Holy Trinity Church, Halstead facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Holy Trinity Church, Halstead |
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Holy Trinity Church, Halstead, from the south
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| OS grid reference | TL 808 305 |
| Location | Halstead, Essex |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | Churches Conservation Trust |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Redundant |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 16 March 1978 |
| Architect(s) | George Gilbert Scott |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic Revival |
| Groundbreaking | 1843 |
| Completed | 1876 |
| Construction cost | £3,000 |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Brick with flint facing Gault brick and limestone dressings Roofs slated with ridge tiles |
Holy Trinity Church is a historic Anglican church in the town of Halstead, Essex, England. It is no longer used for regular church services. This church is listed as a special Grade II* historic building, meaning it's very important. A group called the Churches Conservation Trust now looks after it. You can find the church north of where Trinity Street (the A131 road) and Chapel Hill meet.
Contents
History of Holy Trinity Church
An older chapel, called Holy Trinity Chapel, was built on this spot around 1413. However, this first chapel was gone by the 1700s. The church you see today was built between 1843 and 1844. Most of the money for its construction came from Mrs. Mary Gee, who lived in Colne House. The church also received £500 from a special fund set up by the government in 1824.
The famous architect George Gilbert Scott designed the church. While the tall spire was being finished, it unfortunately collapsed. Luckily, only minor injuries happened to the builders. In 1876, a room for the organ was added. The church stopped being used for regular services in April 1987.
Church Architecture and Design
Outside the Church
Holy Trinity Church is built with brick, and its outer walls are covered with flint stones. It also has special light-colored bricks (called gault brick) and limestone for decoration. The roofs are covered with slate tiles, and there are special tiles along the top ridges.
The church has a main hall called a nave, with higher windows (a clerestory). There are also side sections called aisles to the north and south. It has a chancel (the area around the altar), a room for the clergy (a vestry) in the northeast, and a room for the organ. There's also a tall tower with a spire on the southwest side, which includes a porch.
This church is built in the Gothic Revival style, which was popular in the 1800s. It looks like churches from the 13th century, known as Early English Gothic style. The tower is very tall and has four levels. On its south side, you'll find a doorway. The second and third levels have single, narrow windows, with decorative arches on either side. The third level also has a quatrefoil (a four-leaf shape) opening on each side. The openings for the bells have two narrow windows, with fake arches next to them.
On top of the tower is a broach spire (a pyramid-shaped spire that rises from a square base). It has two levels of small windows called lucarnes. At the east end of the church, there's a round window that looks like a wheel, with spokes coming from the center. Below this are three tall, narrow windows of the same height. All corners of the church have strong supports called buttresses. The sides of the aisles are divided into sections by buttresses, and each section has a narrow window. Along the clerestory (the upper part of the nave), there are decorative arches with alternating fake arches and narrow windows. At the west end, there's a doorway, with three narrow windows above it, and then a single narrow window even higher up.
Inside the Church
The walls inside Holy Trinity Church are plastered and painted white. Between the main hall (nave) and the side sections (aisles) on each side, there are six arches. These arches are supported by columns that are alternately round and octagonal. The seats in the nave and aisles, and likely the baptismal font (a large bowl for baptisms) with its square bowl on an eight-sided base, are from when the church was first built.
The lectern (a stand for reading) was added in 1906, and the choir stalls (seats for the choir) were put in place in 1913. The wooden panels in the chancel and the pulpit (where sermons are given) were added in the early 1900s. At the east end of the south aisle, there's a special screen added in 1922 to remember people.
The beautiful stained glass in the west window was made in 1851 by Charles Edmund Clutterbuck. The east window, made in 1887, is by Burlison and Grylls. The east window in the south aisle, from 1922, is by J. C. N. Bewsey. Three other windows in the south aisle, made between 1931 and 1932, are by A. K. Nicholson.
The church's organ, which has three keyboards (called manuals), was first made in 1858. In 1878, a company named E. W. Norman either rebuilt it or provided a new one. This organ was later fixed up in 1909 by Binns, again around 1970 by Cedric Arnold, Williamson & Hyatt, and at a later time by Bishop and Son.
See also
