Holy Trinity Church

Holy Trinity Church

Holy Trinity Church is a medieval parish church, originally of Norman origin but extensively rebuilt and extended through the 14th and 15th centuries. The church sits low beside the River Avon in the centre of Bradford on Avon. It was substantially restored in 1865–6 by J. Elkington Gill of Bath, and underwent further reordering of the chancel and south chapel in 1975 by Alan Rome.

The building is constructed of limestone ashlar and rubble with a stone tiled roof. The plan comprises a west tower; a five-bay nave with a south porch and transeptal south chapel (now a sacristy); a north aisle; and a three-bay chancel without chapels.

Exterior

The chancel retains Norman origins but was extended around 1300. Its east window displays five lights grouped 2:1:2, with a rose containing three cusped triangles—characteristic motifs of circa 1300–10. The north side of the chancel contains one Norman window with deep internal splays, and another blocked window to its west. The south wall presents a random composition of Norman, Early English, and Perpendicular openings, with flat Norman buttresses. Angle buttresses flank the chancel's eastern corners.

The nave is of Norman dimensions, evidenced by one surviving Norman window above the south door. The nave, south chapel, and north aisle are all topped with embattled parapets. The Kingston chapel to the south was built around 1630–50 and rebuilt in 1865–6.

The west tower is modest in scale, with small buttresses and a short spire. Its Perpendicular bell openings are of two lights. The west doorway has a depressed arch, while the west window features a shallow pointed arch with two mullions and one transom.

The north aisle, which sits hard against the road, shows uneven fenestration reflecting its origin as two separate chapels. Its westernmost windows display Late Perpendicular inverted-Y tracery, dating from circa 1450–1500.

Interior

The interior is spacious but not well lit. The chancel arch dates from circa 1500 but was rebuilt in 1864. To its left are two doors providing access to the Late Medieval rood loft. The chancel roof, added in 1881, is a panelled wagon vault with bosses; the nave roof is of similar date.

The chancel contains two exceptionally large arched tomb recesses. The one on the south wall, dating to the early 14th century, features a big double cusped arch with framing gable and pinnacles, and houses an ex-situ effigy of an armoured knight. The tomb recess on the north wall has a simpler moulded arch without capitals and an outer gable, and contains a badly weathered ex-situ female effigy.

The north aisle was built in two parts, each serving as a chantry chapel. The western part, dedicated to St Nicholas, was founded in 1420. The eastern part, originally a Lady Chapel, was presumably built earlier; its chantry was re-endowed in the late 15th century by Thomas Horton, a clothier. The north wall preserves a rare late Perpendicular reredos—a recess with canted sides and top, and panels forming a central cross—unusual pre-Reformation evidence for a chantry chapel. Running from the north aisle to the chancel is an exceptionally long squint of approximately 20 feet.

The nave arcade was partly rebuilt in 1865–6 with carved ribbons winding round two of the piers.

Fixtures and Monuments

The church contains a notable collection of principal fixtures. An English altar with gilded angel finials was created by W.H. Randoll Blacking in 1938. A stone reredos with relief panels dates from 1856. Choir stalls of ash were installed in 1983 by ASTAM Design Partnership. A heavy stone pulpit with blind Perpendicular tracery dates from approximately 1866.

The font features a Perpendicular octagonal bowl with unmoulded square panels, possibly recut in the 17th century with quirky geometric patterns; the stem bears cusped panels and shields.

A fragmentary Late Medieval wall painting survives to the left of the high altar, depicting the Virgin Mary being taught by her mother Anne. Two panels from the dado of the rood screen preserve fragmentary 16th-century paintings of the Fathers of the Church writing.

The brass monuments include one showing Thomas Horton and his wife in contemporary dress of a wealthy clothier, dated circa 1530. Another splendid brass commemorates Anne Long (died 1601) in fashionable Elizabethan dress. A brass in the north aisle also commemorates Thomas Horton and his wife, circa 1530. A crude tablet in the north aisle in late 17th-century provincial style features skulls and crossbones with an oval panel bearing the arms of the Mercers' Company, formerly topped by a broken pediment with four arched panels, three now blank and one inscribed to William Baily (died 1712).

The chancel contains a lavish monument to Charles Steward (died 1698) by John van Nost (1701), showing a standing figure under drapery against an arched ground of slate, with urns, putti, and the achievement of arms. Opposite stands a more reserved monument without figure to Anthony Methuen (died 1717) by J.M. Rysbrack, comprising a sarcophagus set in an Ionic frame with putti perched on the pediment.

An architectural tablet in the north aisle commemorates John Thresher, father and son, dating to circa 1741 yet still Baroque in style, with putti holding back swags. A vigorously composed tablet to Lieutenant General Francis Smith (died 1791) features an oval ground with portrait urn, mourning woman, and an angel, executed in the style of William Paty of Bristol. Many fine minor Neoclassical tablets, mostly dating 1780–1830, are distributed throughout the church.

Stained Glass

The church contains a distinguished collection of stained glass. The highly coloured east window is by O'Connor, dated 1856. The chancel north contains a single light by Herbert Bryans, 1921. The north aisle east and an adjacent light in the north wall are by Heaton, Butler & Bayne, dated 1877 and 1886 respectively. Adjacent to the latter is a window by Burlisson & Grylls, 1888. In the nave south, one large window contains many Flemish medallions, mainly of the early 16th century, collected around 1770 and reset here in 1954.

Setting

The long narrow churchyard is enclosed by wrought-iron gates and overthrow at its east end. Opposite the church stands the famous Saxon church of St Lawrence, which Holy Trinity must have replaced.

Restoration and History

The church underwent substantial restoration in 1865–6 by J. Elkington Gill of Manners & Gill, Bath, comprising reseating without structural changes to the building. The church reopened on Shrove Tuesday, 1866. The chancel and south chapel were further reordered in 1975 by Alan Rome.

Holy Trinity Church is of exceptional architectural and historical significance as the medieval parish church of Bradford on Avon. It preserves extensive Norman fabric in its nave and parts of its chancel, alongside important Decorated and Perpendicular work. The church provides substantial evidence for Bradford's prosperity as a centre of the woollen cloth industry, documented through its chantry endowments and monumental brasses. Its collection of monuments by major sculptors, medieval and Renaissance stained glass, and surviving fragments of chantry chapel decoration make it a work of considerable importance.