Church Of The Holy Trinity

Church of the Holy Trinity

Built in 1835 by Frederick Harvey as a chapel of ease to St Clement's church in Ipswich, this was the first church constructed in Ipswich since the Reformation. It was erected at the expense of the Reverend John Thomas Nottidge, who was patron and rector of St Clement's. Holy Trinity and St Clement's became separate parishes in 1838, at which time the church had approximately 750 seats, of which 250 were free.

The church is constructed of white brick laid in Flemish bond with slate roofs. The plan comprises a nave, lower chancel, a west tower with flanking stairs to the galleries, a north chapel, vestry, and organ chamber to the south.

The original structure consists of an unaisled brick rectangle with a plain, unbuttressed west tower. The tower has a round-arched window at ground level with a Gibbs-style surround, single round-headed lights in the belfry, and is crowned by an embattled parapet. The nave contains four bays lit by large round-headed windows set in shallow recesses with simple iron frames featuring two mullions and two transoms creating a rectangular grid. The roof is of low pitch and overhangs the walls considerably. The corners of the nave are rusticated. The walls lack parapets and clerestory.

A major restoration in 1894–95 by Edward Fernley Bisshopp, who was architect and diocesan surveyor for Norwich from 1885, involved the construction of an eastward extension containing the present chancel, north chapel, and organ chamber, along with a vestry. This work cost over £2,000 and included reseating and shortening the galleries. The new east end follows the style of the original nave closely, with similar windows, though narrower and featuring only one mullion rather than two.

Internally, the two phases of construction are distinct. The 1830s nave retains its original flat ceiling pierced by three circular ventilators. The 1890s extensions employ a richly ornamented baroque style that contrasts sharply with the plain nave. Three round arches spring from the nave: the northern one to the chapel, the larger central one to the chancel, and the southern one to the organ chamber. All have raised voussoirs. The chancel arch is the most lavishly decorated, with paired detached columns in the responds and a deep, raised entablature above. The arches to the chapel and organ chamber are similarly enriched, with coffering on the arch soffits. The chancel is spanned by a segmental ceiling divided into square panels, each centred with a rose-like ornament (repainted in the 1960s). The chapel ceiling is flat with plain square panels, and the chancel features wall-panelling with a decorative frieze.

The interiors are plastered and painted throughout. The north, south, and west galleries remain, though shortened in their eastern sections during the 1890s restoration. Seating throughout the church dates from the 1894–95 restoration and comprises pews with shaped ends retaining pew numbers in roundels, and plain stalls with panelled frontals. The pulpit is a fine 17th-century-style piece of wine-glass design. An early 20th-century reredos in the chapel depicts the Supper at Emmaus. A colourful stained glass window at the east end, installed in 1920 as a First World War memorial and designed and made by L. Pownall of Falmouth (brother of the vicar at that time), depicts themes from the Book of Revelation. Simple wall tablets include a First World War memorial on the south wall. Commandment boards in the base of the tower, probably from the 1830s, appear to be made of iron slabs and likely survive from the original church.

An iron plaque mounted on the west face of the tower records the building of the church in 1835 and names Frederick Harvey as architect. A second iron tablet on the tower exterior records the 1894–95 restoration, names Edward Fernley Bisshopp, and explains the work undertaken.

Frederick Harvey (1779–1861) was an architect and builder based in Ipswich. Beyond Holy Trinity church, he designed Rushmere vicarage, Suffolk (1827), St Helen with St Clement's school, Ipswich (1843), and repaired and partly rebuilt the almshouses in High Street, Needham Market (1836). In 1833 he exhibited a design for a Gothic cast-iron aqueduct at the Royal Academy.

The church is accompanied by a church hall to the southeast, erected in 1891 in a style that blends with the church and separately listed. Two brick gate piers north of the church feature stone cappings and are spanned by a curved iron arch.