This church was built thanks to the generosity of the Constable Family.

       1792:      The Manor House was built in the grounds of the former medieval Palace of the Archbishop of York.

       1833:      At the age of 28, Thomas Constable, a solicitor, came to reside in Otley. He was also agent for the estate of the Fawkes family of Farnley Hall.

      1836:      Thomas Constable bought the Manor House. He then added Clitherow House to act as an office for     meeting clients and collecting rates.

      1840-50:  People made their way from Ireland to Otley to escape the ravages of the Irish Potato Famine. They settled in an area of Otley now known as Irish Fields. These settlers greatly increased the catholic population of Otley who, at that time, had to do a 15-mile round trip to Myddleton Lodge in Ilkley every Sunday to hear Mass.

     1845:      Thomas Constable formed plans to build a catholic church in Otley and on July 28th wrote to Bishop Briggs regarding the “building of a chapel.”

     1851:      Thomas Constable built the church for £4,000. His sister, Miss Mary Constable who lived at Dovecote House in Boroughgate, Otley, helped him and contributed £1,000 towards the cost.  The architect was Charles Hansom.

     1865:      Thomas Constable married Miss Elizabeth Ducarel de la Pasture on 17th August.

     1867:      As the parish had grown by this time, the west end of the church was extended and the portion that now contains the organ gallery was added at a cost of £700.

     1878:      Miss Mary Constable died on the 13th February and was buried in Otley Cemetery.

     1891:      Thomas Constable died on 18th November and was buried in a vault at the west end of the church. There is a commemorative plaque inside the church on the north wall.

     1919:      Mrs. Elizabeth Constable died on 22nd December and was interred in the vault beside her late husband.

     1934:      Renovations carried out included a new set of Stations of the Cross in terracotta, which remain in the church today. Paintings of two local martyred priests (Francis Dickinson and Matthew Flathers) were placed on the north and south walls of the church either side of the sanctuary. These paintings were re-positioned into the entrance porch during the refurbishment in 1992-3.

     1943:      Lady Mowbray (daughter of Thomas Constable) gave the church to the diocese.

     1951:      100th anniversary of the building of the church..

     1970-72:   Changes were made to the sanctuary to meet current liturgical needs and a new altar allowed the priest to face the congregation. A new entrance porch and stairs to the organ loft were built in the southwest corner. The old entrance in the south wall  (left hand door of the two doors in the middle of the church) was blocked up and turned into a storeroom. A new confessional (the right hand one of these two doors) was put where the baptismal font stood and the stairs to the organ loft were situated. The baptismal font was moved to the rear of the church. Some of the land around the church was sold to Harewood Housing Trust for sheltered housing and when the last descendant of the Constable family left the Manor House, the house was let to Harewood on a long lease to be refurbished and turned into flats.

     1992-93:   The sanctuary was again changed and a new altar, similar to the original one, was put in and placed closer to the front of the sanctuary. Improvements were made to the sanctuary ceiling. The baptismal font was moved to the front of the church and a new tabernacle for the oils placed into the wall nearby. A new window by Ann Sotheran costing about £10,000, which was raised by donations from parishioners, was put into the East wall. The old window from the East wall was moved to the West wall. The organ was refurbished and the pipes moved so that the West window could be seen from inside the church. A chapel to Our Lady was put at the west end of the church. A toilet was added and entry facilities made for the disabled including a new loop system for the hard of hearing.

     2001:      The parish celebrated 150 years of praise on 24th June . A plaque to mark the occasion can be found situated above the confessional entrance. A new stone commemorating those who came from Ireland in the mid-1800’s and died of famine related diseases soon after their arrival in Otley (mainly children) and were buried in the Parish Churchyard was placed into the outside of the south wall of Our Lady & All Saints church.

     2002:      A second stone remembering those who died was placed in the northwest corner of the Otley Parish churchyard.

A fully illustrated History of the Parish* can be purchased from the church for £5.

*  See "The Story of a Parish - 150 Years of Praise" - Use your browser "back button" to return to this page.