John Wormald Appleyard

John Wormald Appleyard (10 September 1831 – 14 January 1894) (active 1851–1893) was a British sculptor and monumental mason based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.He is mainly known today in Leeds for his wooden faux-Jacquemart figures of Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, Richard the Lionheart and the swineherd Gurth, which appear to strike the hours on the Ivanhoe clock at one end of Thornton's Arcade in Briggate.Appleyard's maternal grandparents, both born in Yorkshire, were Abraham Wormald,[nb 1][1] a stone mason of Spring Gardens, Drighlington, and his wife Elizabeth.[20][21][22] In 1892 Appleyard appeared as a witness, on behalf of architect Edward William Lockwood (1856–1934) of Huddersfield, in a Court case brought by sculptor Samuel Auty of Lindley for payment for some carving work on the factory of dry salters Clayton, Holroyd & Co., Longroyd Lane, off Manchester Road, Longroyd Bridge, Huddersfield, built 1890–1891 (now demolished).[11] By 1871 he had a workshop producing sculpture and designs in 16–18 Cookridge Street, Leeds, next door to architect George Corson,[3][9] and he remained there as a monumental mason until at least 1891.[37] Appleyard executed the sculpture on top of Dyson's cantilevered Tempus Fugit 'drum' clock, which is suspended from the front of the Time Ball Buildings, Leeds.[44] Appleyard was present at the consecration on 24 August 1877, listed alongside the architects Henry Walker and Joseph Athron who designed the building and reredos.[nb 13][43] It was carved originally by Mawer and Ingle for the former St Bartholomew's Church, on the occasion of its 1861 restoration, then moved together with the font to the new building after the consecration.The Wakefield Free Press reported that, "the workmanship and finish throughout reflect great credit on the skill and taste of the gentlemen who took part in erecting this handsome edifice"."[nb 15][61] Thornton's Arcade is a Grade II listed building, designed by George Smith, and located between Lands Lane and Briggate in Leeds, West Yorkshire.[62][63] Appleyard created the four life-sized, wooden, faux-Jacquemart figures of Richard I, Friar Tuck, Robin Hood and the swineherd Gurth.The four-foot hole in the dome was " covered with plate glass 3/4 of an inch thick, painted with a rosette in the centre and surrounded by guilloché ornament."Its ground floor gallery was called the Queen's Room (re-named as of 2019 the Ziff Gallery):[74] A beautiful rectangular apartment with arches crossing its corners, which give the roof an octagonal character, with coved ceiling and lantern, and with clerestory lights through arcades, with classic moulded pilasters; it has a fine frieze designed by Mr Thorp, and carried out by Mr J.W.[76] It was designed at a cost of £6,200 "in the fourteenth century decorated Gothic style" for the newly-joined Congregationalists and Baptists by Archibald Neill (1856–1933),[77] of East Parade, Leeds, and opened on Wednesday 3 April 1889.The building was deconsecrated in 1952 and became the Royal Air Force Association Club, The Old Central Hebrew Congregational Synagogue, then finally a Sikh temple.Longrigg had initiated a young men's class during his curacy, and this group organised the funding by subscription of the tablet, which was "completed in a very artistic manner".[81][82] Longrigg also initiated the poor children's annual Christmas dinner at Shipley, and this work continued for many years after he left St Paul's.The dedication is to the "rarest devotion to duty" by Longrigg, who was curate of St Paul's 1885–1887, after which he was vicar of Emmanuel Church in Woodhouse Lane, Leeds from November 1887.The walls of the banking hall were lined with light-veined Italian marble, the floor was of mosaic, the fittings included a five-foot dado and were of solid American walnut, and the ceiling was "richly panelled.[91] The Pevsner guide cites carved exterior detail by John Wormald Appleyard at the corner entrance, on the upper floor, and on Corinthian columns.[89] The opening of this building was delayed due to a major fire at the saw mill belonging to Nicholson & Son of Prospect Works, Crown Point Road, Leeds.[nb 25][93] This stained glass crucifixion window is in St John the Evangelist Church, Farsley, West Yorkshire, a listed building.[40]: 87 On the exterior there is a carved coat of arms over a window, "stone relief panel over second floor bays with angel holding shield," and gargoyles.[97] "The outer porch is entered through an elaborately moulded archway, with traceried and curved spandrils, enriched with emblems of the Tudor rose and lily ... all the carved work, both in wood and stone, was executed by the late Mr J.W."[99] The design of the eye sockets and visible vertebrae of the grotesques here are key to the identification of Appleyard's own work on Headingley Hill Congregational Church,[100] and the liondogs on the staircase of Leeds Central Library mentioned above.