Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic church in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, London W6. Its building is

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History and architecture

Cardinal Wiseman donated the land on which to build the church, and on 6 May 1851 he laid the foundation stone. It is built of Kentish ragstone and cost about £20,000 to complete. Helen, Countess Tasker, a benefactor of several Roman Catholic church and school projects, gave £4,000. The church was opened on 26 July 1853. The architect was

William Wardell William Wilkinson Wardell (1823–1899) was a civil engineer and architect, notable not only for his work in Australia, the country to which he emigrated in 1858, but for a successful career as a surveyor and ecclesiastical architect in En ...

, who designed the church in a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

rendition of Decorated Gothic. It has north and south side

aisles Aisles is a six-piece progressive rock band originally from Santiago, Chile. The group was formed in 2001 by brothers Germán (guitar) and Luis Vergara (keyboards), and childhood friend Rodrigo Sepúlveda (guitar). Later on, it expanded to incl ...

and the nave is lit by a

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

. The nave and chancel have arch-braced roofs. The building has stained glass windows by John Hardman. From the beginning, Holy Trinity served a growing Catholic community in the area, initially boosted by the Irish mass migrations to Great Britain. In 1862 a school for girls and infants was built behind the church to designs by Joseph John Scoles. In 1894 the children were transferred to the nearby Sacred Heart School and the former school building became the parish rooms. The church has a southwest tower, with a spire that was added later. Sources disagree as to whether the spire was added in 1867 or 1871. Most sources agree that it was designed by

Joseph Hansom Joseph Aloysius Hansom (26 October 1803 – 29 June 1882) was a British architect working principally in the Gothic Revival style. He invented the Hansom cab and founded the eminent architectural journal, ''The Builder'', in 1843. Career Ha ...

, although Nikolaus Pevsner originally attributed it to his brother

Charles Francis Hansom Charles Francis Hansom (27 July 1817 – 30 November 1888) was a prominent Roman Catholic Victorian architect who primarily designed in the Gothic Revival style. Career He was born of a Roman Catholic family in York. He was the brother of Jose ...

. The present presbytery was completed in 1964.

Holy Trinity today

Today Holy Trinity serves an ethnically diverse parish as the demographics of the parish change. There is a sizable French-speaking population because the church is near the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in nearby South Kensington. It is also used by the

Syriac Catholic Church The Syriac Catholic Church ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝܬܐ, ʿĪṯo Suryayṯo Qaṯolīqayṯo, ar, الكنيسة السريانية الكاثوليكية) is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic Christianity ...

, who hold Mass here in Arabic and Aramaic on Sunday afternoons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammersmith, Holy Trinity 1851 establishments in England 1853 in London 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Buildings by Joseph Hansom Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster Gothic Revival church buildings in London

Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

Grade II* listed churches in London Grade II* listed Roman Catholic churches in England Limestone churches Roman Catholic churches completed in 1853

Syriac Catholic church buildings William Wardell church buildings

History and architecture

Holy Trinity today

See also

References