Holy Trinity Church is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Blatherwycke,

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, England. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

as a designated Grade II*

listed building 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 ...

, and is under the care of the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

. It stands in the grounds of the demolished Blatherwycke Hall.

History

The church dates from the 11th century, and alterations and additions were made to it during the following three centuries. The tower was rebuilt in the early 17th century. The

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. Ov ...

was rebuilt in 1819 and later in the century the north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

and north chapel were also rebuilt. The church was declared redundant on 1 November 1976, and was

vested In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property is acquired by some person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vested right to an ...

in the Churches Conservation Trust on 25 April 1978.

Architecture

Exterior

Holy Trinity is constructed in

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

with

Collyweston stone slate The Collyweston Slater pub in Collyweston with a Collyweston slate roof Collyweston stone slate is a traditional roofing material found in central England. It is not a proper slate but a limestone found in narrow beds. It is considerably h ...

roofs. Its plan consists 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 ...

with a north aisle and a south porch, and a chancel with a north chapel, and a west tower. Its architecture includes

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

features, including the south doorway in the nave, the west doorway in the tower, a bell opening on the east side of the tower, the tower arch and the arcades. The tower is in three stages. The lowest stage contains a blocked, round-headed west door, and small windows on the north and south sides. There is a similar window on the west side in the middle stage. On each side of the top stage is a two-light bell opening. On the summit is a plain

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

with a single

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...

on the north face. In the south wall of the chancel are two three-light windows with Decorated

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support the ...

, and a corbel table with carved heads. The chancel roof is

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d with a finial at the apex and pinnacles at the corners. The 19th-century east window has four lights and is flanked by

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

es. The east window in the chapel also dates from the 19th century, and has three lights. There is a similar window in the north wall of the chapel, and a priest's door. The chapel is gabled with a finial at the apex. In the south wall of the nave, from the east, is a three-light arched window, a 17th-century two-light square-headed window, and a 12th-century semicircular-arched doorway. The west window of the aisle contains a 19th-century three-light window.

Interior

Between the nave and the north aisle is a two- bay arcade with semicircular arches. The arcade between the chancel and the chapel is in three bays and dates from about 1300. On the east wall of the chancel are

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four ring ...

-headed niches flanking the window, over which are

crocket A crocket (or croquet) is a small, independent decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The name derives from the diminutive of the French ''croc'', meaning "hook", due to the resemblance of crockets to a bishop's crosier. Description ...

ted gables, and there are smaller niches on each side between the larger niches and the window. Also in this wall is a blocked doorway to the left of the altar. In the north aisle is a

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman Ca ...

with a trefoil head. The font is square on a circular base. There are two pulpits in the church. The 19th-century stained glass in the east window is by

Clayton and Bell Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient British workshops of stained-glass windows during the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton (1827–1913) and Alfred Bell (1832 ...

, and that in the south wall of the chancel, dated 1921, is by Kempe and Co. The memorials include those to the Stafford and O'Brien families who lived at Blatherwyke Hall. There is also a wall memorial to the poet Thomas Randolph who died while visiting Blatherwyke Hall. The memorial was made by the sculptor

Nicholas Stone Nicholas Stone (1586/87 – 24 August 1647) was an English sculptor and architect. In 1619 he was appointed master-mason to James I, and in 1626 to Charles I. During his career he was the mason responsible for not only the building of ...

in about 1640, and was commissioned by Sir Christopher Hatton. The single- manual organ was built in 1908 by P. Conacher and Company of

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

References

External links