Two carved stones, probably parts of a Saxon preaching cross, have been found on this site. They indicate that Christians may have worshipped here since Paulinus came on a mission to Northumbria in AD 627. He preached in Dewsbury and it was from there that Bradford was first evangelised. The vicars of Bradford later paid dues to that parish. The Domesday Survey, made in 1086, described Bradford as 'waste'. Ilbert de Lacy was the Norman lord of the manor. It is likely that he would have had a chapel on his manor and so there may well have been a wooden church here during the Norman period.
The Parish Church played a part in the sieges of Bradford in 1642 and 1643 during the Civil War between Charles I and his opponents. Bradford tried to withstand the King's troops and the church tower was hung with woolsacks in an attempt to protect it against the artillery of the (Royalist) army led by the Earl of Newcastle.
When, in 1919, a new diocese of Bradford was created from that of Ripon, the ancient Parish Church became Bradford Cathedral. It is in the southern part of the diocese, which stretches as far north as Sedburgh and to the west includes some Lancashire parishes. Extensions were needed to provide for the new functions of the Cathedral Church. These, however, were postponed by the problems following World War 1 and the outbreak of World War 2 in 1939.
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