Holy Trinity Church, Warrington
Encyclopedia
Holy Trinity Church, Warrington is in the centre of the town of Warrington
, Cheshire
, England). The church has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade II* listed building. It is an active Anglican
parish church
in the diocese of Liverpool
, the archdeaconry of Warrington and the deanery of Warrington.
known as Trinity Chapel was built on the site in 1708 to relieve pressure on the parish church of St Elphin's
. It was built as an oratory
by Peter Legh of Lyme Park
. By the 1750s the chapel was too small for its congregation and in 1758 subscriptions were raised to build a new church, which was consecrated in 1760. The architecture is in the style of James Gibbs
, but he was ill at the time the church was built and it is thought it was designed by one of Gibbs' associates. In 1862 a west clock tower was added which was designed by W. P. Coxon, the Borough Surveyor; the tower belongs to the town rather than to the church. In 1974 the south aisle was re-designed to form the Garven Room, a servery, a vestry
and toilets. By the 1970s the roof had been damaged by wet and dry rot
, woodworm
and death watch beetle
and was replaced in 1978–79. By 1990 the pipe organ
was beyond repair and it has been replaced by a Makin electronic organ
. In 1988 the west end was remodelled, forming a lobby. In 1997 the east end was reordered, adding a room and extending the sanctuary area. In 1999 the clock was refurbished by Warrington Borough Council as a Millennium project.
style. Its front is constructed in sandstone
, and the rear in brick with stone dressings. The stonework at the front is rusticated
. The front aspect is in four stages; at the base is a rusticated plinth
, above which is a tier of windows with a Doric
doorcase at the east of the front. Then comes an upper tier of windows with Ionic
pilaster
s and at the top a cornice
and a plain parapet
. In the east wall is a Venetian window. The tower is in cast iron
and has octagonal and square stages with a slim ogee
-cap.
is a First World War memorial by E. Carter Preston
dated 1920, the communion table is in Rococo
style and is a survival from the first chapel. The font
is a baluster
dating from the 18th century with an Arts and Crafts
cover. The pulpit
(altered) dates from the 18th century and most of the box pew
s survive, albeit most with doors removed. On the west balcony wall is a painting of the Holy Family
, which is a copy dated from around 1776 by James Cranke
of an original by Andrea del Sarto
. The brass chandelier
formerly hung in St Stephen's Chapel
in the House of Commons
. It was rescued after a fire and presented to the church in 1801.
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England). The church has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade II* listed building. It is an active Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in the diocese of Liverpool
Anglican Diocese of Liverpool
The Diocese of Liverpool is a Church of England diocese based in Liverpool, covering Merseyside north of the River Mersey along with West Lancashire, Wigan in Greater Manchester, Warrington and Widnes in Cheshire...
, the archdeaconry of Warrington and the deanery of Warrington.
History
A chapel of easeChapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....
known as Trinity Chapel was built on the site in 1708 to relieve pressure on the parish church of St Elphin's
St Elphin's Church, Warrington
St Elphin's Church, Warrington is the parish church of the town of Warrington, Cheshire, England. The church has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Liverpool, the archdeaconry of Warrington and the...
. It was built as an oratory
Oratory (worship)
An oratory is a Christian room for prayer, from the Latin orare, to pray.-Catholic church:In the Roman Catholic Church, an oratory is a structure other than a parish church, set aside by ecclesiastical authority for prayer and the celebration of Mass...
by Peter Legh of Lyme Park
Lyme Park
Lyme Park is a large estate located south of Disley, Cheshire, England. It consists of a mansion house surrounded by formal gardens, in a deer park in the Peak District National Park...
. By the 1750s the chapel was too small for its congregation and in 1758 subscriptions were raised to build a new church, which was consecrated in 1760. The architecture is in the style of James Gibbs
James Gibbs
James Gibbs was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Scotland, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England...
, but he was ill at the time the church was built and it is thought it was designed by one of Gibbs' associates. In 1862 a west clock tower was added which was designed by W. P. Coxon, the Borough Surveyor; the tower belongs to the town rather than to the church. In 1974 the south aisle was re-designed to form the Garven Room, a servery, a vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
and toilets. By the 1970s the roof had been damaged by wet and dry rot
Dry rot
Dry rot refers to a type of wood decay caused by certain types of fungi, also known as True Dry Rot, that digests parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness...
, woodworm
Woodworm
A woodworm is not a specific species. It is the larval stage of certain woodboring beetles including:*Ambrosia beetles *Bark borer beetle / Waney edge borer *Common furniture beetle...
and death watch beetle
Death watch beetle
The death watch beetle, Xestobium rufovillosum, is a woodboring beetle. The adult beetle is long, while the xylophagous larvae are up to long....
and was replaced in 1978–79. By 1990 the pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
was beyond repair and it has been replaced by a Makin electronic organ
Electronic organ
An electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds....
. In 1988 the west end was remodelled, forming a lobby. In 1997 the east end was reordered, adding a room and extending the sanctuary area. In 1999 the clock was refurbished by Warrington Borough Council as a Millennium project.
Exterior
The church is built in GeorgianGeorgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
style. Its front is constructed in sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, and the rear in brick with stone dressings. The stonework at the front is rusticated
Rustication (architecture)
thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the [[Palazzo Medici-Riccardi]] in [[Florence]].In classical architecture rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar...
. The front aspect is in four stages; at the base is a rusticated plinth
Plinth
In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests. Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests...
, above which is a tier of windows with a Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
doorcase at the east of the front. Then comes an upper tier of windows with Ionic
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s and at the top a cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
and a plain parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
. In the east wall is a Venetian window. The tower is in cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
and has octagonal and square stages with a slim ogee
Ogee
An ogee is a curve , shaped somewhat like an S, consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite senses, so that the ends are parallel....
-cap.
Interior
Internally there are galleries on three sides. The reredosReredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
is a First World War memorial by E. Carter Preston
Edward Carter Preston
Edward Carter Preston was an English artist, born in Liverpool. He was a renowned sculptor and medallist. The artist designed the bronze memorial plaques presented to the families of British servicemen and women who died during the First World War...
dated 1920, the communion table is in Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
style and is a survival from the first chapel. The font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
is a baluster
Baluster
A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, one of various forms of spindle in woodwork, made of stone or wood and sometimes of metal, standing on a unifying footing, and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a...
dating from the 18th century with an Arts and Crafts
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
cover. The pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
(altered) dates from the 18th century and most of the box pew
Box pew
Box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th century.-History in England:...
s survive, albeit most with doors removed. On the west balcony wall is a painting of the Holy Family
Holy Family
The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and Saint Joseph.The Feast of the Holy Family is a liturgical celebration in the Roman Catholic Church in honor of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and his foster father, Saint Joseph, as a family...
, which is a copy dated from around 1776 by James Cranke
James Cranke
James Cranke was born at Little Urswick, near Barrow, and lived there for most of his life. He was trained as a plasterer, but became a self taught portrait painter and attempted to make his name in London c.1737-52. He attended St. Martin's Lane Academy and in 1744 he married a well known heiress...
of an original by Andrea del Sarto
Andrea del Sarto
Andrea del Sarto was an Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early Mannerism. Though highly regarded during his lifetime as an artist senza errori , his renown was eclipsed after his death by that of his contemporaries, Leonardo da Vinci,...
. The brass chandelier
Chandelier
A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...
formerly hung in St Stephen's Chapel
St Stephen's Chapel
St Stephen's Chapel was a chapel in the old Palace of Westminster. It was largely lost in the fire of 1834, but the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft in the crypt survived...
in the House of Commons
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
. It was rescued after a fire and presented to the church in 1801.