Thorp Arch, All Saints Church 1893

Photo ref: 32009

More about this scene

This is All Saints' Church, situated on an elevated position looking over the village. It dates from medieval times. Much of the woodwork was commissioned in 1938 from Robert Thompson from Kilburn, and his mouse trademark can be found on the pews and pulpit. The building to the right is the old hearse house. The pretty village of Thorp Arch with its green, Manor House and old mill leads down to the banks of the Wharfe, with the bridge (1772) carrying the road to Boston Spa. To the north of the village is the massive Thorp Arch industrial estate, developed during the war as a munitions factory directly on the Wetherby to Church Fenton railway line. Opening in 1942, it had its own rail network and employed 10,000 people on shift work around the clock. In 1950 the site reopened during the Korean conflict. From 1959, the 450-acre site was slowly developed as a pioneer shopping park.