Providence Place United Reformed Church, Cleckheaton
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| Providence Place United Reformed Church | |
|---|---|
 The building in 2007 | |
 Interactive map of the Providence Place United Reformed Church area | |
| Alternative names | Providence Place Congregational Church |
| General information | |
| Status | Commercial reuse |
| Type | Church |
| Architectural style | Classical |
| Location | Bradford Road, Cleckheaton, England |
| Coordinates | 53°43′39″N 1°42′44″W / 53.7274°N 1.71231°W |
| Current tenants | The Monal (wedding venue) |
| Groundbreaking | 1857 |
| Opened | 1859 |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | Two, plus basement |
| Design and construction | |
| Architects | Henry Francis Lockwood and William Mawson |
| Designations | Grade II* listed |
The former Providence Place United Reformed Church, also known as Providence Place Congregational Church, is a Victorian church building in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, England, completed in 1859 to Classical designs by Lockwood and Mawson. It is now used as a wedding venue, having previously been used as an Indian restaurant. The building is Grade II* listed.
Dissenting services were held in Cleckheaton as early as the 1660s.[1] A Presbyterian chapel was built in Scott Yard in the first decade of the 18th century.[1] Its services became Congregational in the 1770s.[1] The current building was constructed alongside this, from 1857 to 1859, and enlarged in 1886.[1] It could accommodate up to 3,000 people.[2] A Sunday school was held in the basement.[1]
The church closed in 1991; its congregation joined Grove United Reformed Church at Gomersal[1] and the church's war memorial, commemorating the fallen of World War I, was relocated there.[3]
The church's records are held by the West Yorkshire Archive Service.[a][1]
Architecture
The church was designed by Bradford architects Henry Francis Lockwood and William Mawson in Classical style. It is built in stone with a roof of blue slate, and has two storeys and a basement, a five-bay front, and nine bays along the sides. On the front is a portico consisting of vermiculated quoins, a modillioned pediment, six giant unfluted Corinthian columns on a podium, arches with archivolts, and decorated keystones. Above is a vermiculated frieze and consoles carrying the pediment. In the tympanum is an inscribed roundel surrounded by carved foliage. There are three round-arched doorway with vermiculated surrounds and voussoirs. The outer bays are also arched and contain pedestals, and in the upper storey are round-arched windows with pilasters and archivolts. On each side is a bracketed eaves cornice and windows, square-headed in the basement and ground storey and round-arched above. In front of the church are five squat square gate piers, each with a cornice and a square cap, and ornamental cast iron gates.[4][5]
The building was Grade II* listed, the second-highest possible category, in April 1982, giving it legal protection from unauthorised alteration or demolition.[5] The gate piers and gates were included in the designation.[5]
Other uses
After it ceased to be used as a church, the building was included by English Heritage on their Buildings at Risk Register.[2] It was restored and converted for use as restaurant in 2000–2001,[1] and housed an Indian restaurant, "Aakash" (meaning "sky" in Urdu).[6][2] Seating 800, this was said to be one of the largest in the UK.[2][6] That closed in November 2022 after the building and its adjacent car park were sold at auction in the previous month.[2] As of 2025, it is a wedding venue, "The Monal".[6]
