Church of the Holy Trinity

Church of the Holy Trinity

The Church of the Holy Trinity is built primarily in local fine-grained red sandstone rubble of purplish tone, with fine-grained grey limestone used especially in the west wall of the nave and tower, which are clearly of different construction from the rest of the building. The roofs are covered in red tiles. After a fire in 1949, the upper parts of most walls and areas around windows were rebuilt in rock-faced blocks of distinctive bright red sandstone laid in snecked courses. This later masonry was also used for the eastward extension of the north porch/vestry and was made deliberately distinctive. Dressings are mainly in Bath limestone, dating from the Victorian restoration; surviving medieval dressings are in sandstone and conglomerate.

The church comprises a nave with north and south aisles, a separate non-aligned chancel wider than the nave with north and south chancel aisles (chapels, though the south is now a boiler room), a massive tower at the west end of the south aisle with no external turret, north (now clergy vestry) and south porches, and a rood stair to the north of the north aisle.

From the south-west, the tower abuts and completely covers the west gable of the south aisle. The south wall has four bays plus two additional bays for the chancel chapel, which has a break in walling but not roof. The final bay, an 18th-century mortuary chapel now serving as a boiler house, is blind. Adjacent to the tower is a 2-light window with cusped heads. The south porch projects deeply, with a plain pointed arch, coped gable, and blind returns. Its 16th-century wagon roof survived both fires. The doorway is later Norman, of one chevron order with scallop capitals. The aisle then has two 3-light windows with stepped cusped heads, and the chapel has a third; these are Seddon restorations of Perpendicular originals. The east gable of the boiler room has a square-headed doorway with dripmould but no window above. The chancel gable features a very large 5-light Perpendicular window with remains of an earlier Early English triple lancet below, revealed during the Victorian restoration. This window is by Seddon but was reconstructed by Pace, as were all three gables at the east end. The chancel roof is more steeply pitched than the others, with a large stone and brick stack for the boiler room in the valley between it and the south chapel. The north chapel is set back from the chancel gable line and has a plain 13th-century lancet on the south return. The east gable of the north chapel has a 3-light window matching those on the south aisle. On the north wall, the chapel has one 3-light window and the aisle has two more, followed by the gabled north porch, similar to the south one but with a plain 4-light window on the east return by Pace, part of converting the porch to a vestry. No window stands to the right of this, nor on the west aisle gable where one has been blocked. This gable was not rebuilt after the fire, but the nave gable was; it contains a large 4-light Perpendicular window, again a Pace rebuilding of a Seddon original. Below this is a 16th-century doorway with a 3-centred arch.

The tower is very massive, in two stages, the first being very tall, rising above the nave ridge. This lower stage is mostly grey stone with red quoins. The north face has a lancet at high level; the south face has three rectangular stair windows. Each face has a small pointed window at the very top for the first belfry. A string course supports the slightly diminished upper stage, almost entirely red stone. This upper stage is Perpendicular, probably early 16th century. It has 2-light bell openings in the east and west faces and 3-light ones in the north and south faces; these appear medieval. Machicolations and a plain tall parapet, possibly rebuilt at some time, rise above. The tower is tall and extremely impressive, dominating the landscape from its position.

The churchyard contains good 18th and 19th-century monuments, of which two are individually listed.

The interior was completely reconstructed after the 1949 fire, as much stonework was too badly calcined for reuse. The arcades repeat their previous pattern and are said to consist of the previous ones encased in concrete. They have plain square bases rising to sharply pointed arches. All walls are plastered and painted. All furnishings are post-fire, mostly to a coordinated design by Pace, especially those in the sanctuary. The organ came from All Saints Church, Corn Street, Bristol. The east window by Harry J Stammers is a dramatic example of 1950s glass. Two bells are dated 1661, though space exists for a full peal.