Holy Trinity Church, Leeds
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Holy Trinity Church lies on
Boar Lane Boar Lane is a street in the city centre of Leeds, in England. History The street originated in the Mediaeval period, running between the town's manor house and the main street of Briggate, its name believed to be a corruption of the word "borough ...
in
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
,
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
, England. It is a Grade I
listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
Church of England parish church in the ''Parish of Leeds St George'' in the Diocese of Leeds. It was built in 1722–7, though its
steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religi ...
dates from 1839. Holy Trinity is in the
evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
church tradition of the Church of England.


History and architecture

A 1714 proposal that a new church should be erected in central Leeds foundered for lack of subscribers, but, in 1722,
Lady Elizabeth Hastings Lady Elizabeth Hastings (19 April 1682 – 21 December 1739), also known as Lady Betty, was an English philanthropist, religious devotee and supporter of women's education. She was an intelligent and energetic woman, with a wide circle of conn ...
of
Ledston Ledston is a village and civil parish north of Castleford and east of Leeds in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The village is in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough. It had a population of 400 in 2001, which decreased slightly to 3 ...
, backed by leading merchants, revived the project, and the
foundation stone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...
of Holy Trinity was laid on 27 August 1722. The architect of the church was for some time believed to be William Halfpenny. However, it has subsequently been discovered that his designs for the church, for which he was paid £1 11s 6d on 8 May 1723, were never executed, and that the architect was
William Etty William Etty (10 March 1787 – 13 November 1849) was an English artist best known for his history paintings containing nude (art), nude figures. He was the first significant British painter of nudes and still lifes. Born in York, h ...
of
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
. A letter from William Cookson to
Ralph Thoresby Ralph Thoresby (16 August 1658 – 16 October 1725) was an antiquarian, who was born in Leeds and is widely credited with being the first historian of that city. Besides being a merchant, he was a nonconformist, fellow of the Royal Society, di ...
dated 15 May 1723, enclosed "a draught , the south front of our new church"; it was drawn by Mr. Etty of York, who has also made us a wooden modell for our workmen to go by." Etty had been paid nineteen guineas in April of the same year for the model, which survived into the nineteenth century. The west tower in Halfpenny's design was topped by a square, open
colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or cur ...
with an
obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
-shaped
spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...
. Etty did not envisage a spire, but a wooden one was later added by an unknown hand.
Thomas Dunham Whitaker Thomas Dunham Whitaker (1759–1821) was an English clergyman and topographer. Life Born at Raynham, Norfolk, on 8 June 1759, he was the son of William Whitaker (1730–1782), curate of Raynham, Norfolk, and his wife Lucy, daughter of Robert Du ...
, Vicar of
Whalley, Lancashire Whalley is a large village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley on the banks of the River Calder in Lancashire, England. It is overlooked by Whalley Nab, a large wooded hill over the river from the village. The population of the civil parish ...
, in his ''Loidis and Elmete'' (1816), remarked of this spire: "unquestionably one instance among many of private interference, by which the better judgment of real architects is often overruled, and for which they are unjustly considered as responsible." When the spire blew down in 1839, it was replaced by a taller stone
steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religi ...
of three diminishing stages (architect:
Robert Dennis Chantrell Robert Dennis Chantrell ( Newington, Surrey 14 January 1793 – Norwood, 4 January 1872) was an English church architect, best-known today for designing Leeds Parish Church, now Leeds Minster. Early life Chantrell was born in Newington, So ...
). In 2020 a major refurbishment of the building was completed and will soon be home to a midweek ministry for city centre workers. In 2021, Holy Trinity became part of the parish of St George's Church. The Revd Dr Joshua Cockayne is currently the City Centre Mission Lead at Holy Trinity.


See also

*
Grade I listed churches in West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. Created as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, it consists of five metropolitan boroughs, namely the City o ...
*
Listed buildings in Leeds (City and Hunslet Ward - northern area) City and Hunslet (ward), City and Hunslet is a Ward (electoral subdivision), ward in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It contains over 400 Listed building#England and Wales, listed buildings that are recor ...


References


External links


www.leedsminster.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leeds, Holy Trinity Church Holy Trinity Church Church of England church buildings in West Yorkshire Anglican Diocese of Leeds Churches completed in 1777 18th-century Church of England church buildings