Edward and his Church Traditional Cache
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The cache is close to but not in the grounds of All Souls Church and is a magnetic Nano so please bring your own pen.
A small amount of on street parking is available on the nearby All Souls Road.
Edward Akroyd (1810-1887) carried on the textile business which had begun with his father and he, himself, established mills at Haley Hill in Halifax and then at Copley. He proved to be a very successful businessman and his firm made him very prosperous. At Haley Hill, not far from his mills, he built a large mansion, Bankfield, in an Italianate style, and he went to live there with a large number of servants to run the house and the extensive grounds and to tend the horses in the commodious stables. Akroyd was typical of the rich Victorian businessman who felt it his Christian duty to care for his fellow man. He was a true philanthropist who spent thousands of pounds for the good of his workpeople, and his plan for building workers' houses at Akroydon and Copley was a scheme which was far ahead of his time. He was Whig Member of Parliament for Huddersfield, lost his seat, but in 1865, was returned as MP for Halifax, continuing until he retired in 1874. Akroyd's kindness was well-known and many had cause to be grateful to him and felt his problems as keenly as their own when some of his overseas investments failed and he suffered great financial loss. The unkindest cut of fate, however, was when he fell from his horse and received severe head injuries. After this his failing health caused him to leave Halifax for a secluded life at St Leonards attended by only one manservant and it was there that he died in 1887.
The Edward Akroyd statue was unveiled in front of 10,000 spectators on Saturday 29th July 1876 and originally stood at the west end of North bridge. The bronze statue weighs 2 tons and stands 9ft in height and was moved to its present position on 30th October 1901. The pedestal has four panels; the front panel bears his armorial bearings and motto. The other panels depict events in his life, laying the corner stone of All Soul’s Church, cutting the first sod for the Leeds-Bradford-Halifax railway and a scene illustrating his connections with the local Rifle Volunteers.
Completed in 1859, All Soul’s church was commissioned by Colonel Akroyd as the crown of his Akroydon development. Its situation close to Bankfield, obscured his view of the industrial landscape below and also, it has been frequently suggested, of the Crossley’s Square Congregational Church. The spire of All Soul’s, almost seventy-three metres in height, was the second tallest church spire in Yorkshire, beating that of Square by a whisker. The currently mothballed All Souls' Church is now vested in the Historic Churches Preservation Trust. Its lofty spire and white limestone exterior stand as a very personal statement in 13th century French style of the mill owner, as the centre-piece of a purpose-built model village ("Akroydon"). It boasts an unusually complete sequence of windows by the leading artists of the 1850s, including William Wailes, John Hardman and Clayton & Bell. The large organ by Forster & Andrews inserted in 1868, ten years after the building was completed, is currently unplayable.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gnxr n frng jvgu bhe Rqqvr.
Treasures
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