The Church of the Holy Trinity is the

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 ...

for

Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs. The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay towar ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. The building has been a

Grade I 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 ...

listed building since 1951 and comes under the

Diocese of Exeter The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering the county of Devon. It is one of the largest dioceses in England. The Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter is the seat of the diocesan Bishop of Exeter. It is part of the Provinc ...

Architecture

$Norman font Holy Trinity Ilfracombe$ $Elizabethan pulpit Holy Trinity Ilfracombe$ Standing on the site of a

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

church, the Norman church was enlarged to its present size in 1322, and the tower was incorporated inside the building. Built of mostly random rubble slate walls, some rendered, with limestone dressings, the church has one of the finest wagon-roofs in the West Country dating from the 15th-century which is richly carved with bosses, angels, figures and five Green Men in a row. At the East end of the nave above the former

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

is a ''ceilure'' or Glory, with three bays enriched by cross-ribs and much decoration. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

ceiling was modernized by

George Fellowes Prynne George Halford Fellowes Prynne (1853–1927) was a Victorian and Edwardian English church architect. Part of the High Church school of Gothic Revival Architecture, Prynne's work can be found across Southern England. Biography Early life George H ...

in 1899. The square

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

is Norman of about 1160 and is decorated with three rosettes and ears of wheat on each face with a scalloped underside. It was moved to its present position in 1861 during the 1861-1864 restoration by John Hayward. The

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

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 ...

has arched columns and panels containing floral motifs. The

lychgate A lychgate (from Old English ''līc'', corpse) or resurrection gate is a covered gateway found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard. Examples also exist outside the British Isles in places such as Newfoundland, the ...

and the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

date from 1894 and are by Henry Wilson, the best pupil of J. D. Sedding.''The Pilgrim's Guide to Devon's Churches'', Cloister Books (2008) pg 103

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

, ''The Buildings of England: North Devon'', Penguin Books (1952) pgs 104-106 $Glory ceiling Holy Trinity Ilfracombe$ $Tower base Holy Trinity Ilfracombe$ The first recorded Rector was Oliver de Tracey in 1263, which is also the approximate date of the first stone building on the site. Little remains of this church, ordered to be enlarged in 1321 by

Walter de Stapledon Walter Stapeldon (died 15 October 1326) was an English cleric and administrator who was Bishop of Exeter from 1308 and twice served as Lord High Treasurer of England, in 1320 and from 1322 to 1325. He founded what became Exeter College, Oxford ...

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The current bishop is Mike Harrison (bishop), Mike Harrison, since 2024. From the first bishop until the sixteent ...

when the nave was lengthened and the aisles added. The tower is 14th-century and is the oldest part of the building: it is low, single stage and very plain with a pointed north door, a lancet window and a low unmoulded arch opening into the

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 ...

. It is located in a north transeptal position, frequent in early North Devon churches. The north and south aisles are separated from the nave and

by eight bays of chamfered arches, four on each side on stunted octagonal piers; these are mid-to late 14th-century, while 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. Lutherans and Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a pisci ...

of the same date can be found in the chancel. The nave roof rests on stone corbels representing mythical beasts. The chapel in the north of the chancel is early 15th-century, while the aisle windows are from the

Perpendicular Period Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-c ...

. In the early 15th-century a North chapel was added. The stained glass is 19th-century and includes examples by Kempe (window in North aisle); Hardman (East window); Willement (south aisle East window) and Ballantyne (Stabb Memorial window). The church has numerous monuments. There is a small brass cross which commemorates six men of the parish who died during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In the churchyard is buried Anna Catherine Parnell, the Irish nationalist and younger sister of

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule Leag ...

. Also in the churchyard are buried 19 British servicemen who died during

and whose graves are maintained by the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

(CWGC) along with those of two Belgian Foreign Nationals.Ilfracombe (Holy Trinity) Churchyard
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database

References

External links

Holy Trinity Church, Ilfracombe - A Church Near You
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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, ...

website
Holy Trinity Church, Ilfracombe - 'Visit Ilfracombe' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilfracombe, Holy Trinity

Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

Church of England church buildings in Devon 12th-century church buildings in England 14th-century church buildings in England 15th-century church buildings in England Grade I listed churches in Devon