Holy Trinity Church, Sunderland
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Holy Trinity Church (sometimes Church of the Holy Trinity or Sunderland Parish Church) is an
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 ...
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
building in
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
,
Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...
formerly the area's parish church. It was opened in 1719 as the church for the newly created Parish of Sunderland, and served the local community until dwindling numbers forced its closure in 1988. It has since been in the ownership 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 ...
who have preserved the space and converted it into a community cultural hub.


History


Origins

In 1712, with the port of Sunderland growing rapidly, the local St. Michael's church at Bishopwearmouth was rapidly becoming too small to serve the growing population. Some local merchants came together and started an appeal to build a new church in the east end of the city, and a site on the town moor was chosen. Because of the rapid growth of the population, it was also decided that a new parish should be created, and on 9 March 1719 an act of
parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
was passed to create the Parish of Sunderland (thus the church is sometimes referred to as Sunderland Parish Church). The
Bishop of Durham The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...
of the time, Nathaniel Crew gave his consent, as did Reverend James Bowes D.D.


Design

The architect of the original church is not known for certain, although there are reports of involvement from William Eddy (a well-known local architect) and Daniel Newcombe, who would be appointed the first rector of the church. The building itself has a
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
style, brick built and with stone mouldings surrounding the doors and windows. The original building was without apse, although this would later be added (see below), and from the outside is described by Whellan as "plain and unprepossessing". Inside, the building is described by Whellan as "handsome", with the aisles of pews being separated from the central nave by seven pillars on each side, each being capped with a corinthian-style capital. His full description reads:


Opening

Following the start of groundwork in 1718, the church building was completed the next year, such that on 5 September 1719 the consecration of the premises took place; prior to this, however, on 2 June 1719, the first recorded marriage took place at the church, of Jonathan Chambers and Elizabeth Hutchinson.


1700s

In 1735, Daniel Newcombe, the rector of the church who almost certainly had been involved in the original design of the building, decided to add an apse to the eastern end. This would give the building a chancel, which it had lacked until this point. The apse was large, near circular, and featuring a large venetian window; it still stands as part of the building today. Newcombe paid for the extension with his own money.


1800s

The church started the nineteenth century with a new roof in 1803, which included its raising so that a new gallery could be added. The windows were reglazed in the same year. In 1854 the last burial in the graveyard took place. A Venetian stained-glass window was added to the east side of the church in 1857. Manufactured by James Hartley's glassworks in Sunderland, it depicts the Ascension.


Jack Crawford Memorial

Jack Crawford, the "Hero of Camperdown", was a sailor aboard ''HMS Venerable'' in 1797, during the Battle of Camperdown. ''Venerable'' took fire damaging its mast, which lowered the flag of Admiral Duncan – recognised as the sign of surrender – so Crawford scaled the remnants of the mast and nailed the Admiral's flag back to the top. Crawford was well celebrated for his act of heroism, and the people of Sunderland awarded him a silver star. In the coming years, however, he fell into poverty and was killed by a cholera outbreak in 1831. In 1888, Holy Trinity Church erected a headstone in its graveyard in his honour.This was followed two years later by a statue of commemoration in Mowbray Park.


1900s

The 1900s started with the church being re-glazed, before community life began to degrade and the number of churchgoers in the east end of Sunderland diminished.


Closure

The congregation continued to diminish throughout the 20th century, until on 26 June 1988 the church was forced to close, and transferred to the Redundant Churches Fund (now known as 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 ...
). The building itself needed extensive and costly repairs, and indeed to this day the Trust are still undertaking repairs. The nearby church caretaker's cottage (formerly
Donnison School Donnison School (initially known as The Girls' Free School) is an English former school in the East End neighbourhood of Sunderland. It opened in 1798 to provide a free education to girls, funded by a bequest from Elizabeth Donnison. In the ea ...
, which closed at some point between 1905-1910) was
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 ...
in 1978, and became the Donnison School Heritage and Education Centre in 2007.


Present day

No longer in use as a place of worship, the building these days goes by the name of ''Seventeen Nineteen'', a community venue and cultural arts centre.


See also

*
Grade I listed buildings in Tyne and Wear There are 75 Grade I listed buildings in Tyne and Wear, England. In England and Wales the authority for listing is granted by the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and is administered by English Heritage, an agency o ...
*
List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in Northern England The Churches Conservation Trust, which was initially known as the Redundant Churches Fund, is a charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk, those that have been made redundant by the Church of England. The Trust was establishe ...


Notes


References

{{Listed buildings in the City of Sunderland Churches in the City of Sunderland Grade I listed churches in Tyne and Wear Sunderland, Holy Trinity Church Sunderland, Holy Trinity Church Sunderland