Church Of Holy Trinity

Church of Holy Trinity

This is a Gothic Revival church built in two main phases. The east parts—chancel, transepts and eastern bays of the nave—were constructed in 1868-9 by the renowned architect George Edmund Street. An organ chamber was added in 1872, followed by a north vestry in 1908. The western part of the nave and aisles, the western baptistry and adjacent porches date from 1909 and were designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield and Son, who also designed the chancel east window and south chapel. A parish room was attached to the north of the church in the late twentieth century. The church was reordered in 1989 when the altar was relocated to the crossing.

The building is constructed of rubble and stone masonry with freestone dressings and clay tiled roofs.

The plan comprises a chancel, chancel south aisle, north organ chamber, north vestry, north and south transepts, nave, north and south aisles, north porch, a rounded apsidal baptistry with porches to its north and south, and a community room to the north of the nave.

Externally, the east end displays the chancel and south chapel, both with five-light windows featuring rich Decorated tracery. North of the chancel stands a plain vestry with a plain parapet. The south side of the chapel has a pair of three-light square-headed windows separated by a two-light quatrefoil-headed window beneath a gable that breaks through the eaves line. West of the chapel, the south transept features a large four-light Perpendicular window. The south aisle contains three sets of three-light cusped windows and, in the west bay, a two-light window and gable matching that of the chapel. The west elevation, facing the road, displays a five-light window of great elaboration serving the nave, the rounded apse of the baptistry, and its pair of flanking porches. The porches and baptistry have single-light cusped windows. On the north, a porch and the modern parish room block are visible, though the north aisle generally mirrors the articulation of the south. The church has no clerestory.

Internally, the church body comprises five bays plus a further bay for the transepts. The north arcade has round piers with moulded capitals and bases and double chamfered arches. The south arcade is similar except that the two eastern bays of the nave have octagonal piers. A two-bay arcade connects the chancel to the south chapel, with a further arch from the south transept to the chapel. The nave roof features tie-beams and crown posts, while the chancel roof is of arch-braced construction. The transept roofs are divided into square panels by moulded ribs. Lean-to roofs cover the aisles. Most roofs have been decorated; the north transept roof has blue grounds to the panels with gold sunburst decoration, and similar decoration appears on the south transept roof with M emblems. The chancel and chapel roofs have patterned decoration. Much of this decoration is the work of Kempe and Co, employed during the 1909 remodelling and after the First World War. Work included diapering on the side walls of the chancel, though this has subsequently been painted out.

The church contains an extensive series of embellishments. A good marble pavement adorns the chancel. The reredos was designed by W D Caröe. Kempe and Co were responsible for the traceried chancel stalls, the late medieval-style carved wooden screens, and the reredos in the south chapel, which includes figures of Saint Alban, Saint George and Saint Joan in niches similar to those in the chapel at Pembroke College, Oxford, another Kempe work. The Kempe firm produced the 1909 stained glass windows in the south wall of the chapel and around the baptistry. The reordered area in the crossing contains an excellent modern altar, lectern and seat. The font is a conventional octagonal form now repositioned in the south transept. Modern chairs provide seating in the nave and aisles.

The Street phase was consecrated on 30 August 1869 and had been built at a cost of £4,708. The south chapel was originally created as the Saint Agnes Chapel but was converted after the First World War by the then rector, the Reverend Henry Hall, who had been chaplain to the 29th British Infantry Division at Gallipoli, into the Gallipoli Chapel. Kempe and Co undertook the decorative work required for this conversion.