Church Of The Holy Trinity

Church of the Holy Trinity, Southchurch

This is a parish church of mixed architectural periods, comprising a Norman and medieval core substantially enlarged in the early twentieth century. The original church, built of mixed rubble with ragstone dressings, dates from the 12th century with major medieval additions. In 1857 it underwent restoration, including rebuilding of the west wall. A major extension was added to the north in 1906 by the architect J Ninian Comper, and this was followed in 1931-2 by a chancel designed by F C Eden.

The church now presents a complex plan. The old church contains a nave with bell-turret, a lower chancel, and a south porch. The 20th-century extension provides a nave with chancel of equal height, a two-bay incomplete north aisle, and a north-west vestry. The new work is constructed of random ragstone with broken flints filling many interstices, with a core of yellow brick exposed in areas on the north side that were never finished. All parts are roofed in clay tiles.

The principal façade is now the north elevation of the 1906 extension, designed in a loosely Perpendicular style beneath a continuous roof-line. A low, embattled north-west vestry sits between this façade and the road, with an incomplete aisle to its east. This aisle was intended to have four bays, but only two were built; the two unfinished easterly bays are marked by stock brickwork and arch outlines in the new nave's north wall. The fenestration of the 20th-century additions is varied, ranging from five-light windows in the chancel east and nave west to two-light windows elsewhere. The tracery is freely treated and often unmedieval in character, notably in the aisle and nave windows, which feature uncusped ogee intersecting tracery more characteristic of 18th-century Gothick than medieval work.

At the west end of the nave stands a Norman doorway, reset from the original building, with a billet-moulded hood, an order of zig-zag, and jambs having one order of shafts with scalloped capitals. A similar Norman doorway opens from the south of the old nave, though without the billet-moulded hood. The south side of the old church retains a 13th-century lancet and two 14th-century-style two-light windows beneath segmental heads. The east window is of three lights with flowing tracery. A timber-clad bell-turret with octagonal shingled spire crowns the west bay of the nave. The south porch is timber-framed with low stone side walls. There is no clerestory and no parapets except on the north-west vestry. A well-preserved mass-dial is located to the left of the priest's door.

The interior of the old church reveals substantial medieval timber framing. At the west end, large timbers supporting the bell-turret above comprise chamfered uprights with arch-braces; a date of 1666 is carved on one pillar, though the framing probably originates in the 15th century. The chancel and nave are divided by a 15th-century chancel arch with a chamfered head and demi-octagonal responds. The roofs are longitudinally boarded: the chancel roof is seven-sided, while the nave roof has tie-beams with crown-posts and struts. The rood-loft stairs survive in part on the north side.

Between the old nave and the western section of the new extension, a three-bay arcade with double-chamfered arches and octagonal piers with moulded capitals provides the transition. The body of the 1906 addition is divided into three compartments: the west section, defined by the three-bay arcade; a two-bay area beyond a transverse arch; and the 1931-2 chancel beyond a further arch. The central compartment contains pairs of capital-less arches on either side; on the south, one is filled in and the other opens to the old chancel, while on the north one opens to an organ chamber and the other is filled in. The roofs of the west and central compartments are both seven-sided with panelled divisions painted red, the west compartment having simple panels and the central compartment featuring a raised tie-beam with crown-post and struts. The chancel roof is hemispherical with longitudinal boarding, painted blue and speckled with stars.

The old chancel contains several medieval features. Two recesses are of particular note: an early 14th-century recess in the south wall, ogee-headed on short shafts, and in the north wall a combined funeral monument and Easter sepulchre comprising a low tomb-chest with cusped arch-head decoration beneath a more spacious four-centred, cusped arch. A 14th-century tomb recess occupies the south side. A 13th-century piscina with attached shafts is present, and in the old nave is a 12th-century double piscina in the form of scalloped capitals.

The late 1850s restoration introduced the square-headed pews, octagonal font, polygonal traceried pulpit, and the decorative stone-inlaid work behind the altar. The new part of the church is furnished with elegant but generally conventional woodwork. The stained glass in the old church dates from the 1850s restoration, while the new part contains windows by Comper from 1918-21 in the nave west and north-west windows, and a 1956 east window by G E R Smith. A notable monument to Elizabeth Drew (died 1761), featuring coloured marbles and an urn before an obelisk, stands above the rood-loft stairs. The bell-turret houses an early 14th-century bell.

Historically, Southchurch was originally a separate settlement, now incorporated into Southend, and this church served as its parish church. Physical evidence of a stone church here dates to the 12th century. The 1857 restoration rebuilt the west wall. By the 20th century the building had become too small, and the 1906 extension effectively reduced the old church to an aisle, with the chancel added in 1931-2.

J Ninian Comper (1864-1960), the architect of the 1906 work, was born in Aberdeen, son of a Scottish Episcopalian minister. He was articled to Bodley and Garner and commenced independent practice in 1888, remaining in partnership with William Bucknall until 1908. His work was almost entirely ecclesiastical, undertaken for Anglo-Catholic clients; he was knighted in 1950. F C Eden (1884-1944), designer of the 1931-2 chancel, was also a pupil of Bodley.