Tom Willoughby recently completed refurbishment works to St Wilfrids Church in Ripon.

Tom Willoughby recently completed refurbishment works to St Wilfrids Church in Ripon.

St Wilfrid’s first opened on April 23rd 1862 at the request of the Catholic community of Ripon at the time in 1850.

Dedicated to St Wilfrid of Ripon, the Church was built in the Lombardo Early Decorated Style of architecture and was designed by Mr. Joseph Hansom. The parishioners were very proud of the church with its unusual style and commanding location. The tower surmounted the apsidal sanctuary and was finished off with a small turret containing a single bell.

The elegant interior of the church contains many items of interest, including mosaics by Salviati of Venice, a High Altar of Caen Stone and an outstanding Reredos designed by Edward Pugin.

With all of this fantastic history it was crucial that the refurbishment work was carried out to perfection to preserve the church’s legacy. Work commenced late November 2020 and included:

• Replaced Existing Glazing
• Removal and Re-Installation of Church Pews
• Helifix Repairs to Structure Cracks to Central Nave
• New Electrical Installation
• Plastering
• Refurbishment to Timber floors
• Removal of Carpet and Refurbishment to Existing Wooden Floors
• New Carpets to Alters
• Installation of Eight Station of the Cross Units
• Specialist cleaning to existing Mosaics & Statues
• Decoration throughout

Completion of the project was in late June and everyone is extremely pleased with the works and hopefully will be able to welcome mass back to the church soon.

Well Done to all those involved on such a brilliant project!