Church Of Holy Trinity

Church of Holy Trinity

This is a parish church with a 12th-century nave, substantially restored and extended in the 19th century. The building stands in Sidbury and retains significant medieval fabric alongside later additions and alterations.

The church is constructed mainly of locally quarried sandstone, laid in herringbone fashion in the nave, with ashlar siltstone to the north chapel and freestone dressings. The roofs are tiled and fitted with cast-iron rainwater goods.

The plan comprises a nave with a lower and narrower chancel, a south porch, a west belfry, and a chapel on the north side of the chancel.

Exterior features and materials

The herringbone masonry in the nave dates mainly to the 12th century, though the south side includes 19th-century work. A blocked Norman doorway in the west wall has an arch containing sandstone and tufa voussoirs. Apart from a round-headed south doorway, the 19th-century work to the nave and chancel is in simple Decorated style, with 2-light nave windows. Two memorial tablets on the nave south wall commemorate Thomas Childe (died 1772) and his family, and Henry Page (died 1800).

The porch incorporates herringbone masonry and has a pointed entrance with continuous double chamfer and triple lancet side windows. The belfry is timber-framed with louvered sound holes on each face, beneath a pyramid roof with swept eaves and weathervane. The chancel has single and 2-light windows in the south wall and a 2-light east window. The north chapel has a small 2-light east window but no other external openings.

Interior

The nave has a trussed-rafter roof with a single tie-beam truss on corbelled brackets at the west end, supporting the bellcote. The chancel arch has a continuous double chamfer and hood mould. The chancel contains a canted ceiling boarded behind moulded and embossed ribs. An 18th-century double-chamfered arch on the north side opens to the chapel. The piscina is ogee-headed. Walls are plastered and floors are 19th and 20th-century tiles, with steps in the chancel.

Fixtures and fittings

Many interior fixtures post-date a fire in 1912. The tub font of circa 1931 is neo-Norman in style, featuring intersecting arches below a tier of snake-like branches. The polygonal pulpit has open arcading and a foliage-trail cornice. Simple pews have X-shaped ends incorporating trefoils. Choir stalls feature moulded ends with armrests incorporating blind trefoils and ogee-arcaded fronts. The wooden communion rail is fitted with cast-iron uprights incorporating scrolls. The simple reredos has paired Corinthian columns, a guilloche frieze and a roundel with Chi-Rho symbol. A hatchment is mounted on the west wall. The east window depicts two angels and is dated 1931, made by Powell's. In the chapel are reassembled wall monuments to Richard Creswell (died 1708) and Anne Creswell (died 1705), comprising oval tablets with garlands, flaming urns and cherubs above a memento mori skull and crossbones.

History and alterations

The 12th-century origin of the church is evidenced by herringbone masonry in the nave walls. A Gothic-style north chapel was added in 1734, as dated on the stonework, by the Creswell family. The church underwent substantial restoration in 1881 by architect Robert Griffiths, who completely rebuilt the chancel. The porch and belfry also belong to this phase. The contractor for the 1881 work was Nevett Brothers of Ironbridge. The building suffered damage in a fire in 1912, after which many interior fixtures were replaced or renewed.