History

St John’s is a Waterloo church built for areas of urban priority in 1818. It is set in a large open churchyard, which contains graves of significant historical interest. The churchyard was the original burial ground for the Union Workhouse (now Dewsbury District Hospital).

It also houses the grave of Dr Charles Turner Thackrah, who pioneered occupational medicine and was an early campaigner for the protection of children in mines and factories. As a founder member of the Occupational Medicine Society his grave has attracted visitors from the society’s annual conference.

Of local importance are the Newsome and Fox families who are buried here and have commemorative windows in the church. They owned woollen mills in the area.

We have links to a modern day martyr – Vivian Redlich who was curate at St Johns and later was executed for his faith in Papua New Guinea in 1942 when the Japanese invaded.

The area has historic links with the Bronte family; Charlotte Bronte regularly attended morning and evening services when she lived locally on Healds Road. Her father Patrick was curate at the Minster Church of All Saints.