Church HistoryOUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMELThe early hermits on Mount Carmel quickly became known as "The Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel" because their little chapel was dedicated to her. From early in their history the Carmelites took on the role of emphasising the love that Jesus has for his mother, and they have tried to keep that love alive and active in the world. In doing so, they are true to the simplicity of the Gospel where we find that because Jesus loved her, he listened to the implicit prayer of Mary at Cana and again, because he loved her, almost his last words on earth were words of love and concern for her. Mary loved and ministered to Jesus while he was on earth. She is also the mother of the Body of Christ, which is the Church; since we are the Church, she is our mother. As our mother she intercedes for us, showing the same love and concern for the Church as she did for Jesus.

Wesley Place (east end) Catholic Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel 9/185 GV II
Wesleyan Methodist Church, now occupied by Roman Catholics. C1870. Hammer-dressed stone, ashlar dressings, Welsh and Westmorland green slate roof. Cruciform plan. Prominent west end with wide gable in which is set 5-light arched window with geometrical tracery and doorway with triangular hood over in which is set quatrefoil. Buttresses with offsets to either side, those to right taller and set back from 2 faces of octagonal turret with open belfry and spire over. North and South transepts have tall plain lancets.
Coped gables with kneelers and finials. Roof has 4 bands of fish-scale slates.
Interior: Elaborate arch-braced roof springs from clustered colonnettes set in the angle of the transepts.
Braces cross in centre forming a St Andrew's cross figure. Cast-iron hoops set in open spandrels. Pointed arched recess forms shallow sanctuary. Included for group value.

Source DescriptionofGradeIIListedBuildingsinSilsden.pdf

An Outline History of the Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel The earliest recorded Catholic activity in Silsden was ecumenical; around the end of the 19th century Silsden was served by a Catholic doctor, Dr Purcell, who lived in and practised from what is now Carmel House. As transport difficulties prevented him from taking his large family to Mass at St.Anne’s in Keighley, he sent his children to the Methodist Sunday School next door in Wesley Place. This ecumenical spirit has remained strong up to the present day.Mass was celebrated for the first time in Silsden in 1916 (at least since the Reformation). A classroom was hired at the Elliott Street Council School for Sunday Mass, which was celebrated by a priest from St Anne’s in Keighley. His mode of transport is not recorded.In 1918, the old ‘Oddfellows’ Hall’ was purchased and the upstairs room was converted into a Church. This was dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Two years later, in 1920, Silsden became an independent parish under its first Parish Priest, Fr Claude B Warren O.B.E.In 1925, St Joseph’s Church, Crosshills, was built to serve the other main parish population centre, after a fund raising campaign that involved families ‘buying bricks’ at 6d each. In 1930, Fr Andrew Kelleher became Parish Priest and was followed in turn by Fr Eustace Malone D.D. in 1940, Fr Alphonsus O’Kane in 1948 and Fr Henry Tatten in 1951. In 1954, a local SVP Society was formed; this was continuously active for almost 50 years.The parish took a major step forward in 1957 when the redundant Wesleyan Church in Wesley Place was purchased for Catholic worship. The years that followed were marked by consolidation and steady progress. Fr Frederick Mawson became Parish Priest in 1959, and was replaced by Fr Peter Bolger in 1965. The first Parish Council was formed in 1969, in time for the Parish to celebrate its Golden Jubilee in 1970, an event marked by the consecration of a new altar.Fr Peter Walmesley took over in 1971 and was replaced by Fr Peter Ward in 1976. 1976 was also the year when women were invited to read at Mass in both of the Churches. This period was marked by rapid expansion of housing in the Parish and a consequent influx of new parishioners, including a number of families with young children. This led, in the early 80s, to the establishment of a ‘school bus run’, a privately chartered bus overseen by parents, to transport children to the Catholic schools in Keighley, as transport difficulties had made Catholic education impossible in practice for many parents. This was discontinued after several years when falling demand rendered it uneconomic.The 1980s saw other important developments in the community life of the Parish. In 1982, the former Council Offices next to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church (and the former home of Dr Purcell) were purchased and converted into both a new Presbytery and a Parish Centre. In the same year, a group from the Parish visited York for the Papal visit, and the Silsden Christian Council (‘Churches Together in Silsden’) was formed. During this time, the first Eucharistic Ministers were commissioned. In 1986, Fr Colum Kelly became Parish Priest and in 1988, girls served on the altar for the first time and the ‘Carmel Players’ were formed, presenting their first show on the stage in the Methodists’ premises.In 1992, Fr Waldron took over as Parish Priest. Carmel House and St Joseph’s were both renovated in 1994, in time for the celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Parish in 1995. Fr Waldron became the longest serving Parish PriestIn 2004 Fr Malachy Larkin appointed to Silsden Recently discovered story about the parish 1980 When the wind
blows the cradle
will rockAs the wind howled outside, the chilling noises within the presbytery grew to a crescendo.
It was an eerie, echoing sound, reverberating from deep within the recesses of the house and with no apparent rational explanation. Here were all the ingredients of another spine-chilling story from Tales of the Unexpected. But to Silsden parish priest Father Peter Ward, huddled round his fire on a wild winter's night, it was all too unnervingly real.
It had happened for several evenings now ... in what strange icy grip was the house now being held?
Bravely, priest and parishioners set out to track down the source of this sinister symphony, armed with nothing more than torches and a bag of mintos for comfort. What they found ultimately was hardly supernatural — but stranger than fiction. For, in the under-drawings at 7 Wesley Place, they discovered an ancient rocking cradle which had lain there undisturbed and gathering dust for almost a century.
Recent strong wins had found their way into the forgotten garret and set the old wooden cradle rocking again .. backwards and forwards, to and fro, in an eerie and unseen return to life. "It is a very strong and stout cradle — hence all the noise," says Father Ward. The priest only moved into the premises — which had housed Silsden council offices since 1935 — in October. But he believes that the cradle probably belonged to Dr. John Purcell, one of the village's most historic characters, for whom the house was built around 1880. He and his wife had six children and doubtless the cradle was then in frequent use. The cradle has now been cleaned and renovated and will likely find its way eventually into a museum.
Mass in Inn BuildingsFather Warren celebrated Mass at he Old White Bear public house in Cross Hills before St Joseph's was built. The blessing for the foundation stone took place 25 April 1925 by bishop Joseph Robert