LAST week’s guest church was St Peter’s Church, Leck, just off the A65 near Cowan Bridge and Ingleton. It is in the Church of England Diocese of Blackburn, and is within the group of St John the Baptist at Tunstall, and St Wilfrid, Melling.

The church, on its website, says there has been a church on the site since 1610, with the first one just a single story building with no tower.

The building would have been too small for the growing congregation and for the pupils of the Clergy Daughters’ School (Cowan Bridge School) and so was expanded in 1825 with the addition of a small tower.

The Bronte sisters, of Haworth, were pupils of the school, which moved from Leck to Casterton in 1834 and still exists, as Casterton School.

A much larger church and tower in Leck was built by the Lancaster based firm of architects Paley and Austin. Established in the 19th century, Paley and Austin built new churches and also restored and carried out alterations to older churches. It also designed church fittings and furniture - quite the ‘one stop shop’ for church buildings. Altogether, the practice designed more than 40 new churches, and designed or modified many more -whether they improved them, or just changed them to appeal to modern taste, is open to debate.

Much of the 19th century church was destroyed in 1913 due to a fire set off by a lamp left burning that set fire to a curtain. The church had been rebuilt by 1915 at a cost of about £5,000, it is said accurately to the original design, by Austin, Paley and Austin the successors in the Lancaster practice, Austin and Paley. Most of the Victorian glass survived the fire and was retained.

Where is this week’s church, above? answers by 8.30am on Monday to news@cravenherald.co.uk