of West Yorkshire. The church was granted minster status on 23 November 2009. Features The font cover is a feature surviving from the medieval period, and is acknowledged to be one of the finest in England. The stone font bowl may also date from the 15th century, or earlier. Before 1879 traces of paint could be seen on both font and cover, and it was once ornately gilded. The cover was originally intended to prevent people from stealing the baptismal water kept in the font, which was supposed to have curative powers. The wooden sedilia in the sanctuary date from the 15th century, and were restored in 1879. They contain three misericords, and were possibly brought from some nearby abbey – such as Kirkstall – after Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries. Six other 15th-century misericords, including a Green Man, are located under the chancel's return stalls. A set of late 17th-century altar rails, with a fine double-spiral carving. The altar was first railed-in by 1665; these rails were replaced by the present "twisted banisters" in 1698. A series of painted ceiling panels, representing the heraldry of the vicars and famous families of Halifax Parish. These were originally painted by James Hoyle, and were put in place between about 1696 and 1703, but were repainted in 1815–16, and cleaned in 1948. Two Royal Coats of Arms of Queen Anne, dating from 1705. They were carved by John Aked. The alms-box is held by a life-sized wooden effigy known as "Old Tristram", carved by John Aked about 1701. The carving is believed to represent a real person who once begged in the church precincts. The Bishop Ferrar Memorial dating from 1847 is a feature of the western wall of the south aisle. From Halifax parish, Bishop Robert Ferrar of St David's was earlier the last prior of Nostell Priory. He was burnt at the stake at Carmarthen in 1555. The sculpture is by Joseph Bentley Leyland. A painted bust of John Favour (vicar 1593–1624) is adjacent to the Ferrar Monument. Favour was a celebrated physician and lawyer, and the founder of Heath Grammar School, Halifax. The Wellington Chapel. Halifax was the home of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment, which is now the 1st battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment. In 1951 the church's south choir aisle was adopted by the Regiment as its chapel. Among the Regimental Colours previously displayed were those