There was a major church at Dewsbury as early as the 8th century. While the oldest parts of the current church date from the 12th century, many important and richly-carved pieces of ChristianChristian Name originally given to disciples of Jesus by outsiders and gradually adopted by the Early Church to designate all members of the church. sculpture of an earlier date have been found on the site. These are strong evidence for the existence of an earlier mother-church or minsterMinster Originally a church with a group of clergy which served a large area. Later used to describe a church staffed by many priests or a monastic community which served as a centre for spreading Christianity in the region. The sculpture includes three parts of an 8th or 9th century cross with images of Christ and the ApostleDisciple New Testament term meaning learner or follower and used of the Twelve Apostles as well as of the followers of Jesus in general. See Apostle., another with the Virgin and Child, a piece showing Christ’s miracle of turning water into wine, and several others on display in the church.