Trinity United Reformed Church

Trinity United Reformed Church with linked campanile

This church on Unthank Road was constructed in 1955-56 and dedicated in 1956. It was designed by Sir Bernard Feilden, working for the Norwich firm of Edward Boardman and Son, and built by Thomas Gill and Sons.

The building is constructed of grey-brown brick with buff brick dressings and occasional flint panels. It has a copper roof with a central gable at the façade, beneath which Westmoreland slate has been applied behind a Portland stone Cross.

The plan-form is a modern interpretation of the classic square plan chapel, but on two storeys. The Sanctuary is on the first floor with meeting space and offices on the ground floor. The centrally placed entrance door at the façade is marked above with the Presbyterian symbols of the Bible and the Burning Bush, the latter within a Tudor Rose to signify the Presbyterian church of England. Foundation stones of the demolished Baptist chapel and bombed Presbyterian chapel are incorporated into the fabric on the south elevation.

The rear elevation has a tall stair window at its central axis with contrasting tile surround. Here the first floor projects over the ground, supported by four concrete columns. A lift shaft has been added to the left. Both south and north elevations have on the first floor a range of tall windows with contemporary metal frames and stone surrounds. The recessed ground floor has three central tall windows framed by supporting columns, flanked by ranges of smaller casements providing light to the offices.

To the south is a 52-foot-high campanile linked to the church by a low wall with courses of projecting brick, topped by a 14-foot cupola. Vehicular access passes through the ground floor with louvred openings on the three upper storeys of all elevations graduating from a single to paired to a tripartite opening at the top of the tower, each with buff brick segmented brick lintels and stone voussoirs. The brick screen marking the boundary between the church and Unthank Road has six cranked arch openings with flint spandrels, edge-laid tiled heads and stone voussoirs with concrete capping.

Inside, the main entrance leads into a general meeting space surrounded by the vestry, cloakrooms and choir rooms. Ahead are stairs leading to the Sanctuary, lit by a skylight and tall windows of green English handmade glass representing the Trinity—the green indicating growth, the triumph of life over death, charity and regeneration of the soul through good works. All fixtures and fittings including the carved doors, lights and staircase are contemporary. The staircase, with flat handrails and triangular shaped balusters, rises to a landing and divides into two flights each serving the Sanctuary above.

The Sanctuary is a large square space with the pulpit to the east and organ at the rear of the congregation to the west, with a separate stair for the minister leading from ground floor to back of choir. All furnishings are contemporary including the pews, pulpit, choir stalls, lectern and seating for the Elders in front of the pulpit. The roof, clad in African mahogany, is constructed on a steel space frame which requires no girders, delivering a clean roof line. The roof design has added triangular features representative of the Trinity, creating the shape of a cross over the congregation. It was designed for maximum acoustic delivery alongside its aesthetic qualities. The south and north elevations have deeply recessed windows flooding the Sanctuary with light. The walls have a natural lime plaster finish, the pews and pulpit are in Austrian oak and the skirtings are in Australian black bean wood. The original electronic organ was replaced in 1974 by a pipe organ from a redundant church, the only notable alteration from the original. Some original embroideries have been lost, though the piece which falls from the pulpit remains.

Trinity Presbyterian church was constructed on the site of a disused Baptist chapel, demolished in 1954. The church was described by Pevsner as 'the best post-war church in Norwich, in a Swedish Expressionism popular in the middle of the century'. Sir Bernard Feilden has stated that inspiration for the design came from the 6th-century Basilica of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo near Ravenna. In 1972, the Presbyterians and Congregationalists joined to form the United Reform Church. The installation of a lift shaft at the rear of the building has been sympathetically executed.