Holy Trinity Church

Holy Trinity Church

An Anglican church built between 1721 and 1727 on Boar Lane in Leeds. The design is attributed to William Etty, with some sources crediting William Halfpenny. The foundation stone was laid in 1722, Etty provided a design and wooden model in 1723, and the building was consecrated by the Archbishop of York on 10 August 1727. The upper stages of the tower were added after 1839 by R D Chantrell, following the loss of the original wooden spire in a storm that year. The church is constructed of ashlar.

The plan is rectangular, measuring seven bays by three bays, with a slightly projecting central entrance bay, a six-stage tower at the west end, and an apse at the east end.

The south front facing Boar Lane features double eight-panel doors with Gibbs surrounds in bays one and seven, the doorway in bay seven being false. Windows are arranged in two tiers: the lower tier has round-arched windows set in architraves with keyblocks and alternating triangular and segmental open pediments with aprons below the sills; the upper tier has square windows with eared and shouldered architraves, including a nine-pane frame to the far left and leaded lights elsewhere. Giant Doric pilasters rise the full height, with a triglyph frieze, cornice and blocking course surmounted by flaming urns.

The tower displays round-arched belfry windows in rusticated surrounds at the first and second stages, set within paired corner pilasters. The first stage pilasters are Ionic; those at the second stage are Corinthian. A clock occupies the second stage, which is topped by a balustrade with urns. The upper three diminishing stages follow a similar style, with the top two having concave sides. A stone cross crowns the pinnacle.

The north side is largely obscured by twentieth-century additions, though the upper western window retains a plain surround. The west return features a main entrance at centre with eight-panel double doors and a fanlight over, set within a round arch with rusticated surround and keystone. Above this is a fifteen-pane fixed-light window in an eared and shouldered architrave topped by an open triangular pediment on console brackets. Two tiers of windows flank this central feature, with giant pilasters matching the south front. A cornice surmounted by an open triangular pediment over the centre bay fronts the base of the tower. Part-lead drain pipes in the angles of the projecting central bay have moulded rainwater heads and fixing plaques bearing a raised motif of a fleece.

The east end features an apse with a large Venetian window and flanking windows. The cornice and drain pipes match those at the west end.

The interior comprises a six-bay nave with side aisles and a short chancel with segmental sanctuary. Giant Corinthian columns support a shallow tunnel-vaulted ceiling with plasterwork including Greek key pattern. Original features include panelling to the rebate of the inner west doors and dado, pews with carved ends in key and scroll patterns, and a reredos carved with swags of fruit and flowers. The pulpit has finely carved and inlaid side panels; the stairs and access have been modified. The sounding board features an inlaid star pattern on its underside. An eighteenth-century royal arms hangs on the west wall, and a carved wooden pelican feeding her young sits on the sill of the east window.

Wall memorials include one to James Scott, the first minister, who died in 1782, located in the blocked or false south door at the west end. A Latin memorial to Henry Robinson, founder of the church and died 1736, occupies the centre of the north side; its Classical surround is surmounted by a flaming urn with winged cherubs below.

Boar Lane was realigned and the street frontage rebuilt between 1869 and circa 1875; some of the church's surviving architectural details may have influenced the rebuilt street frontage.