Flood ruins Yorkshire church

THE PARISH priest of a church devastated in the Boxing Day floods has vowed that his community will rise again, write Joanna Moorhead and Rose Gamble.

Fr John Gott said his church, the Good Shepherd in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, had been completely ruined, and that he had been “frankly terrified” as a wall of water burst through his front door and left him up to his chest in water. He had to be rescued on a floating stretcher by the emergency services and was taken in by neighbours on higher ground. “I was completely soaked and freezing, and they were incredibly kind – they found me dry clothes and gave me hot soup,” he said.

But the church, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2015, has been utterly devastated.

“The altar, the chairs, the organ are all completely ruined,” he said. The floodwater also got into the sacristy and ruined all the vestments and church linen,” he said.

He is now staying with his brother in nearby Halifax, and said parishioners had organised a meeting to decide how to deal with the flood’s aftermath.

In the months ahead, said Fr Gott, the community would have to find alternative venues for Mass.“ We are a Christian community, and we believe in resurrection – we will rise again.”

Other churches across the north of England were forced to close over the weekend as Manchester, Leeds and York saw unprecedented flooding. In York, St George’s Catholic Church was marooned by floodwater, after the River Foss’ flood barriers failed.

St Wilfrid’s in central York reported an increase in numbers at Mass as the congregation of the flooded church were forced elsewhere. The English Martyrs Catholic Church in Whalley, Lancashire, was surrounded by floodwater and ChristCentral in central Manchester, said its offices were under three feet of water.