The Clergy House

The Clergy House
Leeds Parish Church
Leeds LS2 7EY

It was the most prestigious address I ever had. In central Leeds, it was a fantastic place to live. The rooms were enormous, and there was a kitchen, a sitting room with a television, and a large, dry, furnished cellar for guitar practice. I was there for nearly a year. Not that I was a member of the clergy, nor a church-goer. It came about by chance and good luck. 

I was tired of the shared house in Headingley. I had been in it and its predecessor for five years, through a succession of house-mates, and we would soon have to find two more. Pete, who owned it, clearly wanted to sell after having married and moved out. 

A chap at work mentioned he was leaving his address, so I asked where it was. “The Clergy House behind Leeds Parish Church”, he said (now known as Leeds Minster), which obviously drew more questions. 

The house was once accommodation for the clergy, but none were there now and rooms were rented out. Murray, the full-time organist and choirmaster had one, along with two choral music students, and a chap called John who had some church connection, although I am not sure what. 

I moved in. I had the attic room right at the top partly hidden by the tree. When Brendan from the shared house saw it, he took the room across the corridor. Then, Gavin, who had previously been with us but more recently in University Halls, took the room below mine. And I had been thinking I was about to escape! Murray, whose duties also included managing the house, was delighted. He had filled all the empty rooms at a stroke. Murray Stewart later went on to a glittering career as an organist and orchestral conductor. 

The main problem with the two attic rooms was that the bathroom and toilet were on the floor below. But we did have washbasins in the rooms, which can be multipurpose for men. Useful in the night if you had been next door to The Palace pub. 

There was ample parking. Here, looking from my window, is my red Mini Van and Gavin’s Vauxhall beside the church. 

We saw little of church activities. A small room next to the front door was set up as a chapel, but it was rarely used. Brendan and I dared each other to swig the communion wine. 

Sometimes I would return from work to find the Vicar, Canon Graham Foley, in the kitchen smoking a cigarette and looking shifty. He was never very communicative. He later went on to the Bishoprics of Reading and Oxford, and was nationally sought after as a witty and entertaining after-dinner speaker. 

To the West side of the church was a row of dilapidated cottages, only one still occupied by an elderly house-bound widow. When John was away I was detailed to call in each day and check that she was all right and if she needed anything. She had been there for years, but now lived in just one room and never went upstairs. I wish I had shown more interest.  

We were served short notice to leave. The Church wanted to increase the income by converting the rooms into self-contained bed-sits. It was supposedly illegal simply to kick people out like that, and Murray had done his job too well by issuing rent books containing terms and conditions, so I tried to resist by citing tenants’ rights. It brought down the full weight of the Church solicitor, Councillor Crotty, who said I was a licensee not a tenant. I had been planning to stay another year until I went to university. I took the easiest option and moved to a vacant room in my cousin’s house, sharing with two nurses. But not before, in a fit of pique, I phreaked the house telephone lock and had a long conversation with my friend Hugo in Belgium. 

On a day out in Leeds a few years ago, I wondered what had become of the place. It was still there behind the church and under renovation. It was now called St. Peter’s House and was being converted into luxury apartments costing a quarter of a million pounds each. This is how it looks now.

I also found the agent’s bullshit.

St Peter’s House ... sensitively converted into 8 one bedroom apartments which incorporate many of the building’s original features. The apartments offer a rare opportunity to live in a refurbished historic building in the heart of Leeds city centre.

No two apartments are exactly the same and most have the individual features which are typically associated with a heritage building. Apartments with a northerly outlook enjoy views of Leeds Minster whilst those with southerly aspects overlook The Calls. All the apartments are single level.

Finished to a high specification throughout, including contemporary kitchens and stylish bathrooms, the apartments offer the chance for discerning home owners the opportunity to enjoy luxury living in the vibrant centre of Leeds.

Here are a couple of pictures of my tip of a room during the long hot drought of 1976, and one of how it looks today (although it might be Brendan’s room at the back which was much the same). You can make up your own mind about sensitive conversion and heritage features.