A member of the congregation at St Michael’s Church remarked, ‘Ours is the most famous spire in the world.’ Although always keen to make great claims for Pearson’s work, even I thought this was going a bit far. However, the gentleman went on to explain. ‘Every time a Test match at Headingley is broadcast around the world, people see and admire the spire at St Michael’s!’ Indeed, he has a point. The thought of countless cricket fans in Mumbai or Melbourne, Karachi or Kingston, admiring Pearson’s spire is deeply moving.

The visual connection with Headingley Cricket Ground is far from trivial. The spire of St Michael’s is a magnificent structure and magnificently sited; a beacon of Christian presence in its local community and far beyond.

The church was consecrated in 1886; the first recorded first-class cricket match took place at Headingley in September 1890, and the first Test match in 1899. The two have been identified together for almost their entire history, and this is a very splendid aspect of each. Given the large number of Pearson’s churches never to get their planned spire (usually through financial constraints), it is sobering to reflect that this fortuitous conjunction might never have been achieved. Cricket fans and worshippers alike may be grateful for the generosity of Victorian benefactors.

St Michael’s Church is physically embedded in its community, occupying a prominent site on the main road. Its surrounding trees suggest sanctuary rather than seclusion. Given that the church community is noted for its inclusivity and openness to diversity of personal identity and experience, this is particularly appropriate. The church fits comfortably amongst the coffee shops, pubs, bookshops and busy pavements of the surrounding area. It is a vibrant and dynamic community, its population a lively mix of local people and students. The open and welcoming nature of the church both reflects and enhances this identity. This is true of the church community and of its building.

The interior of the church bears the hallmark of J.L. Pearson’s finest designs: it has grandeur, it inspires awe, yet it is deeply humane and welcoming; it is large and spacious, but isn’t a space in which the individual feels lost or alone. On entering the church one is immediately aware of its fine, open spatial qualities. Although St Michael’s does not have as many of the intriguing vistas from one volume of space to another, so characteristic of many Pearson churches, it does have a wonderfully light, open and celebratory persona.

One feature that contributes greatly to the building’s experiential qualities is the crossing space. This extends across the width of the nave and aisles, while the narrow transepts are spatially ‘contained’ within the crossing; the considerable distance from the end of the nave to the chancel steps further enlarges the space. Together, this creates a clear spatial focus for the whole building, an important liturgical space, and a clear processional element.

Pearson often created a distinct space for the font, rather like that provided for the altar in the sanctuary. St Alban, Highgate, Birmingham, and St John the Evangelist, Upper Norwood, are two particularly fine examples of such baptistry spaces. At Headingley, the tower chamber is used to the same effect, though local evidence suggests that this arrangement was achieved after Pearson’s time, when the font was moved from the north-west corner. Whenever it was so arranged, the effect is enhanced by the very tall tower arch (balancing the chancel arch), and the massive piers at the nave-tower junction. It is interesting to speculate whether a similar arrangement was intended at St Theodore, Port Talbot, which, although lacking its planned tower, has a corresponding space at the west end. There, the font was added later and placed outside the ‘tower’ chamber, to the south.

The longitudinal aspect of the church is augmented by the stone transverse arches that support the roof. These provide a very pleasing progressive perspective. They also serve to highlight the building’s horizontal elements so that, in a very lofty church, the vertical isn’t entirely allowed to dominate. The same technique is employed equally successfully at All Saints’, Hove, and Holy Trinity, Ayr.

Unlike his churches at Croydon, Vauxhall, Upper Norwood, Highgate and Toxteth, for example, Pearson doesn’t include a triforium stage in the nave. Rather, the required height is achieved by a very tall clerestory.

Three dimensions provide a significant insight into the success of the building’s spatial qualities: the distance from the north aisle wall to the south aisle wall; the height of the nave to the highest point of the roof; and the distance from the west face of the tower piers to the eastern end of the nave, before the crossing. All are approximately 17m.

This means that, standing in the nave, one is effectively standing within a conceptual cube. It is not, of course, a physical cube, because of the three-dimensional massing of the building, but these proportions contribute significantly to the serenity, solemnity and welcoming openness that characterise the church as a whole. This is an example of Pearson’s use of proportional systems to create an almost classical calm and sobriety.

St Michael’s Church, Headingley, is a superb example of J.L. Pearson’s later-phase architecture. It contains many features typical of his style, some that are used in ways unique to this building. Its greatest quality is its spatial arrangements. These not only contribute to the building’s architectural success but, perhaps even more importantly, they are a significant part of the church’s mission to welcome, inspire and include.