Mount St Mary's: Abandoned Gothic church in Leeds gets green light for conversion into 175 luxury flats

Mount St Mary’s Church in Richmond Hill is a 19th century Catholic church, visible high on the hill behind Quarry Hill.

Plans to redevelop the Grade II listed landmark, which has stood abandoned for over 30 years since it closed down in 1989, have been debated by the council since at least 2020.

Leeds property investment firm Aspen Woolf has now confirmed that Mount St Mary’s looks set to be converted into 175 luxury flats, after planning permission was recommended for approval by Leeds City Council.

Originally built as part of the Gothic Revival in the UK, the church is steeped in rich cultural history.

It was designed by York-architect Joseph Hansom, but is more famously known to have been extended by Edward Pugin, whose father Augustus Pugin designed Big Ben and the interiors of the House of Parliament.

Initially named the Church of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, it famously served as an orphanage and housed over 3000 children between 1863 and 1953.

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The Catholic church was built in the 1850’s for Irish migrants who had come to escape the potato famine and settled in Leeds’ Richmond Hill area.

It was later named a Grade II Listed heritage building by the Victorian Society, but has stood abandoned since closing in 1989, and still remains damaged and derelict today.

The new luxury apartment complex will be called The Mount, which will “retain all of the most important elements of the original building, with the addition of a sympathetic yet striking extension to the Church and the creation of a neighbouring building”.

Renovation of the building is being handled by Leeds architects Den Architecture, and the majority of the church’s interior will be renovated - including the restoration of the church’s shamed altar which will be turned into a communal workspace for residents.

Around half of the church will be demolished to make room for a five-storey residential development with modern apartments.

Approximately half of the church will be demolished and replaced with a 5-storey residential development of modern and luxurious apartments “which will offer an exceptional ability to own a piece of history”.

Developers S9 Construction Ltd also said a “spectacular feature window” will be added to the west gable of the church to create a “lantern effect” at night.

Renovation and construction on the church has now officially begun, and the new high-end apartments will be “move in ready” by 2026.