Holy Trinity Church, Cowes is a

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 ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

located in

Cowes Cowes () is an England, English port, seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked b ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

History

The church was built in 1832 by the architect Benjamin Bramble. It has an unusual location at the edge of the sea. Situated on rising land immediately behind the

Royal Yacht Squadron The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted (with the appropriate warrant) to we ...

it is prominently displayed to passing yachtsmen and its tiered gardens afford marvelous views over the busy waters of the Solent. It is constructed of Isle of Wight yellow brick in the gothic style with 100 feet long nave walls, 12 external buttresses, and a castellated tower. Inside, the pillar less nave is remarkably light and airy. The Church was consecrated as ''a place of worship on Cowes foreshore for sailors and seafarers'' and it very soon acquired a Royal and yachting patronage which has continued from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

to the present day. The nave bears a number of memorial plaques honouring past members of the

and in the gardens stands the Fastnet Memorial. This rock sculpture was erected in memory of sailors who were killed in the storm which struck the 1979 Fastnet race. The church is

Grade II listed 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, H ...

, having first been listed in 1951.

Parish status

The church is grouped with St Mary the Virgin Church, Cowes.

Organ

The church has a three-manual organ by

Gray & Davison Gray & Davison was a large-scale manufacturer of church and cathedral pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboar ...

dating from 1884. A specification of the organ can be found on th
National Pipe Organ Register

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowes, Holy Trinity Church of England church buildings on the Isle of Wight Grade II listed churches on the Isle of Wight Cowes