their lives in the war and an equally important memorial to the 90 who survived the horrors of the trenches.
The church is open daily and is a wonderful place to sit and enjoy the peace and serenity of the building or sit outside on Marion Hodgson’s seat and admire the wonderful beauty of the Dale.
In 1969 Rev. Ronnie McFadden described the church as “a small church, beautiful and dignified in its simplicity and greatly loved and cared for by a small but faithful congregation”.This remains true today.
Daphne Clay, Church Warden. April 2026