Parish Church Of The Holy Trinity

Parish Church of the Holy Trinity

Built in 1835–6 by architect George Ledwell Taylor, the Parish Church of the Holy Trinity stands on The Broadway in Sheerness. The church was constructed to serve the expanding population of what became known as Mile Town, and was initially a chapel of ease to Minster Abbey before becoming parochial in 1873.

The building is constructed of yellow brick with sandstone dressings and Welsh slate roofs. It is designed in a plain lancet style typical of the 1830s, oriented with the chancel to the east.

The plan comprises a nave, chancel, north and south aisles (expressed internally only), and a west tower with staircase vestibules to the north and south. The west tower rises in three stages: the lowest stage contains a plain arched doorway; the second stage features an attractive and unusual rose window; the third stage contains tall paired lancet belfry windows. The tower is crowned by a plain parapet with pinnacles at the corners.

The nave extends for seven bays, each demarcated by shallow buttresses and containing a tall lancet window. The chancel is short in the pre-Victorian tradition, with blank side walls and an east window of three graded lancets. A plain parapet runs around the remainder of the church. A bronze monument to J S Keddell (died 1870), bearing masonic symbols, is mounted on the west wall of the south vestibule.

Internally, the walls are plastered and painted white. The character of the interior is dominated by galleries on three sides, set behind fully developed aisles rather than forming aisles themselves as was common in 1830s churches. The tall arcade piers have octagonal bases; the main body of each pier has flat surfaces on the diagonals with small shafts in the cardinal directions. The piers merge seamlessly into arches that rise almost to roof level without capitals. Four cast-iron columns support the west part of the gallery. The roof comprises tie-beams with panel tracery above them.

The gallery fronts are decorated with trefoiled arcading. The north and south galleries have been boxed in to create storage space. The Victorian seating in the nave, featuring shaped ends, remains largely intact. An octagonal Victorian font with a sturdy base and gable-like features surrounds it. The stained glass in the east window dates to 1902.

The chancel was cleared of its Georgian or Victorian fittings during a 1970s reordering, when the interior surfaces were also painted over. The church is relatively unusual in that it did not acquire a long chancel as became standard during Victorian times, although plans for one were drawn up in 1885 by Robert Wheeler, the Tunbridge Wells architect. It was probably at this time that reseating took place with the introduction of the present open seats with shaped ends.

The cost of construction was £4,128, to which the Church Building Commissioners contributed £2,595. The church provided 1,085 seats, of which 738 were free. Land was donated by Sir Edward Banks, the foundation stone was laid on 1 September 1835, and consecration took place on 30 August 1836 by Archbishop Howley.

George Ledwell Taylor (1788–1873), the architect, was born in London and articled in 1804 to J T Parkinson, for whom he supervised building works on the Portman Estate. In 1824 he was appointed Civil Architect to the Navy, undertaking important works at Sheerness, Chatham, Gosport and Woolwich. He came into contact with William IV and claimed that his tact led the King in 1830 to accept 'Trafalgar Square' instead of 'King William IV Square' as the name for the new open space on the site of the King's Mews. Following the loss of his post as a result of reorganisation in 1837, he took up general practice.