Commemorative plaque 11193

This blue commemorative plaque records: Deaconess Court built in 1869 to designs of T. C. Hope as Ilkley College, a boys' boarding school. In 1902 it became a college for the Wesleyan Deaconess Order, whose founder, the Rev. Thomas Bowman Stephenson, was the first warden. After 1968 it became apartments. Recorded plaque organisation: Ilkley Civic Society.

Deaconess Court was originally built as Ilkley College, a boys' boarding school, and later served as a significant institution for the Wesleyan Deaconess Order, reflecting changes in educational and religious practices in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.