Churchyard Management and Improvement

Otley Churchyard January 30th The churchyard at Otley Parish Church is one of the few green spaces in Otley town centre, so a valuable resource for the town.

Our historic churchyard woodland site fosters nut hatches, woodpeckers, gold crests, tawny owls, bats, dragonflies and speckled wood butterflies, plus many common songbirds.

The diocese approved churchyard tree work, done by professional tree surgeons, which took place in March 2024. This was to prune many of the trees and remove 3 conifers which had outgrown their location. This work has allowed more sunlight to enter the church and brighten the beautiful stained glass windows on the south side. These all help to make our heating of the building more efficient and so reduce our carbon footprint.

Replacement tree planting has been carried and Aaron Kennedy blessed our Oak tree planted on Easter Day 2024. Mountain Ash and Hazel have also been planted. All of these have great wildlife value in attracting insects and birds.

A work party in the Church grounds in 2023 has had a lasting effect on the South facing wall, allowing in more light and warmth into the church and reducing the build up of damp.

Churchyard-Work-Party-November A second working party (some pictured here) took place on 16th November 2024 tackling a range of jobs. Three large storm broken branches were cut into manageable pieces to build wildlife habitat piles in the north-west corner. There, a massive and high bramble thicket was trimmed into a manageable patch, revealing several young holly trees. At the other end ivy was carefully trimmed and removed from graves thus showing their lettering. Elsewhere, late flowering ivy was left for the many bees feeding in the fortuitous sunshine. Many leaves were blown, raked and gathered from the paths and verges to make them safe.

Installation of bird nest boxe We are truly blessed here at Otley Parish Church by our wonderful greenspace. We work with Wildlife Friendly Otley to be good stewards of our church grounds. This year we are expecting great things from our wildflower areas and hopefully with more birds nesting. Please keep a lookout for any wildlife and let us know what you see. Tom Raper and Keith Wilson would be really happy to hear from you. While we were installing the nest boxes we were told of a resident owl!

Keep an eye out in the Notice Sheet for the next Church Grounds Work Party and come along if you are able.

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

A Warm Welcome!

OPC in Springtime The following information is specifically for those planning a visit on a Sunday morning, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect. You are also welcome to visit the church building during the week for private prayer or simply to look round. It is normally open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday.

Where and When: We meet at Otley Parish Church (map here) for our Sunday Service starting at 10:30am. The church is 2 minutes walk from Otley Bus Station. On-street parking is limited, but there is a small, public (free) carpark opposite the church on Burras Lane. Nearby is Sainsbury's who also allow parking up to 4 hours. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team who will be wearing a Welcome lanyard.

Refreshments: We serve tea, coffee and biscuits after the 10:30am service and you are most welcome to stay for this. It is a great way to meet people, or simply take time to look around the ancient building. All refreshments are free.

Accessibility: The main part of the church is fully accessible, and there is a hearing loop for anyone who needs it. For the main service there are no service books since everything is displayed on screen. Do let us know if you find this difficult since we aim to have some large print material available. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up. We have flexible seating and can accommodate wheelchair users to suit their needs. There is a disabled toilet in the south entrance foyer and further toilets up the stairs.

Our Services: The main Sunday service begins at 10.30am and lasts between 60 and 90 minutes. See our Main Sunday Service page for details of the monthly pattern of services. You can also view services on our YouTube Channel to get a taste of what happens.

See our Other Services page for details of other weekly and monthly services.

What about my children?

One sevice a month (3rd Sunday) is usually all-age where everyone is together and the format is child friendly. For other Sundays we have special provision for children and young people:

Sunday Club - Separate groups for those from age 1 to the end of Primary School
OPC Youth - For those in school years 7 to 10

Children stay with their parent or grown-up at the start of the service for the welcome and the opening song before they are invited to go to their various groups. Children going out need to be registered before the service as part of our child safety policy.

The kids group activities vary depending on the age but usually there is a friendly welcome, bible stories, praying, music, craft, drama, fun games and free play. Please pick your children up later in the service when an announcement is given.

There is much more going on during the week at Otley Parish Church which you can see on the Church Calendar.

Get in touch with us if you would like any more information:

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Search

Churchyard Management and Improvement

Planning your Visit

A Warm Welcome!

What about my children?

Get in touch with us if you would like any more information:

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:

Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

We will contact you by email to say hello and help answer any questions.

Note that the Church Office is only staffed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so a reply may not be immediate!