Before St Thomas' was built, the Anglicans of Killinghall were obliged to walk 1.2 miles (1.9 km) to Ripley church every Sunday, making attendance difficult for the elderly and infirm.

In latter years the schoolroom at Killinghall was licensed for public worship, but as the Bishop of Ripon said, "There were not those influences about it which belonged to a consecrated building.

[1] The committee received a grant of £1,500 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and expected to have to raise £3,000 for a church building to accommodate 400–500 persons, and £1,500 for the vicarage.

[9] On Thursday, Friday and Saturday 28–30 August 1879, a bazaar was held under the auspices of Miss Ingilby of Ripley Castle, to raise over £300 towards the cost of the church.

[11] The foundation stone was laid on Saturday 26 April 1879 by Sir Henry Day Ingilby of Ripley Castle, witnessed by an audience of 300.

Due to cost, the decoration of capitals and vaulting are minimal or non-existent, but there is some tracery in the windows, and varied carved finials under some arches.

The mason was James Simpson of Harrogate,[11] who constructed several local buildings of stone from Killinghall quarry, including the adjacent Methodist Chapel (1869).

This bell measures 14 inches (36 cm) and was founded by John Taylor of Loughborough, possibly in the 1930s when the turret clock mechanism was installed.

All the woodwork is made of pitch pine, and was originally treated or varnished to appear as close as possible to its natural colour, although the roof timbers looked warmer than the pews when new.

The font and pulpit, designed by the architect and sculpted by Charles Mawer of Leeds,[16] are made of Caen stone, and were paid for by Lady Ingilby.

The nave and chancel originally had plain brass gas lamp standards made by Hardman's Works, and there was hot-air heating apparatus supplied by Grundy.

[15][18][19] There is a tablet in honour of Arthur Keightley Smith (1886–1942), son of the church's first vicar, who was lost at sea near Sumatra in World War II.

[15] In 1905, Canon Elliston and churchwardens Andus Hirst and George Lewis petitioned the Bishop of Ripon William Boyd Carpenter for a faculty to take down and remove the altar and rails, the clergy choir stalls and the prayer desks from the chancel.

The child John is looking at baby Jesus in the other window light, and he holds the words "agnus dei" or Lamb of God.

[1][15][23] The two-light window at the east end of the south aisle was given in 1887 in memory of Mary Ann Wray by her Daughter Dinah Cautley."

The second light illustrates the story of the Raising of the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11–17) This window was dedicated to William Strother by his mother.

The right hand light shows Paul the Apostle carrying a sword symbolising his martyrdom, with the Scriptures in the form of a book at his feet.

[1][15][23] William Swinden Barber FRIBA (1832–1908) was an architect who specialised in Gothic Revival Anglican churches, working mainly in Brighouse and Halifax.

As with the pews, the Caen stone pulpit and the font in this building, Barber often designed the fittings himself, commissioning them from local Arts and Crafts woodcarvers and sculptors.

[1][11][26][27] The Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale Herald described the scene thus: "The weather remained comparatively fine during the whole of the day, and the little village presented quite an animated appearance, the constant stream of brilliant equipages, the uneasing flow of pedestrians proceeding from all directions towards the new church, and bunting copiously displayed from the houses denoting the importance with which the event was regarded in the surrounding district.

[1] The text for the bishop's sermon was the 8th verse of Psalm 26: "Lord I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth."

200 local people were entertained to a tea to which the journalist of the Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale Herald was presumably invited, since he described it as a "great success".

On that day his employee Anthony Carrow at Killinghall slipped from scaffolding, fell "a considerable distance" and sustained "a somewhat serious fracture of the thigh."

[11] On Tuesday 29 July 1980, a celebratory centenary service was held at the church by Reverend David Young, Bishop of Ripon.

[31] The church building has wheelchair-accessible toilets, baby-changing facilities, an Audio induction loop, large-print hymn books, and guide dogs are welcome.

"[50] His benefice included 1.5 acres of glebe land worth £4, His ecclesiastical commission was £400 per annum, and his fees £4, so his gross and net income was £408 plus vicarage.

[66][67] He was secretary to the Irish auxiliary office of the Commonwealth and Continental Church Society 1957–1961, and at the same time he had permission to officiate in the Diocese of Dublin.

[75] In 1959 during Morris's incumbency, the church had a "fine choir which has gained a reputation for music of a high standard, and on a number of occasions its members have been invited to sing evensong at Ripon Cathedral.

From Monday 30 March 1987 until 1999, Reverend Anthony George "Tony" Hudson (born 1939), priest in charge of Hampsthwaite and Killinghall, took the services.

[84][85][86] At Hudson's installation, Reverend David Young, Bishop of Ripon, officiated, alongside the Venerable Norman McDermid, archdeacon of Richmond, North Yorkshire and Canon Howard Garside, rural dean.