Holy Trinity Church is a
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
church in
Salway Ash
Salway Ash (also spelt Salwayash) is a village in Dorset, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Cel ...
,
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
, England. The church was designed by George Crickmay and built in 1887–89. It now forms part of the Beaminster Area Team Ministry.
History
Holy Trinity was built as a
chapel of ease
A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, 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.
Often a chapel of ea ...
to the parish church of St Mary in
Netherbury
Netherbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It lies within the Dorset Council administrative area, by the small River Brit, south of Beaminster and north of Bridport. The A3066 road connecting those towns lies 0. ...
to serve the 500 inhabitants of both Salway Ash and Bowood.
It replaced an earlier chapel of ease which was established through the efforts of the vicar of Netherbury and
Beaminster
Beaminster ( ) is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated in the Dorset Council administrative area approximately northwest of the county town Dorchester. It is sited in a bowl-shaped valley near the source of the small River Br ...
, Rev. William Bookland, and opened on 24 October 1833. In 1879, it was converted into a schoolroom, which led the then-rector of Netherbury, Rev. W. Gildea, to begin efforts towards erecting a new church in the village.
The 1833 church continues to form part of Salway Ash Primary School today.
Plans for the new church were drawn up by George Crickmay of the
Weymouth and
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
architects Messrs. Crickmay and Sons, with accommodation for 220 people. A plot of land opposite the 1833 church was purchased from the Barnicott family for £100. Much of the estimated £2,000 cost to build the church was raised by subscription. Substantial contributions were received by Lady Oglander of Parnham Park and Lord Eldon, who both donated £100, while the
Bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...
, Mr. R. Williams and Rev. Gildea donated £50 each.
The Salisbury Diocesan Church Building Association granted £80 in April 1887.
The foundation stone was laid by Mrs. Reeves on 4 August 1887, with Rev. Gildea officiating the ceremony. By this time, £1,200 had been raised towards the building fund. For the church's construction, Rev. Gildea acted as clerk of the works.
No general contractor was hired; instead the Committee engaged local workmen directly where required. Major Groves provided £25 worth of hauling as part of the work and a number of farmers of the parish provided approximately £5 worth each. Rev. Gildea made a number of the church's fittings himself.
The completed church was consecrated by the Bishop of Salisbury, the Right Rev.
John Wordsworth
John Wordsworth (1843–1911) was an English Anglican bishop and classical scholar. He was Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford from 1883 to 1885, and Bishop of Salisbury from 1885 to 1911.
Life
H ...
, on 16 January 1890. £50 of debt was left to clear at the time of the consecration.
In 1895, stained glass was installed in the three-light east window in memory of Rev. William James Catton, the assistant priest of the parish, who died suddenly in 1892. The glass was gifted by Charlotte Catton (Rev. Catton's mother) and Angie Gildea. The dedication service was conducted by Rev. Gildea with assistance from the
Archdeacon of Dorset
The Archdeacon of Dorset is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Salisbury, England. He or she is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within the four area deaneries: Purbeck, Poole, Wimborne, and Milto ...
, Rev.
Francis Sowter, and the curate, Rev. R. Pearce, in July 1895.
A new organ was installed at the church in 1904 and dedicated by Rev. Gildea on 12 May 1904. It was built by the Sweetland Organ Company of
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
and cost approximately £130. The church underwent repair and redecoration work in c. 1971.
Architecture
Holy Trinity is built of
Waddon Hill
Waddon Hill is a hill and the site of an old Roman fort near Beaminster, in the English county of Dorset. The name ''Waddon'' is from the Old English meaning ''wheat hill''.
The Wessex Ridgeway passes to the north of the hill summit and Roman ...
stone with
Hamstone
Hamstone is the name given to a honey-coloured building stone from Ham Hill, Somerset, England. It is a well-cemented medium to coarse grained limestone characterised by marked bedding planes of clay inclusions and less well-cemented material w ...
dressings and roofs covered with
Broseley
Broseley is a market town in Shropshire, England, with a population of 4,929 at the 2011 Census and an estimate of 5,022 in 2019. The River Severn flows to its north and east. The first The Iron Bridge, iron bridge in the world was built in 17 ...
tiles. The internal walls are lined with a mixture of white
Poole
Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...
, red
Fareham
Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufact ...
and brown
Broadmayne
Broadmayne is a village in the English county of Dorset. It lies two miles south-east of the county town Dorchester. The A352 main road between Dorchester (from Sherborne) and Wareham passes through the village. In the 2001 Census the popula ...
brickwork. The church is made up of a
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
,
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
Ove ...
, south porch and north
vestry
A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
with organ chamber. There is a
bell turret containing a single bell on the west end of the roof. The north and south sides of the nave have coupled lancet windows. There is a four-light lancet window at the church's west end and a three-light lancet window at the east end. Inside the church, the passages are laid with sanded pennant paving, and the chancel and sacrarium with encaustic tiles. Under the seating, the floor is laid with solid blocks of wood. The sacrarium is raised above the nave by five steps made from blue pennant stone. The roofwork is made from pitch pine. The iron work of the doors was made by Messrs. Newman of Beaminster.
Rev. Gildea made a number of fittings himself, including the oak pulpit, altar table, altar rails,
reredos
A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images.
The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...
, lectern and oak choir stalls. Mrs. Gundry of Slape Manor carved the central panel on the pulpit, and the carving work of the prayer desk and reredos was carried out by Miss Grimston of Hatchlands. The reredos' panels were painted by Miss Hester Gildea. The benches in the nave are of pitch pine. A number of gifts were received for the church during its construction, including a brass pulpit and desk by Mr. H. Symes. A brass chandelier was gifted by the Bishop and Canon Codd in addition to their subscriptions towards the building fund. Rev. E. Butcher gifted the foot rest of polished
Bothenhampton
Bothenhampton is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, just outside the town of Bridport. It is separated from the town only by the River Asker and the A35 Bridport by-pass. In the 2011 census the civil parish—which includes ...
stone, Mr. and Mrs. Gundry gifted the encaustic tiling for the sacrarium and chancel, and Mr. and Miss Edwards gifted the font ewer.
The stained glass of the central east window features a representation of
Jesus on the Cross with
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...
below. The right window depicts
the Three Marys
The Three Marys (also spelled Maries) are women mentioned in the canonical gospels' narratives of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, several of whom were, or have been considered by Christian tradition, to have been named Mary (the most co ...
and the left window depicts Saint John.
References
External links
Beaminster Area Team Ministry website{{commonscat, Holy Trinity Church, Salway Ash
Church of England church buildings in Dorset
1889 establishments in England
Churches completed in 1889