Church of the Holy Trinity

Anglican church, built between 1857 and 1862 to designs by SS Teulon (1812-1873) and extended in 1892.

MATERIALS: coursed sandstone rubble with dressed limestone details, under a slate roof.

PLAN: the church occupies a polygonal site, being mostly rectangular but tapering to a sharp angle at the junction of Robertson Street and Trinity Street. The plan is based on an east-west axis consisting of a vestry, chancel and nave, and a south aisle and porch on the south-eastern elevation.

EXTERIOR: the church is Early English and decorated in style under a steeply pitched roof. The west end comprises two gables. The northernmost gable relates to the nave and has a large six-light west window with geometric tracery. The southern gable contains a large doorway to the end of the south aisle with a very tall moulded arch containing a large traceried tympanum and rose window above. The north elevation has six cross-gables, the easternmost five of which contain three-light geometric traceried windows, while the westernmost bay contains an arched doorway with a traceried tympanum above. The chancel towards the eastern end of the church has a semi-octagonal apse with three-light traceried windows between buttresses and gablets passing over through a trefoil-pierced parapet. The north chancel window has complex intersecting geometric tracery.

To the east of the chancel and almost detached, there is a small hexagonal vestry (1892 extension) with ogee arch windows and a quatrefoil panelled parapet with pinnacles. A single-storey runs back from the vestry along the north and south-east elevations. The south-eastern single-storey element contains a small arched door with large spandrel panels, and three single-light and two three-light windows. The northern single-storey element contains a door on its western elevation and a single three-light window on its northern elevation. At the east end of the south aisle is a large entrance porch with hipped roof and very tall moulded arch with drip mould and massive cubic impost blocks. Above this is a heavily traceried tympanum bearing a large sign of the Trinity.

INTERIOR: the interior includes a round font decorated with carved flowers and leaves. Around 1889 a number of alterations were made including the addition of an alabaster and marble pulpit with double staircase by WH Romaine-Walker, intricate carved decoration to the chancel arch by Thomas Earp and an ornate rood screen by an unrecorded Belgian craftsman. The Lady chapel in the base of the organ chamber was added by Henry Ward around 1892.