Beautiful historic church
4
4
Date of visit: July 2025
I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: a hidden impairment and moving around.
I use or have experience of: hidden impairment, powerchair, walking aid
Overall Rating
Good
After crashing mass at Leeds Cathedral, a historic church exclusively for admiring its beauty and history was exactly what I needed. Before you even get to the church, there is plenty to see if you watch where you step: the paving stones are actually inscribed tombstones! Entrance to the church is free, but there is an invitation to leave a donation. There is someone inside to answer any questions and several tables with leaflets and binders with extra information, for example transcriptions of all the memorial stones in the churchyard. I really enjoyed all the stained-glass windows and ornate wood carvings. It truly is a decorative feast!
Disabled Access In and Around
Good
The churchyard has two entrances, one through Merrion Street Gardens and another from new Briggate. There are stairs up from the street for the latter, so for step-free access I recommend coming through the park, which you can access from Merrion Street. It will be a slope down from the street to the church. The church itself has a series of old wooden double doors at the entrance. When I visited, they were all propped open on one side. It was wide enough for my powerchair (62 cm), but I got the impression that the other sides of the doors could be opened if necessary. There are some doormats as you enter the church, which will be a slight hump to get over, but otherwise there are no raised thresholds. There was enough space for me to go across at the back and down the aisles in between the pews. There is a step up to the choir, so I just looked in from the front of the pews. While there is some space in front of the first pew, I figured it would be too tight for my chair, so I went back around to go down the other aisle. There is plenty of seating in the pews and there is a small step to enter them.
Accessible facilities: Step-free entrance, Step-free access to most areas, Seating at regular intervals
Parking & Transport
Average
I travelled to this place by walk or wheel
The church is a 0.6-mile/14-minute walk or wheel from Leeds station. There is a bus stop on Wade Lane (Merrion D for 38, 39) and Albion Street (Headrow L, M for 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, X10). There are loading bays on Merrion St that might be suitable for drop-offs and pick-up, but there is no on-street parking. There are some paid multi-storeys nearby, such as Q-Park St Johns Centre and Q-Park The Light.
Accessible Toilets
As far as I could see, there are no toilets at this venue.
Staff
Good
The attendant was friendly and unobtrusive. I felt free to look around and not pressured to donate or behave in any certain way.
