St Marks Parish Profile
Parish Profile-from Tin Church to Tiny Church
The church came into being in Siddal in 1869 when a small mission
chapel of ease (The Tin Church) was erected in the village which was
then part of the parish of All Saints (Salterhebble) Halifax. The
present church was built 1912-15 at the northern end of the village; a
reordering project in 1990 provided much needed meeting rooms in the
church.
Housing is mixed, with stone-built terraces, 1940’s brick terraces and semis. The large pre-war Council estate at the south end is now experiencing many social problems. More recently, a range of new private and Housing Association accommodation has been built. There is a large sheltered housing complex for elderly people. There are three schools, the Junior and Infant Schools, which are on separate sites, divided by the main road, and the South Halifax High School, which is small by modern standards with 400+ pupils aged 11-16 and a large catchment area - most of its pupils are bussed in. Most local children go out of Siddal for their secondary education.
There are a few shops surviving, a post office, Doctor’s surgery and a chemist, and on the parish boundary (A629) a McDonald’s. For reasons of physical and social geography, Siddal village is isolated from the surrounding area, although Halifax town centre is less than a mile away.
Generations of the same families have always lived in the village – yet this is now changing. There is a high percentage of elderly people, single parents and unemployment in the area. Recently the area has been designated as fitting the government’s criteria for urban regeneration funding. It is also worth noting there are no other places of worship remaining in the parish.
The decline of St Mark’s probably started in the 1950’s. The church, however, continued to be well attended at both Sunday worship and mid-week activities with numerous church organisations being a focal point for village life. The decline continued and the church suffered a particularly bad period during the mid 1990’s and entered into a two-year interregnum in 1998. The congregation was in the lower 20s, mainly elderly and included seven adults with learning difficulties. There were no children, although the uniformed organizations were still meeting weekly.
Housing is mixed, with stone-built terraces, 1940’s brick terraces and semis. The large pre-war Council estate at the south end is now experiencing many social problems. More recently, a range of new private and Housing Association accommodation has been built. There is a large sheltered housing complex for elderly people. There are three schools, the Junior and Infant Schools, which are on separate sites, divided by the main road, and the South Halifax High School, which is small by modern standards with 400+ pupils aged 11-16 and a large catchment area - most of its pupils are bussed in. Most local children go out of Siddal for their secondary education.
There are a few shops surviving, a post office, Doctor’s surgery and a chemist, and on the parish boundary (A629) a McDonald’s. For reasons of physical and social geography, Siddal village is isolated from the surrounding area, although Halifax town centre is less than a mile away.
Generations of the same families have always lived in the village – yet this is now changing. There is a high percentage of elderly people, single parents and unemployment in the area. Recently the area has been designated as fitting the government’s criteria for urban regeneration funding. It is also worth noting there are no other places of worship remaining in the parish.
The decline of St Mark’s probably started in the 1950’s. The church, however, continued to be well attended at both Sunday worship and mid-week activities with numerous church organisations being a focal point for village life. The decline continued and the church suffered a particularly bad period during the mid 1990’s and entered into a two-year interregnum in 1998. The congregation was in the lower 20s, mainly elderly and included seven adults with learning difficulties. There were no children, although the uniformed organizations were still meeting weekly.