Holy Trinity Church, Wensley Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Holy Trinity Church, Wensley
Holy Trinity Church, Wensley, from the northeast
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OS grid reference	SE092895
Location	Wensley, North Yorkshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Churches Conservation Trust
History
Dedication	Holy Trinity
Architecture
Functional status	Redundant
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic
Groundbreaking	Mid-13th century
Completed	1719
Specifications
Materials	Stone rubble with sandstone ashlar dressings

Holy Trinity Church is a very old and special Anglican church in the village of Wensley, England. It's not used for regular church services anymore, but it's cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust. This means it's kept safe and open for people to visit and learn about its long history. Many experts, like Alec Clifton-Taylor, have called it one of the 'best' parish churches in England. It's also a Grade I listed building, which is the highest level of protection for historic places.

History of Holy Trinity Church
- Building Changes Over Time
Architecture and Features
- Outside the Church
  - The Tower
  - Porches and Windows
- Inside the Church
  - Chancel and Nave Features
  - Other Interesting Items
Images for kids
See also

History of Holy Trinity Church

The church you see today was mostly built around the middle of the 13th century (that's the 1200s!). It was actually built on top of an even older church from the 8th century, which was a Saxon church. Over the years, especially in the 14th and 15th centuries, parts of the church were changed or added. The tall tower was built much later, in 1719.

For hundreds of years, starting in the 1300s, the powerful Scrope family, who owned Bolton Castle nearby, helped support Holy Trinity Church.

Building Changes Over Time

The church building has changed a lot over the centuries. Here are some key dates:

Around 1240: The main part of the church, including the south wall of the chancel (the area around the altar), was built. The chancel was the same size as it is today.
Around 1330: The side aisles were rebuilt, and the arches connecting them to the main part of the church were made taller.
15th Century: The north vestry (a room for clergy), with a priest's room above it, and the north and south porches were added.
18th Century: The tower and the west ends of the aisles were rebuilt.

In the early 1800s, special enclosed seats called box pews were added, but the church still kept its medieval look. A pipe organ was installed in 1885. The church was repaired and cleaned in 1927. During this work, old wall paintings showing Jacob and Esau were found and restored. The church reopened in January 1928.

When the Churches Conservation Trust took over the church in 2006, they spent about £125,000 on important repairs. Even though it's not used for regular services, the church is still open for visitors. Sometimes, special events like flower festivals, christenings, weddings, and funerals are held there. In 2021, the church received money from the government's Culture Recovery Fund to help with its upkeep.

Architecture and Features

Holy Trinity Church is famous for both its design and the interesting things inside it.

Outside the Church

The church tower

The church is built from stone rubble (rough stones) with sandstone ashlar (smooth, cut stones) for details. The roof is made of Welsh slate. You can even see some carved Saxon stones built into the walls!

The church has a nave (the main part), north and south aisles (side sections), and north and south porches. It also has a chancel with a north vestry, and a tall tower at the west end.

The Tower

The tower has three main sections. The bottom section has strong buttresses (supports) and a two-light window (a window with two parts). On the south side, there's a small stair turret. The clock on the tower was made in 1899. The middle section has single windows and a clock on the north side. The top section has two-light openings for the bells. At the very top, there's a plain parapet (a low wall) with small pointed decorations called obelisks at the corners.

Porches and Windows

The south aisle has a two-light window. The south porch, built in the 15th century, has a pointed roof and diagonal buttresses. Above its entrance, there's a sundial from 1846. Inside, you'll find stone benches. The north porch is even older, from the 14th century, and also has a pointed roof and buttresses. Above its doorway are coats of arms, and it also has stone benches inside.

On the south side of the church, there are buttresses and three double lancet windows (tall, narrow windows). The middle one is above a special door for the priest. The east window has five lights, and there's a cross on the east gable (the triangular part of the wall). The vestry on the north side has two floors, each with a two-light window.

Inside the church, there's a large arch leading to the tower, another arch leading to the chancel, and a three-bay arcade (a row of arches). All these date from the early 14th century.

Inside the Church

The inside of Holy Trinity Church is just as interesting as the outside, especially its old furnishings.

Chancel and Nave Features

In the chancel, there's a piscina (a basin for washing sacred vessels) with a special three-lobed shape. On the chancel floor, you can see two brass memorials. The choir stalls have carved ends from 1527, and the communion rail is from the 17th century.

In the tower arch, there's a 15th-century rood screen (a carved screen that used to separate the nave from the chancel). The nave has the Scrope family's special pew with a 17th-century front. At the back, there's a carved screen from the early 16th century that was moved from Easby Abbey after the Dissolution of the Monasteries (when monasteries were closed).

The nave also has 17th-century benches and 18th-century box pews. You'll see an 18th-century double-decker pulpit (where sermons are given) and an eight-sided font from 1662. The font has a wooden cover topped with a pineapple decoration. On the walls, there are memorials, and on the north wall, you can see parts of 14th-century medieval wall paintings that were found in the late 1920s. The east window of the south aisle has pieces of medieval stained glass.

Other Interesting Items

Inside the church, there's a royal coat of arms from 1701 and the standard (flag) of the Loyal Dales Volunteers. There's also a wooden cupboard that some people believe is a reliquary (a container for holy relics) said to hold remains of Saint Agatha.

The church has a three-manual organ, built in 1883. It was later repaired. There are also three bells in the tower. Two of them were made in 1725, and the third was made in 1847 by the famous Whitechapel Bell Foundry.