Born in Hull, Dykes was appointed precentor at Durham Cathedral in 1849 and bought 'a very nice little cottage... about a mile out of Durham with a nice little bit of garden and a very fine prospect.' This was Hollingside Cottage, where Dykes lived until September 1853. One of his most celebrated hymn tunes is called 'Hollingside', after the cottage, which lies on Hollingside Lane. He wrote: 'I like Durham exceedingly. The view from my window is hardly to be equalled in England. It exactly faces the glorious west end of the cathedral.'
Hearing of plans to issue Hymns Ancient and Modern, Dykes sent seven tunes he had written himself and which had proved popular in the cathedral Galilee Chapel. The music editor accepted all of them and eventually, with Dykes as co-editor, no fewer than sixty of the latter's compositions were included in the first edition of 1861. He is regarded as one of the great hymnodists and several of his creations continue in daily use, including 'Holy, holy, holy', 'Jesu, lover of my soul', 'Eternal Father, strong to save', and 'Nearer my God to thee', which was the last tune played by the band on the Titanic.
Other titles among his 300 tunes are 'For all the saints' and 'The king of love my shepherd is'. Dykes was vicar of St Oswald in Durham from 1862 and is buried there. Such was the esteem in which he was held that when it became known that he had given most of his hymn tune money to charity, a fund was raised for his family which quickly reached ten thousand pounds.