In the latest in the Mark’s History series, MARK STEVENSON takes his camera to Bramley Park to discover more about cross situated in the rose garden …
Rev John Gott, son of Benjamin Gott, was the Vicar of St Peter’s Bramley from 1866-1873, after which he moved on to Leeds Parish Church.
The year 1868 was a busy year for John as he married Harriot Mary Maitland, created a parish magazine and formed a church council made up of clergy, churchwardens and laymen. This council is believed to be the first of its kind in England.
A monument was raised in remembrance of Rev John Gott’s time in Bramley it is now situated in the rose garden of Bramley Park.
The inscription reads:
GRATEFUL TO
GOD
FOR EIGHT YEARS
OF LIFE AND
WORK
IN BRAMLEY
A.D 1866-1873
Interesting history but we should give grateful thanks to John Jose (still alive and well and living in Bramley) who rescued this cross. Originally sited at Gotts Park it was removed and believed lost. John Jose discovered it abandoned in a council depot years later and demanded it be returned to West Leeds. As a result it was sited at the entrance to Bramley Park and moved to the Rose Gardens a few years ago to accommodate the new War Memorial. Without the intervention of John Jose this little bit of West Leeds heritage would probably have been lost for ever.