St Stephen's Church, Skipton

Virtual Tour - the mosaic floor

This mosaic floor was paid for by the parishioners of the church in gratitude to Fr Sharp who had given his life to serving the community.

Fr Richard Sharp SJ was the last Jesuit priest to serve the parish. After his death in 1914 the church was given by the Tempest family to the Diocese of Leeds. A bronze memorial was also erected within the Sanctuary to record his 40 years of service for posterity.

The basic motifs are crosses patonce in the borders interspersed with two crosses potent in white. The central design pictured here is a cross with a nimbus, popularly called a Celtic cross. The symbol at the bottom of the photograph is a Chi-rho symbol. This is the Greek alphabets which form the first two letters of the word Christus meaning 'Anointed One'. It is the Greek sacred monogram of Jesus Christ.

This floor is one of the more unique and strikingly beautiful features of the church.