Holy Trinity Church lies on

Boar Lane Boar Lane is a street in the city centre of Leeds, in England. History The street originated in the Medieval period, running between the town's manor house and the main street of Briggate, its name believed to be a corruption of the word "boroug ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. It is a Grade I listed

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

in the ''Parish of Leeds St George'' in the Diocese of Leeds. It was built in 1722–7, though its

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a relig ...

dates from 1839. Holy Trinity is in the

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

church tradition of the Church of England.

History and architecture

A 1714 proposal that a new church should be erected in central Leeds foundered for lack of subscribers, but, in 1722,

Lady Elizabeth Hastings Lady Elizabeth Hastings (19 April 1682 – 21 December 1739), also known as Lady Betty, was an English philanthropist, religious devotee and supporter of women's education. She was an intelligent and energetic woman, with a wide circle of conn ...

Ledston Ledston (historically also spelt Ledstone) is a village in the Leeds metropolitan borough, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. It is north of Castleford and east of Leeds. The parish had a population of 400 in 2001, which decreased sl ...

, backed by leading merchants, revived the project, and the

foundation stone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

of Holy Trinity was laid on 27 August 1722. The architect of the church was for some time believed to be

William Halfpenny William Halfpenny (active 1723–1755) was an English architect and builder in the first half of the 18th century, and prolific author of builder's pattern books. In some of his publications he described himself as "architect and carpenter ...

. However, it has subsequently been discovered that his designs for the church, for which he was paid £1 11s 6d on 8 May 1723, were never executed, and that the architect was

William Etty William Etty (10 March 1787 – 13 November 1849) was an English artist best known for his history paintings containing nude figures. He was the first significant British painter of nudes and still lifes. Born in York, he left sch ...

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. A letter from William Cookson to

Ralph Thoresby Ralph Thoresby (16 August 1658 – 16 October 1725) was an antiquarian, who was born in Leeds and is widely credited with being the first historian of that city. Besides being a merchant, he was a nonconformist, fellow of the Royal Society, dia ...

dated 15 May 1723, enclosed "a draught , the south front of our new church"; it was drawn by Mr. Etty of York, who has also made us a wooden model for our workmen to go by." Etty had been paid nineteen

guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

s in April of the same year for the model, which survived into the nineteenth century. The west tower in Halfpenny's design was topped by a square, open

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

with an

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

-shaped

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

. Etty did not envisage a spire, but a wooden one was later added by an unknown hand.

Thomas Dunham Whitaker Thomas Dunham Whitaker (8 June 1759 – 18 December 1821) was an English clergyman and topographer who was Vicar of Whalley, Lancashire, Whalley, from 1809 and Blackburn (ancient parish), Blackburn, from 1818. He undertook landscape improvements ...

, Vicar of

Whalley, Lancashire Whalley is a large village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley on the banks of the River Calder in Lancashire, England. It is overlooked by Whalley Nab, a large wooded hill over the river from the village. The population of the civil parish ...

, in his ''Loidis and Elmete'' (1816), remarked of this spire: "unquestionably one instance among many of private interference, by which the better judgment of real architects is often overruled, and for which they are unjustly considered as responsible." When the spire blew down in 1839, it was replaced by a taller stone

of three diminishing stages (architect:

Robert Dennis Chantrell Robert Dennis Chantrell (14 January 1793 – 4 January 1872) was an English church architect, best-known today for designing Leeds Parish Church, now Leeds Minster. Early life Chantrell was born in Newington, Southwark, London. His father, ...

). In 2020 a major refurbishment of the building was completed to be home to a midweek ministry for city centre workers. In 2021, St George's Church took on responsibility for the City Centre Mission based at Holy Trinity. The Revd Josh Lees is currently the Vicar at Holy Trinity. Holy Trinity works as a team with two other churches: St George's and

St Augustine's Church, Wrangthorn St Augustine's Church, Wrangthorn, usually referred to as simply Wrangthorn, is the church of the parish of Woodhouse and Wrangthorn, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is near Hyde Park, Leeds, Hyde Park Corner at the top of Woodhouse Moor. It ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leeds, Holy Trinity Church

Holy Trinity Church 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 ...

Church of England church buildings in West Yorkshire Anglican Diocese of Leeds Churches completed in 1777 18th-century Church of England church buildings

History and architecture

See also

References

External links