Holy Trinity, Blackburn
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Holy Trinity Church is in Mount Pleasant,
Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...
,
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, England. It is a former
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...
which is now
redundant Redundancy or redundant may refer to: Language * Redundancy (linguistics), information that is expressed more than once Engineering and computer science * Data redundancy, database systems which have a field that is repeated in two or more table ...
and 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 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, ...
as a designated Grade II
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.


History

The church was built between 1837 and 1846 at a cost of £5,019 (equivalent to £ in ). It was a
Commissioners' church A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in England or Wales built with money voted by Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament as a result of the (58 Geo. 3. ...
, receiving a grant of £1,519 towards its cost from the Church Building Society. The church was designed by the
Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...
architect
Edmund Sharpe Edmund Sharpe (31 October 1809 – 8 May 1877) was an English architect, architectural historian, railway engineer and sanitary reformer. Born in Knutsford, Cheshire, he was educated first by his parents and then at schools locally and in ...
, the project being instigated by the Rev J. W. Whittaker, Sharpe's cousin and the vicar of Blackburn. The foundation stone was laid on 11 October 1837 by Rev John Bird Sumner, then the
Bishop of Chester The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York. The diocese extends across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the ...
. It opened for worship in January 1846, and was
consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...
on 12 July of that year. The church provided seating for 1,626 people. The completion of the tower was delayed due to lack of funds until 1853, and the intended spire was never built. In 1860 internal alterations were carried out under the direction of E. G. Paley, Sharpe's successor in the practice. The galleries were reconstructed and new stalls were added, providing 200 more seats. The organ was removed to a position behind the
pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...
. These alterations cost over £1,000 (equivalent to £ in ). Between 1942 and 1949 the vicar of the church was
Chad Varah Edward Chad Varah (12 November 1911 – 8 November 2007) was an English Anglican priest and social activist from England. In 1953, he founded the Samaritans, the world's first crisis hotline, to provide telephone support to those contemplating ...
, who later founded
The Samaritans Samaritans is a registered charitable organisation, charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope or at risk of suicide throughout the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, often thr ...
. In 1946 the side galleries were removed, retaining the west gallery. Holy Trinity was declared redundant on 1 April 1981, and was
vested In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property are acquired by some Legal person, person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vest ...
in the Trust on 18 May 1984.


Architecture


Exterior

Holy Trinity is designed in
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
style. Its plan consists of a three-
bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...
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 clerestory, north and south lean-to aisles, north and south transepts rising to the full height of the nave, and a chancel. The tower has three stages, with lancet windows in the lower stages and two twin-light Louvre (window), louvre style bell openings on each side in the top stage. At the summit is a plain parapet with a pinnacle at each corner. All the windows are tall. At the east ends of the transepts and the chancel, the window arrangement is unusual, consisting of 2-3-2 lights, a feature more commonly found in Germany.


Interior

Internally there are slim compound Pier (architecture), piers and a west gallery. The ceiling is flat and divided into 80 panelling, panels by Molding (decorative), moulded ribs. Each of the panels contains a painting of a coat of arms. At the centre of the crossing are the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, royal coat of arms of Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria. Elsewhere are the arms of the other monarchs, going back to Edward the Confessor, bishops and other churchmen (including Whittaker), and William Whewell (one of Sharpe's patrons). The painters employed included William Birch, Benjamin West, John Brocklehurst and Samuel Driver. The organ was moved from Hanover Square Rooms, London. It was rebuilt and restored by Gray and Davidson in 1851 and installed in the west gallery. At a later date it was moved to the southeast of the chancel and rebuilt. In 1937 it was rebuilt again and enlarged by Laycock and Bannister of Keighley.


Assessment

The church was designated as a Grade II listed church on 13 May 1987. It is Sharpe's largest and grandest church. Sharpe's biographer, John Hughes, describes it as his ''pièce de résistance''.


See also

*Listed buildings in Blackburn *List of architectural works by Edmund Sharpe *List of Commissioners' churches in Northeast and Northwest England *List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in Northern England


References and notes

Notes Citations Sources * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackburn, Holy Trinity Church Churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust Grade II listed churches in Lancashire Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Lancashire Churches completed in 1853 19th-century Church of England church buildings Diocese of Blackburn Edmund Sharpe buildings Commissioners' church buildings Churches in Blackburn, Holy Trinity Church Former Church of England church buildings Church of England church buildings in Lancashire