Church Of Holy Trinity

Church of the Holy Trinity

This parish church at Barrow upon Humber presents a complex build sequence spanning from the 13th to 15th centuries. The 13th-century work includes the north arcade and chancel, with the late 13th century bringing the south arcade. The tower and aisles date from the 14th to 15th centuries. The church underwent restoration in 1841 and 1856, followed by major restorations in 1868–69 by the architects Kirk and Parry of Sleaford, which included rebuilding the north aisle, inserting a new chancel arch, adding a south porch, and providing new roofs to the aisles and chancel. The chancel east wall was rebuilt in 1897.

The building is constructed from a variety of materials reflecting its phases and repairs. The tower is built in limestone ashlar, while the south aisle uses squared limestone and limestone ashlar with a rendered plinth. The north aisle combines rock-faced ashlar with rendered brick and chalk rubble on its west wall. The chancel is of chalk rubble and brick, with limestone ashlar to the east wall and for dressings. Slate roofs cover the structure throughout.

The plan consists of a west tower, a 4-bay aisled nave with south porch, and a 3-bay chancel.

The 2-stage tower features a moulded plinth and angle buttresses with set-offs. The tall first stage displays a pointed moulded west door with hoodmould and weathered headstops, above which sits a pointed 3-light window with Perpendicular tracery and hoodmould. The north and south faces carry 20th-century clockfaces. A moulded string course marks the division to the stepped-in upper stage, which has angle pilasters and pointed 2-light belfry openings with Perpendicular tracery and head corbels above supporting pilaster strips. A moulded cornice with head stops and an embattled parapet with tapered angle pinnacles crown the structure.

The north aisle is lit by 19th-century buttresses and features 2 and 3-light square-headed trefoiled north windows and a pointed 3-light east window with geometrical tracery. A 16th-century pointed 3-light west window with Perpendicular tracery and hoodmould is set within contemporary brickwork. The south aisle has a wide chamfered ashlar-coped plinth and moulded cill band, with square-headed 3-light traceried windows, a pointed 2-light traceried west window, and a 19th-century pointed 3-light east window with reticulated tracery set in a rebuilt wall.

The chancel features 19th-century angle buttresses and both 18th and 19th-century brick buttresses to the north and south. The south side contains a pointed chamfered door with moulded imposts and hoodmould, a blocked lancet, a pointed 2-light window with plate tracery featuring trefoiled lights and a pierced trefoil above, a pointed 3-light window with Perpendicular tracery and hoodmould, and a 19th-century segmental-headed 2-light window with Perpendicular tracery. Two 13th-century lancets light the north side, with 19th-century stepped lancets to the east. The 19th-century south porch displays a restored pointed shafted outer arch with hoodmould and headstops, stone benches within, and a pointed moulded inner arch with hoodmould.

The interior reveals significant medieval fabric. The 5-bay north arcade comprises four late 12th to early 13th-century western bays with plain round arches of two orders on cylindrical piers and a west respond with scalloped capitals, octagonal abaci, plain moulded bases and square plinths. A late 13th-century inserted east bay has a pointed double-chamfered arch, keeled quatrefoil pier, and re-set cylindrical respond matching the western work. The 4-bay south arcade features pointed double-chamfered arches on keeled responds and piers that are variously single octagonal, cylindrical, and filleted quatrefoil in form, all with plain moulded capitals and bases. The 14th-century pointed moulded tower arch is also noteworthy.

The south aisle contains a trefoiled ogee-headed piscina with a mutilated bowl. A 19th-century pointed double-chamfered chancel arch on corbels separates the nave from the chancel. The chancel displays ornate 19th-century east lancets with shafts and moulded arches, a low rendered arch to the organ chamber, and a segmental-arched piscina to the south with a mutilated bowl, along with a square recess to the north. Roofs throughout date to the 19th century.

The chancel monuments include a late 17th to early 18th-century wall tablet to R.K., a marble wall tablet to Roger Uppleby of 1780 with a carved urn on pedestal, a marble wall tablet to George Uppleby of 1816 with carved arms and crest by Taylor of York, and an early 18th-century floor slab to James Houseman and family. The south aisle holds a wall tablet to William Broxholme of 1684 with carved arms and crest.

A painted and restored 14th to 15th-century oak rood screen to the chancel survives, featuring a central arch flanked by four traceried panels with moulded shafts. A 13th to 14th-century font with an octagonal bowl on an octagonal shaft and base is also present.