Former Holy Trinity Church

Former Holy Trinity Church

This former parish church stands on Harrison Road in Halifax. Built between 1795 and 1798, it was designed by Thomas Johnson, the Leeds architect (died 1814) who was responsible for several church and country-house commissions across Yorkshire and designed the Leeds Library in 1808. The church was declared redundant in 1980 and has since been converted to offices.

The building is constructed in ashlar sandstone with a hipped slate roof. It is a double-height rectangular structure with a south tower and shallow projections in the east and west walls. The east projection formed the chancel, around which a three-sided gallery was arranged.

The church displays Neo-classical styling throughout. A moulded eaves cornice and low parapet (concealing the roof) run around the building. Each elevation is divided into three bays.

The main east front features a central bay brought forward under a pediment, which has a high rusticated plinth incorporating a lunette with radial glazing bars. The tripartite east window is recessed between two unfluted Ionic columns in antis, with the window itself featuring Ionic colonnettes. Above the main window is another lunette. The outer bays have rusticated quoins and rusticated architraves to panel doors. Upper windows sit within pedimented architraves and are flanked by pairs of Ionic pilasters, with short plain windows above them.

The south elevation is dominated by the tower in the central bay. It features a rusticated round-headed doorway with a margin-lit small-pane sash window above set within an aedicule. The side walls of the tower have round-headed niches, followed by a sunk panel and then an oculus. The octagonal upper stage contains keyed round-headed windows in aedicules, above which are lunettes and a low leaded dome crowned with a ball finial and cross. In the south elevation itself, the right-hand bay has a rusticated architrave to a small-pane sash window, while on the left side a similar architrave has been reset into a low projection. Panelled round-headed recesses above feature lunettes with modern glazing bars.

The west side is simpler than the east but has a corresponding central bay under a pediment with a rusticated architrave to a central window. Above the window is a recessed arched panel incorporating a lunette with modern glazing. The outer bays have plain windows with modern glazing.

The north front has rusticated architraves to lower windows and an upper tier of lunettes at the head of arched panels.

The interior was not accessible at the time of the last inspection (June 2009) and is assumed to have been considerably altered during its conversion to offices. Windows in the east and north elevations retain 19th-century stained glass.

The church is of particular historical significance as the first of the new churches built to serve Halifax as it developed as an industrial town. Its near-square proportions with minimal chancel reflect the low-church requirements of its time. The building makes an important contribution to the historical integrity of the town centre.