It was designed in Nonconformist Gothic style as West Park Congregational Church by Lockwood & Mawson and completed in 1862 for around £5,000.

For the Congregationalists it was meant to house an increasing congregation of visitors brought to the spa town by the recently-built railways.

Its first minister was the much-loved Reverend John Henry Gavin who died in his prime of tuberculosis and had a big funeral in which many followed the coffin.

Sir Francis Crossley laid the foundation stone, Thomas Raffles preached at the opening, and Tsarina Alexandra of Russia later worshipped there.

[4] This is a Grade II listed building[5] facing The Stray at the junction of Victoria Avenue and West Park Street in Harrogate.

When completed as West Park Congregational Church in 1862 the building could be seen from all of Low Harrogate;[6] it was listed primarily for the "townscape value of [the] spire.

The company made Victoria Avenue its main thoroughfare and planned to line it with churches to attract the visitors.

[3] The church building was designed by Lockwood & Mawson of Bradford, to accommodate 700 Congregationalists, visiting during the Harrogate spa season.

"[4] When visiting Harrogate in 1894 and 1911, Tsarina Alexandra of Russia worshipped at the Congregational Church and stayed in the neighbouring hotel (now Cathcart House).

[1] The works had already started when the foundation stone was laid on Wednesday 14 August 1861, in front of a large crowd of Harrogate spa visitors and residents, by Frank Crossley MP.

A feast then took place for 130 ladies and gentlemen, followed by speeches and fund-raising for the church; they had so far raised about half of the estimated cost of £5,000.

[7] The building committee and many of the visiting VIPs met in the school room in the afternoon to organise efforts to complete funding of the works.

[7] The site of the church was at one of the entrances to the development estate of Victoria Park, which was created at about the same time, and faced west towards The Stray.

[7] "The site [was originally] inclosed by a low fence-wall and handsome Gothic railing and gates, and the flagged footpath [was] five yards in width.

"[5] It was designed for 700 people, and has a tower and a "very elegant" spire 130 feet (40 m) high,[7][4] the whole being inspired by the Decorated Gothic style.

[5] The building originally had three main trefoiled doorways, giving access to the vestibule, and thence to the aisles, the ground floor, and the staircase to the west gallery.

[1] These sculptures appear to be late 19th or early 20th century replacements, and the church website says they may have been carved by a Roman Catholic artist.

At right angles to the building are the school and classrooms to seat 200 children,[14] and these were built with separate entrances for boys and girls.

[7] The roof is supported internally by iron columns with foliated capitals, and the five traceried lights of the west window are visible above the gallery.

There are also plaques in memory of John Peel Clapham who chaired the building committee 1861–1862,[nb 24] and the church's first minister Rev.

[20][21] The current 1894 James Jepson Binns organ was obtained from the much larger St. Paul's Church, Semilong, Northampton,[nb 25][22][23] in 1993 and installed inside the original Forster and Andrews casing by Peter Wood.

[32] As Patrick Gavin in the British Army he was stationed in Portugal and the Ionian Islands, and at Liverpool as a sergeant major recruitment officer until 1848.

[41][42][43][nb 30] Hamilton died aged 15 years at the Royal Albert Asylum, an institution for children with learning problems, at Scotforth.

[49][50] Gavin "had endeared himself to the members of his Church by the active, earnest and self-denying zeal of his ministry, and he was highly respected by Christians of all denominations for his readiness at all times to unite with them in all good works.

[55] In 1879 a black memorial slab with white tablet was dedicated to Gavin, and was fixed above the vestry door inside the church.

[56][57] Other ministers at the church were: Frederick Fox-Thomas (1869–1889),[58] Joseph A. Meeson (1889–1896), Edwin J. Dukes (1898–1899), A. Cooke Hill (1901–1910), W. Henry Pace (1911–1913), W. Morton (1914–1926), Herbert H. Summers (1927–1946), C. Leslie Atkins (1946–1953),[59] and Norman F.W.

VIP visitors were Rev Kevin Watson, moderator of the Yorkshire Synod, and Mayor and Mayoress Robert and Sylvia Windass.

[64] The church has a history of supporting various causes including Baby Basics, a charity run by volunteers who assist new mothers.

[67] In September 2019 the finish line of the UCI Road World Championships was placed in front of the west entrance of the church.

[68] In normal circumstances the church's Stray View Coffee Shop is open on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday mornings from 10.30am to midday, however as of March 2020 the cafe was temporarily closed during the coronavirus pandemic.