Holy Trinity Church, Blackburn

Holy Trinity Church, Blackburn

Holy Trinity Church, Blackburn, from the south
OS grid reference SD 688 284
Location Mount Pleasant,
Blackburn, Lancashire
Country England
Denomination Anglican
Website Churches Conservation Trust
History
Founder(s) Rev J. W. Whittaker
Dedication Holy Trinity
Consecrated 12 July 1846
Significant associated people Chad Varah
Architecture
Functional status Redundant
Heritage designation Grade II
Designated 13 May 1987
Architect(s) Edmund Sharpe
Architectural type Church
Style Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking 1837
Completed 1853
Construction cost £5,019
(£360,000 as of 2012)[1]
Closed 1981
Specifications
Materials Stone

Holy Trinity Church, Blackburn, stands in Mount Pleasant, Blackburn, Lancashire, England. It is a former Anglican parish church which is now redundant and under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.[2] It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.[3]

Contents

History

The church was built between 1837 and 1846 at a cost of £5,019 (£360,000 as of 2012).[1] It was a Commissioners' church, receiving a grant of £1,519 towards its cost from the Church Building Society.[4] The church was designed by the Lancaster architect Edmund Sharpe, the project being instigated by the Rev J. W. Whittaker, Sharpe's cousin. The foundation stone was laid on 11 October 1837 by Rev John Bird Sumner, then the Bishop of Chester. It opened for worship in January 1846, and was consecrated on 12 July of that year.[5] The completion of the tower was delayed due to lack of funds until 1853, and the intended spire was never built.[2][6] Between 1942 and 1949 the vicar of the church was Chad Varah, who later founded The Samaritans. In 1946 the side galleries were removed, retaining the west gallery.[5] Holy Trinity was declared redundant on 1 April 1981, and was vested in the Trust on 18 May 1984.[7]

Architecture

Exterior

Holy Trinity is designed in Gothic Revival style. Its plan consists of a three-bay nave with a clerestory, north and south lean-to aisles, north and south transepts rising to the full height of the nave, and a chancel.[3][6] The tower has three stages, with lancet windows in the lower stages and two twin-light louvered bell openings on each side in the top stage. At the summit is a plain parapet with a pinnacle at each corner.[3] All the windows are tall.[6]

Interior

Internally there are slim compound piers and a west gallery. The ceiling is flat and divided into 80 panels by 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 Queen Victoria. Elsewhere are the arms of the county, of bishops, and of benefactors of the church. The painters employed included William Birch, Benjamin West, John Brocklehurst and Samuel Driver.[6] 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.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Lawrence H. Officer (2010) "What Were the UK Earnings and Prices Then?" MeasuringWorth.
  2. ^ a b Holy Trinity Church, Blackburn,Lancashire, Churches Conservation Trust, http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/Ourchurches/Completelistofchurches/Holy-Trinity-Church-Blackburn-Lancashire/, retrieved 11 May 2011 
  3. ^ a b c "Holy Trinity Church, Mount Pleasant, Blackburn", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1223094, retrieved 11 May 2011 
  4. ^ Port, M. H. (2006), 600 New Churches: The Church Building Commission 1818-1856 (2nd ed.), Reading: Spire Books, p. 334, ISBN 978-1-904965-08-4 
  5. ^ a b Hughes, John M. (2010), Edmund Sharpe: Man of Lancaster, John M. Hughes, pp. 152, 157–161 
  6. ^ a b c d Hartwell, Clare; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2009) [1969], Lancashire: North, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 125, ISBN 978-0-300-12667-9 
  7. ^ (PDF) Diocese of Blackburn: All Schemes, Church Commissioners/Statistics, Church of England, 2010, p. 1, http://www.churchofengland.org/media/810334/blackburn%20-%20all%20schemes.pdf, retrieved 3 April 2011 
  8. ^ Lancashire, Blackburn, Holy Trinity, British Institute of Organ Studies, http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N01585, retrieved 24 March 2010