Church Of Holy Trinity

Church of Holy Trinity

This is a parish church of medieval origin, primarily dating to the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries. The chancel was restored in 1878 and the tower in 1889, with further restorations carried out in the late 19th century. The building is constructed in dressed coursed rubble and ashlar with slate roofs.

The church comprises a tower, nave with north and south aisles, south porch and chancel. All are topped with coped gables to the east nave and chancel and south aisle, with single ridge cross finials to the east nave and chancel.

The tower is angle-buttressed and set on a moulded plinth. It is of 4 stages with bands and is embattled with 8 crocketed pinnacles, the centre pinnacle on each side being corbelled out. The corbel rises from the centre point between the 2 light bell chamber openings. There are 8 gargoyles. The west wall has a single ogee arched light originally of the 12th century but recut in the 14th century. Above is an arched 2 light window with ogee arched and cusped lights and a single quatrefoil. The north and south sides have single similar recut lights. There are 4 fourteenth-century bell chamber openings, each with 2 pointed arched openings surmounted by a further 2 similar openings. The ogee arched hood mould is broken by the pinnacle corbel. The south side has a single rectangular stair light, and the south and north sides have single small arched and cusped lights and 4 tie plates. The west side has 2 tie plates, and on each side is a single large tie plate.

The north aisle has a dressed coursed rubble west wall with a single quatrefoil set into a circle. The buttressed north wall has a single restored lancet. To the left is a chamfered arched doorway with impost bands and hood mould. Further left are 2 pairs of restored lancets. The north east and east walls are on chamfered plinths. In the 14th-century ashlar clerestory are 4 windows, each with 2 arched lights under a flat arch.

The chancel is set on a plinth. The north chancel has a single lancet, and to the left is a Caernarvon arched doorway. Further left is a 14th-century window with 2 ogee arched and cusped lights, each light with 2 decorative orbs, under a flat arch with hood mould and human head label stops. The hood mould is decorated with fleuron and there is a single central carved grotesque head over, with a single similar worn head under the window. The east end has a single arched 19th-century 4 light window with cusped tracery and hood mould. The south chancel has 2 fourteenth-century windows, each with 2 ogee arched lights and cusped tracery under a flat arch and hood mould.

The south aisle's east wall is buttressed dressed coursed rubble with a single lancet with hood mould. The south wall has a single 14th-century gargoyle and 3 windows, each with 2 arched and cusped lights, flat arch, hood mould and head label stops, mainly human.

The gabled and coped diagonally buttressed porch with single ridge cross finial has a 19th-century moulded arched entrance. The inner order is supported on engaged colonnettes with moulded capitals, and the arch is decorated with fleuron. There is a hood mould and label stops over. In the apex, set into a rectangular panel, is a decorative shield with hood mould and label stops. The side walls each have a single 19th-century arched and cusped light. To the left of that on the east side is a single angel's head carved in shallow relief. An inner round and chamfered arched 12th-century doorway with impost bands and worn hood mould decorated with billet leads into the church. The door is plank with iron hinges. In the west wall of the aisle is a single quatrefoil set into a circle. The clerestory corresponds to the north aisle.

Interior

The nave has 4 bays with late 13th-century arcades with double chamfered arches. The north arcade has a single central octagonal column, alternating 4 sides of concave moulding with 4 shafts with large moulded capitals. The columns either side each consist of 4 shafts with moulded capitals, and the responds are of single shafts with moulded capitals. The south arcade was rebuilt in 1895-6. It has a wide octagonal west column with nailhead decorated capital. The 2 eastern columns each consist of 4 shafts with fillets around an octagonal column, the westernmost with a crocket leaf capital and the easternmost with a stiff leaf capital further decorated with carved heads. The large octagonal west respond has a moulded capital. The east octagonal respond has a projecting corbel decorated with nailhead supporting a foliate decorated capital, with 2 spurs to the base. The arch over the west octagonal column has broach stops and there is a hood mould with human head label stops over the 2 easternmost arches. The tower arch is double chamfered with the inner order supported on octagonal responds and moulded capitals. The chancel arch is double chamfered with the inner order supported on octagonal responds with overhanging moulded capitals and single shaft rings.

The south chancel has an arched piscina with remnants of a pedestal piscina with scalloping. The south aisle south wall has an arched piscina. The south aisle south windows have shaped arches. The north wall of the nave and the south wall of the north aisle contain some 12th-century herringbone masonry.

An octagonal font sits on a splayed octagonal pedestal with a 17th-century cover. The pulpit, oak chest and altar rails with turned balusters are 17th-century. A 14th-century traceried screen is present. Fragments of an 11th-century cross shaft remain. Remaining furniture dates to the 19th and 20th centuries.

Monuments in the north chancel include one to Nicholas Lodge, 1612, a plaque with marble surround decorated with fleuron with a skull on the apron and a shield on the crown. There is a brass plaque to Reverend John Edwards, 1804. In the south chancel is a damaged 17th-century ashlar monument to Luke Williamson, the sides decorated with scrolls and the crown with an angel's head and wings. Another to Selina Hempsall, 1750, is flanked by single pilasters, has a decorative apron and is topped with a broken pediment. In the north aisle are fragments of 13th-century ashlar memorials decorated with stylised crosses, a monument to John Twentyman, 1774, in the north wall (a fragment of decoratively carved ashlar), and a fragment of a 13th-century floor slab decorated with a cross. In the south aisle, west wall, is a monument to John Twentyman, 1705, with segmental arched head. To the right is a small carved fragment. There are remains of some 13th-century floor slabs with several 18th-century floor slabs.