HISTORY
Holy Trinity Church, a Grade II* listed building, was designed by Henry Woodyer in a neo-Gothic style and opened in 1854. By the mid 19th century, the population of Winchester was growing rapidly, and Holy Trinity was the second church to be built in the city within ten years (the Grade II listed St Thomas's in Southgate Street, by EW Elmslie, dates from 1845-6). The then new church was built on a plot named Whitebread Mead and was overlooked to the west by the building and grounds of the County Hospital in Parchment Street. Very soon, a row of terrace houses and the parish school would be erected and named after the church.
Work on the site started in February 1852 and the church was consecrated in July 1854. The cost of the site was £900 and of the building £4500, raised by subscription. The church seated 900, 600 of which were free. The endowment of £333 6s 8d was paid by the first incumbent, the Rev GA Seymour. The living was a perpetual curacy in the gift of the Bishop of Winchester of the value of £100 per annum.
Henry Woodyer (1815-96), the architect, having considerable private means, was a 'gentleman-architect' who based himself at Grafham, Surrey. He was pupil of the great church architect William Butterfield and established a strong reputation himself for his church work. The greatest concentration of his work is in Surrey and the adjacent counties. His masterpiece is often considered to be Dorking parish church.
The exterior of Holy Trinity was faced with flint, and the interior aisle walls were decorated with paintings of the Stations of the Cross by Joseph Pippett, added in the 1880s. Sadly, these were painted over in the 1970s with a thin lime wash and have now all but disappeared. They were replaced by some beautiful carved Stations later in the 20th century.
The painting of Christ in Majesty, far above the high altar at the eastern end of the Sanctuary, escaped over-painting, though further down the east wall the paintings of Moses and Elias were obliterated. However, both are gradually re-appearing through the paint.
The arcades have octagonal piers with moulded capitals and arches with unusual detail above the capitals. During the 1880s the open timber chancel screen (surmounted by a cross only, the figures being added later), the octagonal timber pulpit with open traceried sides on a wineglass base on timber shafts and the choir screens were erected. The aisle screen at the entrances to the side chapels are more recent, the ornamentations being larger than those on the choir screens and less deeply carved. The octagonal stone font, with its boldly-carved sides with interlace and flamboyant motifs also dates from the 1880s.
The stained glass is by Clayton and Bell, and was installed in the late 1860s. It comprises a series of Old Testament themes on the north side (beginning with the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, at the west end) and a series of New Testament themes on the south side (including the Parable of the Good Samaritan, in the Sacred heart Chapel, and the Parable of the Publican and Sinner, at the west end of the south wall). The glass contains much delicate detail; and the colouring is of outstanding quality.
The Lady Chapel was re-ordered by Ninian Comper in the late 1940s, using red hangings and frontal. The reredos is a Nativity with the Agnus Dei and the pelican, both emblems of sacrifice, in the medallions on either side. The candlesticks and candelabra are also by Comper. In the alcove, formerly a doorway, rests the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham and on the pillar opposite hangs an oil of the Madonna and child. The east window depicts, beneath the crucifix, the risen Christ making himself known to his fellow-travellers at supper, following the walk to Emmaus.
Within the church, there are many interesting memorial tables, pictures and statues, not least among these, an unpainted stone statue of Our Lady and Child, at the entrance to the Lady Chapel, and inside the west door, a water colour by A Ernest Monk (after Prosser) of Holy Trinity in 1860.
The Calvary in the Church grounds is a War Memorial of the First World War which has been recently listed as a Grade II monument. The church is located on the corner of North Walls and Upper Brook Street, in a prime location in the centre of the historic city of Winchester.