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The Founders
Miss Mary Beckett (1775 -1858) (twin sister of Sir John Beckett, 2nd Baronet (1775-1847)) and Miss Elizabeth Beckett (1781-1864). They were the daughters of Sir John Beckett 1st Baronet (1743-1826), Banker of Meanwood Park. The Church was built in memory of their brother, Christopher Beckett (1777-1847), Banker, who had founded Meanwood National School in Green Road in 1840.
The Foundation Stone was laid on 20 May 1848 by William Beckett Denison, nephew of the Founders. The Misses Beckett are buried in the Beckett Mausoleum, the large stone structure at the east end of the Churchyard.
The Parish Church of Meanwood was consecrated on 6 October 1849 and dedicated to The Holy and Undivided Trinity.
The Church is a Grade II Listed building. The Architect was William Railton (1801-1877). He was Architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners from 1838-1848 and also Nelson's Column, Trafalgar Square, London, 1839-1842. He practised from Regent Street, London.
The Vicarage
The first vicarage, the 'parsonage house', was built in 1849 for the first incumbent, the Revd George Urquhart, on land which is now Parkside Green and was demolished in 1964. The new vicarage, at the end of Parkside Green, was built between 1964 and 1965 for the then new incumbent, the Revd J Stanley Dodd. It is interesting to note that the stone for the wall, which encloses the Memorial Rose Garden, built in 1965-1966, was from the old vicarage.
The Church Clock
The clock was added in 1850 - designed by Edmund Beckett Denison, QC, MP (who later became the 1st Baron Grimthorpe in 1886) nephew of Christopher, Mary and Elizabeth Beckett. He was a designer of clocks, inventing the gravity escapement which is used in turret clocks (the clock in St Stephen's Tower, Westminster, which controls Big Ben was designed by G B Airy and Edmund Beckett Denison). The Meanwood clock was built by Edward John Dent (1790-1853) of London, a celebrated maker.
The Church Bells
Three bells were erected in the bell chamber in 1849, cast by Messrs John Taylor & Co of Loughborough, Leicestershire, the heaviest being the tenor bell. One bell was recast in 1885 when two more bells were added. The cost of the new bells and necessary alterations to the belfry (nearly £300) was borne by Mary Beckett, a niece of the Founders.The bells weigh approximately 16 cwt, 14 cwt, 12 cwt, 10 cwt and 8 cwt each. In 1930 the bells needed new bearings and were given a quarter turn. It is understood that the Meanwood ring of five bells is the heaviest in Yorkshire.
Meanwood Stone
The Church and the 'parsonage house' were built with millstone grit from quarries owned by Messrs Daniel & Dunbar. The general contractor was Mr G Bridgart of Derby, who used local labour to do the building. Stone from the Meanwood/Weetwood area (Hustler was also a quarry owner) was also used to build Holy Trinity Church, Boar Lane (1772), the present Mill Hill Unitarian Chapel (1848), Meanwood Methodist Church (1881) and the Royal Dockyards and Pier at Dover.
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