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Holy Trinity Church, commonly known as Horwich Parish Church, is a Grade II listed building in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Church of England parish church and part of the Deane deanery in the archdeaconry of Bolton, diocese of Manchester. Holy Trinity Church is now part of the United Benefice of Horwich and Rivington, which includes the other two Anglican churches in Horwich, St Catherine's Church and St Elizabeth's Church, and Rivington Anglican Church.
There have been three chapels or churches on the site of Holy Trinity Church. It is not known when the first chapel was built, but it existed before the English Reformation when it was a chapel of ease to the parish church of St. Mary the Virgin in Deane. In 1565, the "commissioners for removing superstitious ornaments" took various items they considered idolatrous from the chapel. The earliest gravestone in the churchyard has the initials and date M.H. 1648, however, the church registers only commenced in 1660. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, the chapel was used by Nonconformists, but in 1716 the Bishop of Chester recovered the chapel for the established church.
As the town expanded during the Industrial Revolution and the population increased, the old chapel was replaced by a larger building in 1782. Almost fifty years later, the second chapel was replaced by the present church which was designed by Francis Octavius Bedford and consecrated in 1831. It is a Waterloo or Commissioners' Church, partly paid for by money from the parliament of the United Kingdom raised by the Church Building Act 1818, and said to be a celebration of Britain's victory in the Battle of Waterloo. The Commissioners paid £5,621 (equivalent to £510,000 in 2019), the remainder was provided by the Ridgway family, owners of Wallsuches Bleach Works. Horwich became a parish on 29 December 1853 and the chapel-of-ease became the parish church.
The chancel, designed by Bolton architect Richard Knill Freeman, was added to the east end of the church in 1903 in memory of the Reverend Henry Septimus Pigot, vicar for 48 years.
Holy Trinity Church is built in stone with a slate roof in the Gothic Revival style. It has a four-bay nave with Y-tracery lights between the buttresses which are topped with crocketed pinnacles. The chancel is shallow with a four-light traceried east window. There are porches on the north and south sides. The west tower has octagonal turrets which become angled buttresses above roof level and open tracery embattled parapet with corner crocketted pinnacles. The tower has a four-sided clock and louvred bell openings.
Church of Holy Trinity
Tomb of Sir Roger († after 1395) and Margaret († 1350?) de Boys, Alabaster.
The monument was long problematic, since Blomefield reported a now missing inscription requesting the viewer to pray for the souls of Roger de Bois and Lady Margaret, whose death he recorded as 1300, Sir Roger, and 1315, Lady Margaret. Pevsner noted that in style the monument belonged not to the early 1300s but to the end of the century. Recent research by Sally Badham has unravelled the confusion. She used the British Library manuscript Harleian MS 906 fol. 197 verso to establish that Sir Roger was descended from John de Boys and his wife Eustace Sandbie of Coningsby and that his wife died in 1365. There is no record of his death, suggesting that he was not a landowner in East Anglia, but since he was mentioned in other records it must have been sometime after 1394. With the old dates it was unclear why they had such a prominent tomb in the nave. Sir Roger, an otherwise obscure knight, was mentioned in the document of 1355 establishing the Church of the Holy Trinity as a chantry chapel and a priory for the Trinitarian order with. Those for whose souls the priests were to pray included, King Edward III, Sir Oliver and Lady Elizabeth Ingham, the relatives and parents of Sir Miles Stapleton, including his sister, the deceased Lady Catherine Boys and her husband John de Boys, Dame Margaret Honing. Sir roger’s wife, was not included.
The now sadly worn (and vandalised) tomb chest is set at the east end of the south aisle, originally guarded by railings, set into holes drilled into the base. Its position at the head of the nave would have made it opposite the altar in the chapel of St Mary, destroyed in 1799, an extension to the south east corner of the nave. The tomb is built around a pillar, which once supported the image of a saint, to whom Sir Roger de Boys would have looked. The figures lie side by side, now without their arms and with the detail of their costumes difficult to make out. The notes in the church suggest, on the basis of an analysis of the traces of colour, that she wore a heraldic dress. From the position of the stumps of their arms it is has been argued that they were represented holding hands, rather than in prayer. Sir Roger de Boys rests his head on a Saracen’s helmet, complete with decapitated head, perhaps sign that, as suggested below, he had been a crusader. His wife’s is set on two pillows, where a faint painted pattern can still be made out. His sword is missing but there is a hole on his right side where it was probably fixed. His statue has been convincingly compared with that a distinguished warrior knight, Sir Guy de Brian †1390, in Tewkesbury Abbey. They share the detail of the moustache, fashionably poking over the chain mail of his helmet. The figures are like caricatures, with his barrel chest and her extreme height (she must be about seven foot) and thinness, a sign of breeding (then as now) for those who could, as Professor Sandy Heslop has argued, ostensibly afford expensive food.
The base is decorated with (now blank) coats of arms set in quatrefoils and flanked by niches filled with angels, whose wings can just be made out (with some traces of colour). On the north they turn slightly to the door, a movement that culminates in the wider niche facing the entrance. Here the couple’s devotion to the Trinity, the church’s dedication, is shown in the panel. Two angels hold up their souls besides the Trinity, represented by the seated God the Father. He held a now lost crucifix with the dead Christ, supported by the (also missing) Dove of the Holy Ghost. The scheme also occurred in a roundel decorating the splendid and nearly contemporary brass memorial Sir Hugh Hastings (†1347) at Elsing.
Sir Roger de Boys was granted letters of attorney when travelling abroad between 1361-67 and again in the 1370s. At least one of these trips coincided with the crusade to capture Alexandria, called by Peter de Lusignan, King of Cyprus, in 1365, and the letters granting him permission to travel mention other crusader knights. That his death was not recorded may have been because he was not a land owner, although in 1378, together with his brother, he had given the Priory property in Worstead and Scottow. The family were established in Honing and Rollesby by the early years of the fifteenth century and their involvement with the church continued, since the arms on the tower (rebuilt in the 1450s), recorded by Blomefield, included Stapleton impaled with Boys.
Francis Blomefield, ‘House of Trinitarian canons: The priory of Ingham', A History of the County of Norfolk: Volume 2 (1906), pp. 410-412 corrected by Sally Badham 'Beautiful Remains of Antiquity': The Medieval Monuments in the Former Trinitarian Priory Church at Ingham Norfolk. Part 2: the High Tombs. CHURCH MONUMENTS VOLUME XXII 2007, esp. pp. 23-43; Sir Richard Le Scrope, edited Samuel Bentley, London 1832, De Controversia in Curia Militari Inter Ricardum Le Scrope Et Robertum Grosvenor Milites: Rege Ricardo Secundo, MCCCLXXXV-MCCCXC E Recordis in Turre Londinensi Asservatis, p. 220, googlebooks, accessed 03/08/15
detail of figure on base
It seems an age ago, well these were different times, that I found a friend, John Vigar, was doing a tour of some East Kent churches. It had been some time since we last met, so I said I would go along, and he kindly waived my costs.
Of the four churches he was planning to visit, I had not seen inside two, so it seemed an ideal chance.
And then the world changed.
But, the tour was to go ahead, and plans were made to meet at Holy Trinity at eleven.
Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Dumpton and Margate now merge into one large town, spreading over the Isle of Thanet, so finding the church was given to the sat nav, which guided me down main roads to the church, where there was a parking space nearby.
Inside a service, mass, had just ended. I looked round and could see stations of the cross, icons. So this was high.
I can't claim to understand the different flavours of faith, but the vicar was very welcoming, he told me some of the history of his calling, the places he has ministered.
The church was well proportioned, but in the 1970s, a church hall was built at the east end of the church, making what is left, jarring.
But it is a fine, 19th century church, one built to serve the large community living near the harbour, rather than the old parish church at St Peter. This community would soon need a second new church, St George.
-------------------------------------------
Holy Trinity Ramsgate, a flint clad church, stands on the east cliff of Ramsgate close to the Royal Harbour. The Church was consecrated in 1845 and has always maintained a Catholic tradition, firmly anchored in the Anglican Church. Holy Trinity is a Resolution and Society church under the See of Richborough.
The principal Sunday Worship is a Sung Mass with sermon accompanied by fine organ music and the Rite used is Common Worship. There are masses every Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening. We have a thriving Sunday School and we have recently instituted a re-generation programme and we are now a church in growth. We also have an active choir that is always happy to accept new members. Come and join us, a warm welcome awaits you.
holytrinitychurchramsgate.com/about-us/
-------------------------------------------
Location
Statutory Address:
CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, BELLEVUE ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
County:
Kent
District:
Thanet (District Authority)
Parish:
Ramsgate
National Grid Reference:
TR 38669 65333
Details
RAMSGATE BELLEVUE ROAD TR 3865 SE (west side) 10/56 Church of the Holy Trinity GV II Parish Church. 1844-5. Stevens and Alexander of London. Coursed, knapped flint with Caen stone dressings and concrete interlocking tiles to roof. Nave with aisles and south porch and chancel in perpendicular style. Triple offset and pinnacled buttresses to nave and aisle west end, with double gable to west, and plank and stud door with label surround below large 5 light window. Smaller 3 light windows to aisles, west end, with arched 2 light windows elsewhere and square headed 2 light clerestory windows. Gabled south porch with arched and hooded surrounds to outer and inner doors. Simple offset buttresses to east ends of nave and aisles, and eastern bell gable. Small and plain projecting chancel. Interior: now used as church and church hall with panelled entrance lobby to both parts. Large double chamfered arcade on octagonal moulded piers, with similar channel arch. Fittings: pulpit and lectern, very dark varnished wood with much figurative sculpture, 1867 by J E Lock-Beveridge. The church cost £3000, with seating for 770, on a site given by the D'Este family of Mount Albion House (the children of Prince Frederick Augustus and Lady Augusta Murray) (Busson, Ramsgate, 106;) (See also B.O.E. Kent II. 426; Honan. Victorian Churches of Kent, 83).
Listing NGR: TR3866965333
Formery just 'Wenlock', this Shropshire town gained the prefix 'Much' to distinguish it from nearby Little Wenlock. The church is known as Holy Trinity Church. The Guildhall is open to the public during summer months and markets are often held in the area below.
By now it was raining quite hard, so I grabbed a couple of shots from the other side of the road before going in.
Hello I said to the churchwarden, we've come to photograph the church.
Oh I don't know if that's possible, you might be journalists. What do you want the pictures for?
I explained about the website and liking churches and that we had come from Dover to see this church. I gave he my Moo card, and she siad it was OK. And then would not shut up, she told us all about the history of the church, the town, businesses. All nice, but I wanted to snap the church.
In the end, Jools took over and I set about snapping. And very fine it is too.
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Holy Trinity Church, which dominates the High Street, was built by Bishop Gundulf c.1080. There is good evidence to suggest that a much earlier church occupied the site in Saxon times. The church provided a focus for the religious and ceremonial life of medieval Dartford. The building was significantly enlarged during the reign of Henry III (1216-72) to accommodate a new chapel dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury for use by visiting pilgrims. Pilgrimages to Canterbury ceased in 1538 during the reign of Henry VIII. At this time, Becket’s altar was removed from the church, his festivals abolished, and the local trade in pilgrim souvenirs was halted. Consequently, many Dartford traders lost a valuable source of income.
Further extensions were added to the church during the reigns of Edward I (1272-1307) and Edward II (1307-27). In 1313, Thomas de Wouldham, Bishop of Rochester, visited the church to inspect a new window, which his chaplain Hamo de Hethe commissioned. About 1470, bells were hung in the newly heightened tower.
Regular maintenance and upkeep of the church property was an expensive business, the cost being borne by the parishioners. In 1470 the church roof had to be re-covered with lead. Shortly afterwards, the church tower was heightened. A document of 1453 confirms that the church administered its own cemetery sited right next to the church building.
Prior to the Reformation, the church had no seats or pews for worshippers. The congregation remained standing during services. At least four main altars and other shrines decorated the church. The high altar was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Three additional altars were dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury, St Mary, and St Ann. Statues of the Virgin Mary and St Anthony occupied a prominent position. A niche known as Sepulchre was used to display a crucifix during Holy Week. The front of the church was dominated by a large illuminated rood or cross.
Masses were said in the church for the souls of the departed. Singing or chanting in Latin formed an integral part of the worship. In c.1485, a magnificent fresco depicting St George slaying the dragon was painted on the east wall of St Mary's chapel. This painting can still be seen in the church today. Some of Dartford’s wealthy residents, like Thomas Bond, asked to be buried close to the main altar in the church. Prominent local worthies were commemorated in the church when they died. A fine commemorative brass can still be seen in the church today commemorating Richard Martyn who died 18 February 1402. A chantry or chapel known as Stampit Chantry was founded by Thomas de Dertford at Holy Trinity church in 1338.
Holy Trinity Church.
Holy Trinity Church stands to the northeast of the village of Little Ouseburn, North Yorkshire, England. It is an Anglican parish church in the deanery of Ripon, the archdeaconry of Richmond, and the Diocese of Leeds. Its benefice is united with those of five local churches.The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.
The tower and chancel date from the 11th century, the south aisle, arcades and the chancel arch from the 14th century, and the battlements and pinnacles on the tower from the 15th century. In 1874–75 the north aisle was rebuilt to provide an organ chamber and a vestry, and the east window was altered, the architects being the Lancaster partnership of Paley and Austin. Also during the 19th century the porch was added.
It seems an age ago, well these were different times, that I found a friend, John Vigar, was doing a tour of some East Kent churches. It had been some time since we last met, so I said I would go along, and he kindly waived my costs.
Of the four churches he was planning to visit, I had not seen inside two, so it seemed an ideal chance.
And then the world changed.
But, the tour was to go ahead, and plans were made to meet at Holy Trinity at eleven.
Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Dumpton and Margate now merge into one large town, spreading over the Isle of Thanet, so finding the church was given to the sat nav, which guided me down main roads to the church, where there was a parking space nearby.
Inside a service, mass, had just ended. I looked round and could see stations of the cross, icons. So this was high.
I can't claim to understand the different flavours of faith, but the vicar was very welcoming, he told me some of the history of his calling, the places he has ministered.
The church was well proportioned, but in the 1970s, a church hall was built at the east end of the church, making what is left, jarring.
But it is a fine, 19th century church, one built to serve the large community living near the harbour, rather than the old parish church at St Peter. This community would soon need a second new church, St George.
-------------------------------------------
Holy Trinity Ramsgate, a flint clad church, stands on the east cliff of Ramsgate close to the Royal Harbour. The Church was consecrated in 1845 and has always maintained a Catholic tradition, firmly anchored in the Anglican Church. Holy Trinity is a Resolution and Society church under the See of Richborough.
The principal Sunday Worship is a Sung Mass with sermon accompanied by fine organ music and the Rite used is Common Worship. There are masses every Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening. We have a thriving Sunday School and we have recently instituted a re-generation programme and we are now a church in growth. We also have an active choir that is always happy to accept new members. Come and join us, a warm welcome awaits you.
holytrinitychurchramsgate.com/about-us/
-------------------------------------------
Location
Statutory Address:
CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, BELLEVUE ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
County:
Kent
District:
Thanet (District Authority)
Parish:
Ramsgate
National Grid Reference:
TR 38669 65333
Details
RAMSGATE BELLEVUE ROAD TR 3865 SE (west side) 10/56 Church of the Holy Trinity GV II Parish Church. 1844-5. Stevens and Alexander of London. Coursed, knapped flint with Caen stone dressings and concrete interlocking tiles to roof. Nave with aisles and south porch and chancel in perpendicular style. Triple offset and pinnacled buttresses to nave and aisle west end, with double gable to west, and plank and stud door with label surround below large 5 light window. Smaller 3 light windows to aisles, west end, with arched 2 light windows elsewhere and square headed 2 light clerestory windows. Gabled south porch with arched and hooded surrounds to outer and inner doors. Simple offset buttresses to east ends of nave and aisles, and eastern bell gable. Small and plain projecting chancel. Interior: now used as church and church hall with panelled entrance lobby to both parts. Large double chamfered arcade on octagonal moulded piers, with similar channel arch. Fittings: pulpit and lectern, very dark varnished wood with much figurative sculpture, 1867 by J E Lock-Beveridge. The church cost £3000, with seating for 770, on a site given by the D'Este family of Mount Albion House (the children of Prince Frederick Augustus and Lady Augusta Murray) (Busson, Ramsgate, 106;) (See also B.O.E. Kent II. 426; Honan. Victorian Churches of Kent, 83).
Listing NGR: TR3866965333
"Blessed be the creator and ruler of all things, the holy and undivided Trinity, both now and for ever and for ages unending."
Sculpture surmounting the Plague column in the town of Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia.
Holy Trinity would have been the star attraction in any other town or city, it is a majestic cruciform 15th century Perpendicular church with a tapering central tower and spire, the second of Coventry's famous 'Three Spires'. However it has always been overshadowed by larger neighbours, having been encircled by no less than three separate cathedrals through it's history, a unique distinction! Holy Trinity was founded by the monks of the adjoining priory to act as a parish church for it's lay tenants, thus it is ironic that it has long outlived the parent building.
The earliest part is the north porch, which dates from the 13th century, but the majority of the building dates from a more ambitious phase in 15th century Perpendicular style. The 15th century rebuilding has given us the present cruciform arrangement with small transepts and extra chapels on the north side giving an overall roughly rectangular footprint. These chapels were some of many in the church that served the city's separate guilds in medieval times.
The church has gone through much restoration, most notably the rebuilding of it's spire after it was blown down in a storm in 1665. The east end of the chancel was extended in 1786 (in sympathetic style) and much of the exterior was refaced in the early 19th century in then fashionable Bath stone (which clashes with the original red sandstone).
The church luckily escaped major damage during the Coventry Blitz in 1940, largely thanks to the vigilance of Canon Clitheroe and his team of firewatchers who spent a perilous night on the roof tackling incendaries. The main loss was the Victorian stained glass in the east and west windows, which were replaced with much more fetching glass in the postwar restoration.
The most recent restoration involved the uncovering of the 15th century Doom painting over the chancel arch in 2004. Hidden under blackened varnish since it's rediscovery in the early Victorian period, it has now been revealed to be one of the most complete and important medieval Last Judgement murals in the country. There is further painting contemporary with this on the exquisite nave ceiling, painted a beautiful dusty blue with large kneeling angels flanking coats of arms on every rafter.
There are only a handful of monuments and most of the furnishings date from G.G.Scott's 1850s restoration (as does the magnificent vaulted ceiling high above the crossing) but there are some notable medieval survivals in the rare stone pulpit and the brass eagle lectern, both 15th century, along with a fine set of misericords originating from the former Whitefriars monastery church. Just a few fragments of medieval glass survive in the north west chapel.
The church is happily normally open and welcoming to visitors every day.
For more detail on this church see it's entry in the new Warwickshire Churches website below:-
warwickshirechurches.weebly.com/coventry---holy-trinity.html
It seems an age ago, well these were different times, that I found a friend, John Vigar, was doing a tour of some East Kent churches. It had been some time since we last met, so I said I would go along, and he kindly waived my costs.
Of the four churches he was planning to visit, I had not seen inside two, so it seemed an ideal chance.
And then the world changed.
But, the tour was to go ahead, and plans were made to meet at Holy Trinity at eleven.
Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Dumpton and Margate now merge into one large town, spreading over the Isle of Thanet, so finding the church was given to the sat nav, which guided me down main roads to the church, where there was a parking space nearby.
Inside a service, mass, had just ended. I looked round and could see stations of the cross, icons. So this was high.
I can't claim to understand the different flavours of faith, but the vicar was very welcoming, he told me some of the history of his calling, the places he has ministered.
The church was well proportioned, but in the 1970s, a church hall was built at the east end of the church, making what is left, jarring.
But it is a fine, 19th century church, one built to serve the large community living near the harbour, rather than the old parish church at St Peter. This community would soon need a second new church, St George.
-------------------------------------------
Holy Trinity Ramsgate, a flint clad church, stands on the east cliff of Ramsgate close to the Royal Harbour. The Church was consecrated in 1845 and has always maintained a Catholic tradition, firmly anchored in the Anglican Church. Holy Trinity is a Resolution and Society church under the See of Richborough.
The principal Sunday Worship is a Sung Mass with sermon accompanied by fine organ music and the Rite used is Common Worship. There are masses every Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening. We have a thriving Sunday School and we have recently instituted a re-generation programme and we are now a church in growth. We also have an active choir that is always happy to accept new members. Come and join us, a warm welcome awaits you.
holytrinitychurchramsgate.com/about-us/
-------------------------------------------
Location
Statutory Address:
CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, BELLEVUE ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
County:
Kent
District:
Thanet (District Authority)
Parish:
Ramsgate
National Grid Reference:
TR 38669 65333
Details
RAMSGATE BELLEVUE ROAD TR 3865 SE (west side) 10/56 Church of the Holy Trinity GV II Parish Church. 1844-5. Stevens and Alexander of London. Coursed, knapped flint with Caen stone dressings and concrete interlocking tiles to roof. Nave with aisles and south porch and chancel in perpendicular style. Triple offset and pinnacled buttresses to nave and aisle west end, with double gable to west, and plank and stud door with label surround below large 5 light window. Smaller 3 light windows to aisles, west end, with arched 2 light windows elsewhere and square headed 2 light clerestory windows. Gabled south porch with arched and hooded surrounds to outer and inner doors. Simple offset buttresses to east ends of nave and aisles, and eastern bell gable. Small and plain projecting chancel. Interior: now used as church and church hall with panelled entrance lobby to both parts. Large double chamfered arcade on octagonal moulded piers, with similar channel arch. Fittings: pulpit and lectern, very dark varnished wood with much figurative sculpture, 1867 by J E Lock-Beveridge. The church cost £3000, with seating for 770, on a site given by the D'Este family of Mount Albion House (the children of Prince Frederick Augustus and Lady Augusta Murray) (Busson, Ramsgate, 106;) (See also B.O.E. Kent II. 426; Honan. Victorian Churches of Kent, 83).
Listing NGR: TR3866965333
It seems an age ago, well these were different times, that I found a friend, John Vigar, was doing a tour of some East Kent churches. It had been some time since we last met, so I said I would go along, and he kindly waived my costs.
Of the four churches he was planning to visit, I had not seen inside two, so it seemed an ideal chance.
And then the world changed.
But, the tour was to go ahead, and plans were made to meet at Holy Trinity at eleven.
Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Dumpton and Margate now merge into one large town, spreading over the Isle of Thanet, so finding the church was given to the sat nav, which guided me down main roads to the church, where there was a parking space nearby.
Inside a service, mass, had just ended. I looked round and could see stations of the cross, icons. So this was high.
I can't claim to understand the different flavours of faith, but the vicar was very welcoming, he told me some of the history of his calling, the places he has ministered.
The church was well proportioned, but in the 1970s, a church hall was built at the east end of the church, making what is left, jarring.
But it is a fine, 19th century church, one built to serve the large community living near the harbour, rather than the old parish church at St Peter. This community would soon need a second new church, St George.
-------------------------------------------
Holy Trinity Ramsgate, a flint clad church, stands on the east cliff of Ramsgate close to the Royal Harbour. The Church was consecrated in 1845 and has always maintained a Catholic tradition, firmly anchored in the Anglican Church. Holy Trinity is a Resolution and Society church under the See of Richborough.
The principal Sunday Worship is a Sung Mass with sermon accompanied by fine organ music and the Rite used is Common Worship. There are masses every Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening. We have a thriving Sunday School and we have recently instituted a re-generation programme and we are now a church in growth. We also have an active choir that is always happy to accept new members. Come and join us, a warm welcome awaits you.
holytrinitychurchramsgate.com/about-us/
-------------------------------------------
Location
Statutory Address:
CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, BELLEVUE ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
County:
Kent
District:
Thanet (District Authority)
Parish:
Ramsgate
National Grid Reference:
TR 38669 65333
Details
RAMSGATE BELLEVUE ROAD TR 3865 SE (west side) 10/56 Church of the Holy Trinity GV II Parish Church. 1844-5. Stevens and Alexander of London. Coursed, knapped flint with Caen stone dressings and concrete interlocking tiles to roof. Nave with aisles and south porch and chancel in perpendicular style. Triple offset and pinnacled buttresses to nave and aisle west end, with double gable to west, and plank and stud door with label surround below large 5 light window. Smaller 3 light windows to aisles, west end, with arched 2 light windows elsewhere and square headed 2 light clerestory windows. Gabled south porch with arched and hooded surrounds to outer and inner doors. Simple offset buttresses to east ends of nave and aisles, and eastern bell gable. Small and plain projecting chancel. Interior: now used as church and church hall with panelled entrance lobby to both parts. Large double chamfered arcade on octagonal moulded piers, with similar channel arch. Fittings: pulpit and lectern, very dark varnished wood with much figurative sculpture, 1867 by J E Lock-Beveridge. The church cost £3000, with seating for 770, on a site given by the D'Este family of Mount Albion House (the children of Prince Frederick Augustus and Lady Augusta Murray) (Busson, Ramsgate, 106;) (See also B.O.E. Kent II. 426; Honan. Victorian Churches of Kent, 83).
Listing NGR: TR3866965333
Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
Many of the original families of this parish are said to have arrived between 1880 and 1900 during the initial wave of Greek immigration to the United States. Cincinnati, during this period of time, was identified as the nation's sixth largest city and growing industrial center because of its ideal location on the Ohio River.
Efforts to organize a church began in 1907. It was during this year that the original Holy Trinity Church was founded. In 1938 a second Greek orthodox church, St. Nicholas, was formed in Cincinnati. In 1945 the union of the two churches occurred. The new church took on the name, Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and was located near Cincinnati's inner city. In 1965 the community purchased a 10 acre lot in order to build a larger church which would accommodate the growing membership.
On December 16, 1972, the new church located in Finneytown, a suburb of Cincinnati, celebrated its opening and first Divine Liturgy. The congregation has grown to about 2000 faithful Orthodox Christians. The Lord has blessed this church with a diverse selection of faithful from various talents and ethnic backgrounds. The parish membership is no longer exclusively Greek. The majority of the parishioners are second and third generation American born, several families of Arabic, Ethiopian, Eritrian and Slavic backgrounds, and a growing number of converts.
Holy Trinity
The present church is the third built in the village. An old ruined chapel, thought to have been sited near Pule Hill, was recorded in 1650.
The next church was built in 1843, on the present site given by Lord Wharncliffe. This church was in a state of partial decay by 1870 and a decision was made to rebuild the whole church. The present church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was consecrated on 8th August 1871.
The church was designed by the leading Victorian architect, George Edmund Street. Our church is a fine example of the Victorian Gothic style for which he was known.
The stained glass windows of the east end, lady chapel and baptistry were all made by John Hardman & Co of King William Street, The Strand.
Inside, there are many things to see including the original font, marble pulpit and marble reredos, all designed by George Edmund Street. Also see lovely stained glass featuring various saints, several memorials, the Lady Chapel and the new Millennium window featuring symbols representing the church calendar. The Maskill Organ from 1880 is in good condition.
www.nationalchurchestrust.org/church/holy-trinity-thurgoland
Holy Trinity Church is a place of worship and witness today as it has been since its consecration in August 1856. It was built on land given by the Slingsby family, and offered 612 free places in its pews to serve the town's expanding industrial population.
Inspired by the Catholic Revival, its architecture focuses in the High Altar. The spire, 166 feet above ground level and a familiar feature of the local sky-line, was added to the tower in 1864.
www.knaresboroughanglicans.org.uk/churches/holy-trinity-k...
Holy Trinity
The church is in the building constructed for Micklegate Priory, York, a Benedictine foundation under Marmoutier Abbey. The church dates from the 12th century with additions in the 13th and 14th centuries. The tower dates from 1453. The church was remodelled after the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
The south aisle was rebuilt during a restoration between 1850 and 1851 by JB and W Atkinson of York. The body of the building was entirely re-pewed, and a new aisle, 10 feet (3.0 m) wide and 60 feet (18 m) was added on the south side, by opening the original arcades.
The chancel and vestry were rebuilt between 1886 and 1887 by Fisher and Hepper. The chancel was rebuilt and was 38 feet (12 m) long and 23 feet (7.0 m) wide. It included a new vestry and organ chamber.
The west front was reconstructed in 1902 to 1905 by Charles Hodgson Fowler.
In 1953 the church was united with St Martin-cum-Gregory, Micklegate.
A tragic family; the wife died in 1916 aged 24, the husband was killed in action in France in 1918 just over a month before cessation of hostilities.
It seems an age ago, well these were different times, that I found a friend, John Vigar, was doing a tour of some East Kent churches. It had been some time since we last met, so I said I would go along, and he kindly waived my costs.
Of the four churches he was planning to visit, I had not seen inside two, so it seemed an ideal chance.
And then the world changed.
But, the tour was to go ahead, and plans were made to meet at Holy Trinity at eleven.
Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Dumpton and Margate now merge into one large town, spreading over the Isle of Thanet, so finding the church was given to the sat nav, which guided me down main roads to the church, where there was a parking space nearby.
Inside a service, mass, had just ended. I looked round and could see stations of the cross, icons. So this was high.
I can't claim to understand the different flavours of faith, but the vicar was very welcoming, he told me some of the history of his calling, the places he has ministered.
The church was well proportioned, but in the 1970s, a church hall was built at the east end of the church, making what is left, jarring.
But it is a fine, 19th century church, one built to serve the large community living near the harbour, rather than the old parish church at St Peter. This community would soon need a second new church, St George.
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Holy Trinity Ramsgate, a flint clad church, stands on the east cliff of Ramsgate close to the Royal Harbour. The Church was consecrated in 1845 and has always maintained a Catholic tradition, firmly anchored in the Anglican Church. Holy Trinity is a Resolution and Society church under the See of Richborough.
The principal Sunday Worship is a Sung Mass with sermon accompanied by fine organ music and the Rite used is Common Worship. There are masses every Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening. We have a thriving Sunday School and we have recently instituted a re-generation programme and we are now a church in growth. We also have an active choir that is always happy to accept new members. Come and join us, a warm welcome awaits you.
holytrinitychurchramsgate.com/about-us/
-------------------------------------------
Location
Statutory Address:
CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, BELLEVUE ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
County:
Kent
District:
Thanet (District Authority)
Parish:
Ramsgate
National Grid Reference:
TR 38669 65333
Details
RAMSGATE BELLEVUE ROAD TR 3865 SE (west side) 10/56 Church of the Holy Trinity GV II Parish Church. 1844-5. Stevens and Alexander of London. Coursed, knapped flint with Caen stone dressings and concrete interlocking tiles to roof. Nave with aisles and south porch and chancel in perpendicular style. Triple offset and pinnacled buttresses to nave and aisle west end, with double gable to west, and plank and stud door with label surround below large 5 light window. Smaller 3 light windows to aisles, west end, with arched 2 light windows elsewhere and square headed 2 light clerestory windows. Gabled south porch with arched and hooded surrounds to outer and inner doors. Simple offset buttresses to east ends of nave and aisles, and eastern bell gable. Small and plain projecting chancel. Interior: now used as church and church hall with panelled entrance lobby to both parts. Large double chamfered arcade on octagonal moulded piers, with similar channel arch. Fittings: pulpit and lectern, very dark varnished wood with much figurative sculpture, 1867 by J E Lock-Beveridge. The church cost £3000, with seating for 770, on a site given by the D'Este family of Mount Albion House (the children of Prince Frederick Augustus and Lady Augusta Murray) (Busson, Ramsgate, 106;) (See also B.O.E. Kent II. 426; Honan. Victorian Churches of Kent, 83).
Listing NGR: TR3866965333
It seems an age ago, well these were different times, that I found a friend, John Vigar, was doing a tour of some East Kent churches. It had been some time since we last met, so I said I would go along, and he kindly waived my costs.
Of the four churches he was planning to visit, I had not seen inside two, so it seemed an ideal chance.
And then the world changed.
But, the tour was to go ahead, and plans were made to meet at Holy Trinity at eleven.
Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Dumpton and Margate now merge into one large town, spreading over the Isle of Thanet, so finding the church was given to the sat nav, which guided me down main roads to the church, where there was a parking space nearby.
Inside a service, mass, had just ended. I looked round and could see stations of the cross, icons. So this was high.
I can't claim to understand the different flavours of faith, but the vicar was very welcoming, he told me some of the history of his calling, the places he has ministered.
The church was well proportioned, but in the 1970s, a church hall was built at the east end of the church, making what is left, jarring.
But it is a fine, 19th century church, one built to serve the large community living near the harbour, rather than the old parish church at St Peter. This community would soon need a second new church, St George.
-------------------------------------------
Holy Trinity Ramsgate, a flint clad church, stands on the east cliff of Ramsgate close to the Royal Harbour. The Church was consecrated in 1845 and has always maintained a Catholic tradition, firmly anchored in the Anglican Church. Holy Trinity is a Resolution and Society church under the See of Richborough.
The principal Sunday Worship is a Sung Mass with sermon accompanied by fine organ music and the Rite used is Common Worship. There are masses every Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening. We have a thriving Sunday School and we have recently instituted a re-generation programme and we are now a church in growth. We also have an active choir that is always happy to accept new members. Come and join us, a warm welcome awaits you.
holytrinitychurchramsgate.com/about-us/
-------------------------------------------
Location
Statutory Address:
CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, BELLEVUE ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
County:
Kent
District:
Thanet (District Authority)
Parish:
Ramsgate
National Grid Reference:
TR 38669 65333
Details
RAMSGATE BELLEVUE ROAD TR 3865 SE (west side) 10/56 Church of the Holy Trinity GV II Parish Church. 1844-5. Stevens and Alexander of London. Coursed, knapped flint with Caen stone dressings and concrete interlocking tiles to roof. Nave with aisles and south porch and chancel in perpendicular style. Triple offset and pinnacled buttresses to nave and aisle west end, with double gable to west, and plank and stud door with label surround below large 5 light window. Smaller 3 light windows to aisles, west end, with arched 2 light windows elsewhere and square headed 2 light clerestory windows. Gabled south porch with arched and hooded surrounds to outer and inner doors. Simple offset buttresses to east ends of nave and aisles, and eastern bell gable. Small and plain projecting chancel. Interior: now used as church and church hall with panelled entrance lobby to both parts. Large double chamfered arcade on octagonal moulded piers, with similar channel arch. Fittings: pulpit and lectern, very dark varnished wood with much figurative sculpture, 1867 by J E Lock-Beveridge. The church cost £3000, with seating for 770, on a site given by the D'Este family of Mount Albion House (the children of Prince Frederick Augustus and Lady Augusta Murray) (Busson, Ramsgate, 106;) (See also B.O.E. Kent II. 426; Honan. Victorian Churches of Kent, 83).
Listing NGR: TR3866965333
The Hagia Triada (English: Holy Trinity) is a Greek Orthodox church in Istanbul, Turkey. The building was erected in 1880 and is considered the largest Greek Orthodox shrine in Istanbul today. It is still in use by the Greek community of Istanbul. It has about 150 parishioners..
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The property where the Church stands used to be the site of a Greek Orthodox cemetery and hospital.[6] This was demolished in order to build the Church. Its construction, based on the designs of the Ottoman Greek architect P. Kampanaki, began on 13 August 1876 and was completed on 14 September 1880.[2][7][8] The Church is built in neo-baroque style with elements of Basilica,[9] with the unusual features of twin bell towers, a large dome and a neo-gothic facade..
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Architectural elements such as the dome of the church were only allowed after 1839 during a period known as the Tanzimat under which the restrictions limiting the Freedom of Speech for minorities were loosened and domes were allowed to be constructed as design features of Christian churches. Hagia Triada is the first domed Christian church to be allowed to be built in Istanbul..
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The paintings and decorations of the church's interior are the work of painter Sakellarios Megaklis, while the marble works and designs were created by sculptor Alexandros Krikelis. On Church grounds there is also a school, Zapyon Rum Lisesi (Zappeion Greek Lyceum), which continues to serve the Greek community of Istanbul.[11] In the church courtyard there are additional buildings dedicated to social services and also a sacred spring..
Carved wooden angels mounted back to back on the 15th century tie beam roof would have originally been painted red and green and decorated with gold leaf
It seems an age ago, well these were different times, that I found a friend, John Vigar, was doing a tour of some East Kent churches. It had been some time since we last met, so I said I would go along, and he kindly waived my costs.
Of the four churches he was planning to visit, I had not seen inside two, so it seemed an ideal chance.
And then the world changed.
But, the tour was to go ahead, and plans were made to meet at Holy Trinity at eleven.
Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Dumpton and Margate now merge into one large town, spreading over the Isle of Thanet, so finding the church was given to the sat nav, which guided me down main roads to the church, where there was a parking space nearby.
Inside a service, mass, had just ended. I looked round and could see stations of the cross, icons. So this was high.
I can't claim to understand the different flavours of faith, but the vicar was very welcoming, he told me some of the history of his calling, the places he has ministered.
The church was well proportioned, but in the 1970s, a church hall was built at the east end of the church, making what is left, jarring.
But it is a fine, 19th century church, one built to serve the large community living near the harbour, rather than the old parish church at St Peter. This community would soon need a second new church, St George.
-------------------------------------------
Holy Trinity Ramsgate, a flint clad church, stands on the east cliff of Ramsgate close to the Royal Harbour. The Church was consecrated in 1845 and has always maintained a Catholic tradition, firmly anchored in the Anglican Church. Holy Trinity is a Resolution and Society church under the See of Richborough.
The principal Sunday Worship is a Sung Mass with sermon accompanied by fine organ music and the Rite used is Common Worship. There are masses every Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening. We have a thriving Sunday School and we have recently instituted a re-generation programme and we are now a church in growth. We also have an active choir that is always happy to accept new members. Come and join us, a warm welcome awaits you.
holytrinitychurchramsgate.com/about-us/
-------------------------------------------
Location
Statutory Address:
CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, BELLEVUE ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
County:
Kent
District:
Thanet (District Authority)
Parish:
Ramsgate
National Grid Reference:
TR 38669 65333
Details
RAMSGATE BELLEVUE ROAD TR 3865 SE (west side) 10/56 Church of the Holy Trinity GV II Parish Church. 1844-5. Stevens and Alexander of London. Coursed, knapped flint with Caen stone dressings and concrete interlocking tiles to roof. Nave with aisles and south porch and chancel in perpendicular style. Triple offset and pinnacled buttresses to nave and aisle west end, with double gable to west, and plank and stud door with label surround below large 5 light window. Smaller 3 light windows to aisles, west end, with arched 2 light windows elsewhere and square headed 2 light clerestory windows. Gabled south porch with arched and hooded surrounds to outer and inner doors. Simple offset buttresses to east ends of nave and aisles, and eastern bell gable. Small and plain projecting chancel. Interior: now used as church and church hall with panelled entrance lobby to both parts. Large double chamfered arcade on octagonal moulded piers, with similar channel arch. Fittings: pulpit and lectern, very dark varnished wood with much figurative sculpture, 1867 by J E Lock-Beveridge. The church cost £3000, with seating for 770, on a site given by the D'Este family of Mount Albion House (the children of Prince Frederick Augustus and Lady Augusta Murray) (Busson, Ramsgate, 106;) (See also B.O.E. Kent II. 426; Honan. Victorian Churches of Kent, 83).
Listing NGR: TR3866965333
It seems an age ago, well these were different times, that I found a friend, John Vigar, was doing a tour of some East Kent churches. It had been some time since we last met, so I said I would go along, and he kindly waived my costs.
Of the four churches he was planning to visit, I had not seen inside two, so it seemed an ideal chance.
And then the world changed.
But, the tour was to go ahead, and plans were made to meet at Holy Trinity at eleven.
Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Dumpton and Margate now merge into one large town, spreading over the Isle of Thanet, so finding the church was given to the sat nav, which guided me down main roads to the church, where there was a parking space nearby.
Inside a service, mass, had just ended. I looked round and could see stations of the cross, icons. So this was high.
I can't claim to understand the different flavours of faith, but the vicar was very welcoming, he told me some of the history of his calling, the places he has ministered.
The church was well proportioned, but in the 1970s, a church hall was built at the east end of the church, making what is left, jarring.
But it is a fine, 19th century church, one built to serve the large community living near the harbour, rather than the old parish church at St Peter. This community would soon need a second new church, St George.
-------------------------------------------
Holy Trinity Ramsgate, a flint clad church, stands on the east cliff of Ramsgate close to the Royal Harbour. The Church was consecrated in 1845 and has always maintained a Catholic tradition, firmly anchored in the Anglican Church. Holy Trinity is a Resolution and Society church under the See of Richborough.
The principal Sunday Worship is a Sung Mass with sermon accompanied by fine organ music and the Rite used is Common Worship. There are masses every Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening. We have a thriving Sunday School and we have recently instituted a re-generation programme and we are now a church in growth. We also have an active choir that is always happy to accept new members. Come and join us, a warm welcome awaits you.
holytrinitychurchramsgate.com/about-us/
-------------------------------------------
Location
Statutory Address:
CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, BELLEVUE ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
County:
Kent
District:
Thanet (District Authority)
Parish:
Ramsgate
National Grid Reference:
TR 38669 65333
Details
RAMSGATE BELLEVUE ROAD TR 3865 SE (west side) 10/56 Church of the Holy Trinity GV II Parish Church. 1844-5. Stevens and Alexander of London. Coursed, knapped flint with Caen stone dressings and concrete interlocking tiles to roof. Nave with aisles and south porch and chancel in perpendicular style. Triple offset and pinnacled buttresses to nave and aisle west end, with double gable to west, and plank and stud door with label surround below large 5 light window. Smaller 3 light windows to aisles, west end, with arched 2 light windows elsewhere and square headed 2 light clerestory windows. Gabled south porch with arched and hooded surrounds to outer and inner doors. Simple offset buttresses to east ends of nave and aisles, and eastern bell gable. Small and plain projecting chancel. Interior: now used as church and church hall with panelled entrance lobby to both parts. Large double chamfered arcade on octagonal moulded piers, with similar channel arch. Fittings: pulpit and lectern, very dark varnished wood with much figurative sculpture, 1867 by J E Lock-Beveridge. The church cost £3000, with seating for 770, on a site given by the D'Este family of Mount Albion House (the children of Prince Frederick Augustus and Lady Augusta Murray) (Busson, Ramsgate, 106;) (See also B.O.E. Kent II. 426; Honan. Victorian Churches of Kent, 83).
Listing NGR: TR3866965333
By now it was raining quite hard, so I grabbed a couple of shots from the other side of the road before going in.
Hello I said to the churchwarden, we've come to photograph the church.
Oh I don't know if that's possible, you might be journalists. What do you want the pictures for?
I explained about the website and liking churches and that we had come from Dover to see this church. I gave he my Moo card, and she siad it was OK. And then would not shut up, she told us all about the history of the church, the town, businesses. All nice, but I wanted to snap the church.
In the end, Jools took over and I set about snapping. And very fine it is too.
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Holy Trinity Church, which dominates the High Street, was built by Bishop Gundulf c.1080. There is good evidence to suggest that a much earlier church occupied the site in Saxon times. The church provided a focus for the religious and ceremonial life of medieval Dartford. The building was significantly enlarged during the reign of Henry III (1216-72) to accommodate a new chapel dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury for use by visiting pilgrims. Pilgrimages to Canterbury ceased in 1538 during the reign of Henry VIII. At this time, Becket’s altar was removed from the church, his festivals abolished, and the local trade in pilgrim souvenirs was halted. Consequently, many Dartford traders lost a valuable source of income.
Further extensions were added to the church during the reigns of Edward I (1272-1307) and Edward II (1307-27). In 1313, Thomas de Wouldham, Bishop of Rochester, visited the church to inspect a new window, which his chaplain Hamo de Hethe commissioned. About 1470, bells were hung in the newly heightened tower.
Regular maintenance and upkeep of the church property was an expensive business, the cost being borne by the parishioners. In 1470 the church roof had to be re-covered with lead. Shortly afterwards, the church tower was heightened. A document of 1453 confirms that the church administered its own cemetery sited right next to the church building.
Prior to the Reformation, the church had no seats or pews for worshippers. The congregation remained standing during services. At least four main altars and other shrines decorated the church. The high altar was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Three additional altars were dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury, St Mary, and St Ann. Statues of the Virgin Mary and St Anthony occupied a prominent position. A niche known as Sepulchre was used to display a crucifix during Holy Week. The front of the church was dominated by a large illuminated rood or cross.
Masses were said in the church for the souls of the departed. Singing or chanting in Latin formed an integral part of the worship. In c.1485, a magnificent fresco depicting St George slaying the dragon was painted on the east wall of St Mary's chapel. This painting can still be seen in the church today. Some of Dartford’s wealthy residents, like Thomas Bond, asked to be buried close to the main altar in the church. Prominent local worthies were commemorated in the church when they died. A fine commemorative brass can still be seen in the church today commemorating Richard Martyn who died 18 February 1402. A chantry or chapel known as Stampit Chantry was founded by Thomas de Dertford at Holy Trinity church in 1338.
Father Paul gave tours of the church during the Panegyri Festival last month -
Father Paul was born in San Francisco, California and grew up 30 minutes north of there in the town of Novato. He, along with the majority of his family, converted to the Orthodox Faith in 1996 from Lutheranism.
Deacon Paul attended one year at Santa Rosa Junior College before transferring to Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, where he studied Political Science and Philosophy. After graduating in 2006, he attended Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology where he earned his Masters of Divinity in 2010. He was ordained to the holy Diaconate on October 23, 2011 by His Eminence Gerasimos of the Metropolis of San Francisco.
On December 1, 2011, he began serving at Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in the Metropolis of Detroit. He was ordained to the holy Priest on January 21, 2012.
He married Lavinia Suciu on August 17, 2008. Lavinia grew up in Dumbraveni, Romania, and came to the United States to study Elementary Education at Hellenic College. She earned her Masters of Theological Studies at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in 2010.
Approached through a gateway off Goodramgate in York, Holy Trinity hides in a small, secluded, leafy churchyard, with the Minster towering behind.
The east window has marvellous stained glass. Donated in the early 1470s by the Reverend John Walker, rector of the church, this is a series of five lovely panels. In the central light, below the figures of the Holy Trinity, is the kneeling figure of John Walker himself. There is also a particularly fine representation of St Christopher carrying the Christ Child.
I served in the RAF for fifteen years.
I worked in the food industry for five years previous to joining up, then worked in the deep sea survey industry before ending up with wind turbines for the last 15 years before retiring.
I am proud to have served, and made many, many long-term friends and comrades.
I last went to a reunion over a decade ago, where the heavy drinking, I realised, was a thing of the past.
Every year I think of going to that year's reunion, but think better of it.
I was an armourer. That is a trade that deals with anything and everything that goes bang, from bombs and missiles, to small arms, loading aircraft to bomb disposal.
We are very proud of our trade, and are very active on social media in keeping in touch and letting the rest of us know when one of the family is called to the Tea Bar in the Sky.
Two years in the planning and fundraising, was a memorial to be erected at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, and this week it was to be dedicated.
I decided that I wanted to be there.
So, hotel was booked and much planning of some churchcrawling to be done on the Monday afternoon and maybe Tuesday.
I thought Cheadle was in Lancashire, but it turns out it is near Stoke in the Midlands, a 40 minute drive from the hotel, so it seemed a good idea that I would visit on the Monday, before turning back south to the hotel.
St Luke was designed by our old friend, Augustus Welby Pugin, and is considered his "gem". It even says that on the brown road signs as you get near to Cheadle.
But before getting there, I had the small matter of driving nearly five hours from Dover, heading north, mostly by a route you'll be very familiar with.
The alarm went off at five.
Early.
I get up, and between us we feed the cats, make coffee, so that by five to six, the car was packed and I was ready to leave.
It was so early that there was no traffic heading away from the port, meaning I had a good run up the M20 past Ashford and Maidstone as dawn crept across the sky, and the sun rose.
Above, the sky was laced with clouds, but mostly blue, though tinged with pink from the early sun.
Amazingly, the M25 was fairly clear. I cruised to the tunnel in just over an hour after leaving home.
Along to the M11, then just head north.
North through Essex. The harvest is in, fields are ploughed and seeded, trees are still green, though edged with gold telling us that autumn is here.
Even Cambridge at eight wasn't busy, though it was coming the other way along the A14. I pressed on, stopping for breakfast at the massive Cambridge Services.
Breakfast was a bacon and sausage butty, a cup of tea and a Twix.
Breakfast and dinner as it turned out.
I ate in the services, then back in the car for the next leg north.
West of the A1, the A14 is still a two lane road, and the trucks that use it, overtaking, cause tailbacks as they creep past other trucks.
Its 42 miles, and it seems to take forever, but the junction at the foot of the M6 arrives, but the sat nav tells me to take the M1 instead.
Once I turned off the motorway, I went through an almost endless series of roundabouts, parkways and strip malls, as one Midland town blends with the next.
Between, sometimes, there are green fields, and rolling countryside, while above a "Simpsons" sky allows lots of sunshine to make nature's colour really punch.
The final 30 minutes were through villages rather than towns, up steeper hills. But I reached Cheadle just before eleven, and once driving round the town's one way system, I found the main car park, a short walk from the church.
St Giles is open every day, once I reached the church, the most striking feature is the west doors, with matching golden rampant lions on a bold red background.
Pugin was here.
I thought Ramsgate was Pugin's perfect church, but St Giles is breath-taking.
There were three others in the church, they sat in the pews and took in the church, talking in whispers.
I went round taking picture after picture, with both the DSLR and mobile.
How do I describe it? How can mere words do justice to a force of natures greatest work?
I guess its like listening to an orchestra, where all the parts combine to make a symphony. St Giles is a symphony in stone and paint and glass for the senses.
I had to leave, as I only had an hour on my parking ticket, so walked back up the main street and cut through back to the car park.
I had asked a friend, Aidan, if there were any churches in the area he recommended, and one was Radcliffe-on-Soar. So, I set the sat nav, and headed 40 minutes back in the direction I had just come.
Ratcliffe is a small village, spread out along a dead end lane, with the church near the end, and would be unremarkable. But decades ago, a massive coal fired power station was built the other side of the main road, its eight cooling towers dominate the village and landscape for miles around.
The power station is now closed and set to be demolished soon, so the towers still stand, stark against the light clouded sky.
Holy Trinity is open daily. I checked. So, I parked on the side of the lane, walked to the porch and pushed open the door.
Inside, the stillness was deafening. The centuries laid heavy on the tombs in the chancel, for it was the tombs that make this church so special.
Five, I think, tombs with carvings of the occupants on top, all in pious poses, though through the untold years, vandals and visitors have broken bits off: nose here, a foot or hand there.
I took my shots, enjoying the peace inside.
But my last church closed at four, it was half two, so should be OK, but you never can be sure.
It was another half hour drive, this time along country lanes winding its way over the Wolds.
The thing with postcodes is that in urban areas are very specific, and you find your destination quite easily. In rural areas a large part of the parish can be under the same postcode, or the whole village.
The sat nav got me to the village, but I could find no church. It suggested going down a road marked private. I decided not to follow, and visited all parts of the village in search of the church.
I found Church Lane, and like me you'd think the church was on church lane.
It isn't.
Or as I found out soon after, the bridge from Church Lane to the church has been closed.
Hmmm..
I checked on Google Maps, and sure enough the church was down the private lane. So I went back, following another car, that was being driven by the keyholder.
This was Widmerpool, the road took me past the outbuildings for a country estate, all now turned into large private residences. I could feel watchful eyes following me as I drove up the road.
I parked at the end, and saw the lady walk up a path with an old gas street lamp indicating it might be the way to the church.
It was.
The lady was talking to a workman who was dealing with a wasp infestation.
"Can I help you?"
I have come to see the church, it took some finding. It should be open today.
"I have the key, I will open it for you".
We went in and we talked about this church, and churches in general, but mainly about people like her who give parts of their free time for caring for these grand buildings.
Apparently there was an ancient church here, but mostly rebuilt in the first half of the 19th century, and again in the second half, what is there is mainly late Victorian, but of a good standard.
I liked it, and the location, far away from the towns that link like spider's webs across most of the Midlands.
But it was time to go to my hotel in Burton. I bid the keyholder farewell, as two dozy wasps buzzed around sounding like two very small bagpipes.
Back out along the private road, across the crossroads, over the railway and back to the main road. And then just twenty minutes to noisy, busy Burton.
In the middle of a retail park set along the main road into town was the Premier Inn, I pull in and check in.
Nothing wrong with the hotel or room. Clean and functional.
I settle down for 90 minutes before going next door to the restaurant for dinner. I had a table booked to make sure.
At half five, I walked over to the "restaurant", and found the place near deserted, the lady with improbable eyebrows who checked me in was double shifting in the bar all evening, and the oncoming shift found supplies were short.
I found out there were no burgers, no chips, no pizzas, no cheesecake, and other things ran out in the two hours I was there.
I couldn't have burger, so had fish and chips. Though not chips as such. Weird shaped slivers or potato. They did OK.
I had a beer too.
And as I was finishing, an old friend, one of the first corporals I worked for back in 1991 walked in.
Hello Mark.
"Hello Ian"
So, we sat down to catch up and found out what we have done in the last 34 years.
A friend of his came in, to eat, but hearing the ever growing list of items they place were running out of, they caught a taxi into town for a highly rated Indian restaurant (which had closed), so I drank up my third beer and went back to my room.
And went to bed at nine.
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Domesday Book records that Radeclive possessed a priest and a church in 1086.
In 1115 William Fitz Nigel, constable of Chester and second baron of Halton, established an Augustinian priory a short distance from his castle at Halton, near Runcorn, Cheshire. The foundation charter of the priory includes his gift of the Nottinghamshire churches of Ratcliffe-on-Soar and Kneesall. In 1134 Fitz Nigel's son moved the canons to a new site 4 km away which would become known as the priory (later abbey) of St. Mary at Norton.
The history of the church during the medieval period is marked by several disputes over the advowson.
On 4 May 1270 Ratcliffe’s manorial lord, Peter Picot, presented Theobald de Belhus to the church of Ratcliffe. Five days later Norton Priory presented Richard de Halton to the same church. The dispute over the advowson was resolved in October of the same year by King Henry III who informed Walter Giffard, archbishop of York, that the prior of Norton had recovered the presentation of the church of Ratcliffe against Picot and ordered the archbishop to admit at the prior’s presentation.
The Taxation Roll of Pope Nicholas IV. (1291), gives the clear annual value of the church at £46 13s. 4d., the pension of the Prior of Norton being valued at 13s. 4d.
In 1317 Walter de Allesland became rector of Ratcliffe on Soar and was given licence to study for two years from the date of his institution. The benefice now being apparently ‘void’ the Pope then granted Ratcliffe to Bertrand du Pouget, Cardinal priest of S Marcello, who in turn appointed his own nominee and ordered the prior of Lenton to make the necessary arrangements. King Edward II, however, prohibited the prior from taking any action. Papal correspondence of 1319 to the archbishop of York, the bishop of Hereford and the bishop elect of Winchester accuses the prior of Lenton of refusing to ‘obey the papal order directing him to induct the proctor of Bertrand, cardinal of St. Marcellus, into the rectory of Radclive on Sore’ and also refers to Walter de Alminslond [Allesland] ‘who by lay power has thrust himself into the parish church of Radclive on Sore, of which papal provision was made to cardinal Bertrand.’ The issue dragged on and in 1325 the Pope wrote to King Edward II to beg him to grant possession of the church to cardinal Bertrand’s proctor and to remove from it from the occupier (Walter de Allesland). It would appear the Pope ultimately failed as Allesland was still the rector of Ratcliffe when he died c.1331.
On 1 August 1358 Norton Priory granted to John de Winwick, treasurer of York Minster, the advowson of the church of Ratcliffe on Soar, chapels annexed to it and all other things pertaining. In December 1359 Winwick appointed Henry de Blakeburn rector of Ratcliffe.
Winwick died in late 1359 or early 1360 and in his will specified that the advowson of Ratcliffe on Soar church should be assigned to the chapter of Lichfield. However, when his will was proved on 28 June 1360 a codicil had been added that stated ‘the advowson of the church of Radclyve on Sore should be assigned to the maintenance of scholars dwelling in Oxford in a hall to be built by his executors.’ Presumably, John’s brother, Richard, changed the assignment of the advowson from the chapter of Lichfield to the college at Oxford. An inquisition of 1361 confirmed that it was ‘not to the loss or prejudice of the king if he grants to Richard Wynewyk … that he may give the advowson of the church of Radeclive on Sore to the Provost of the king’s hall of Blessed Mary at Oxford called “le Oriole” to find and maintain certain poor scholars dwelling in the aforesaid hall … The same church is worth, according to the true value of the same, 40 marks a year and the extent of the same is 50 marks.’ Richard also petitioned the Pope in 1363 to confirm the gift and although the Pope granted the petition ‘in regard to the foundation made from the goods of the deceased’ the appropriation of the church was refused.
Further problems arose in 1375 when Richard de Winwick appointed William Julyan as rector of Ratcliffe after the resignation of Henry de Blakeburn. In May 1375 an order was issued to arrest Walter Levenaunt, (a canon of Exeter Cathedral), Ralph Daventre and Baldwin Taillour (‘his proctors and … his aiders and abettors’) and have them presented before the king and council. Apparently, the king had learned that ‘although Henry Blackeburn, clerk, canonically obtained the church of Radecleve upon Sore, by virtue of the presentation of John de Wynewyk’ Levenaunt had challenged his appointment and intended ‘to intrude into the said church and expel therefrom William Julyan.’ The Pope demanded that Julyan be removed but Winwick had the support of King Edward III and ignored him.
In November 1380, twenty years after John de Winwick’s death, his executors obtained a licence from Richard II to give the advowson to Burscough Priory, near Ormskirk in Lancashire. In the following year Alexander Neville, the archbishop of York, allowed its appropriation to relieve the poverty of the priory caused by the pestilence, bad seasons and other misfortunes and to provide a competent income for the cure of the parish of Ratcliffe.
Levenaunt, however, refused to admit defeat and decided on a more direct approach. On 9 October 1381 he led a gang that attacked the church with the intention of forcibly ejecting the rector. Finding the doors barred the gang tried to burn them down and Julyan fled to the roof for safety. Having failed to gain entry to the church the attackers departed. A warrant for Levenaunt’s arrest was issued by the king in May 1383 but in 1384 he petitioned the king to be released from the charge of outlawry stating that he purchased the presentment to the church of Ratcliffe on Soar by due process at the court of Rome, and claimed he had been outlawed by a false judgment brought against him by the king. He was pardoned the following year.
According to the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535 the church of 'Ratclyf super Soore (with the chapels of Kynston [Kingston upon Soar] and Thrompton [Thrumpton])', which was then appropriated to Burscough Priory, Lancashire, was valued at the clear yearly sum of £6 13s. 4d. The vicar was Thomas Wynter.
In the mid 16th century the Archbishop of York ordered that all altar stones should be 'broken, defaced and bestowed to common use'. Such altar stones were to be replaced by an ‘honest table’. Ratcliffe was lucky in that the altar stone was too massive to be broken and it was dropped into the church floor. This order was rescinded at Mary’s accession in 1553 but c1571 the altar stone was buried and replaced by the honest table now used as a Communion table situated at the forefront of the chancel above the steps to the nave. Also at the time of Mary’s accession, two bells were given to the church by the Commissioner of Church Goods. These were replaced c1600 by two bells by Henry Oldfield.
In 1650 the Parliamentary Commissioners reported the impropriate rectory, with an annual value of £80, was the joint possession of Colonel John Hutchinson and William Hazard, gentleman, in right of Hellenor his wife, the impropriators, who received the profits thereof to their own use, 'the Cure being well and constantly served at the charge of the said Impropriators.'
There are frequent references to the poor state of the church fabric in the churchwarden presentment bills of the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1618 the churchwardens of Thrumpton and Kingston-on-Soar were presented for ‘not doing those reparations in the parish church of Ratcliffe upon Soar which time out of mind have been carried out by them, viz. repairing the north and south aisles.’ In 1684 they reported that ‘the church wants whiting and some of the windows are stopped up at the top and the bottom; the church porch floor is out of repair; the chancel walls want whiting and drawing [with lime and hair]; part of one of the chancel windows is stopped up and the chancel floor wants paving; the church wall on the north side is propped up with timber; the leads on the north side want mending…’ There were problems with the church roof on the north side, the flooring and walls in 1704 and in 1718 an order stipulated that the following work was to be carried out: ‘walls to be whitewashed inside; canopy of pulpit to be mended; partition between church and chancel to be mended.’
During the first half of the 17th century a wooden altar, sanctuary rails and font cover were installed.
By the 18th century the church was still in a very poor state of repair and in the latter half of the century the north aisle including the clerestory was completely re-built and the arches rounded. At this time the treble bell by Hedderley was installed.
At the time of Archbishop Herring’s visitation in 1743 the curate, Edward Moises, reported that there were only 17 families in the parish, including a Quaker family and one that was Anabaptist. There was no meeting house, almshouse, school or parsonage house in the parish and no lands or tenements left for the repair of the church. The curate received £28 for serving the cures of Bunny and Ratcliffe. Divine service was performed once every Sunday and Holy Communion was administered four times a year to about ten communicants (out of 50 in the parish).
Thomas Poynton, the vicar of Bunny with Bradmore, appeared and made the return for Ratcliffe-on-Soar on the occasion of Archbishop Drummond’s Visitation in 1764. The village had only twenty families, none of whom were dissenters ‘except two or three of those called Moravians.’ He lived in the vicarage house at Bunny, where he was the vicar. The curate, James Deavin, lived at Kegworth and was paid £14 for serving both Ratcliffe and Kingston churches. Poynton added that he performed divine service ‘not only here once a fortnight during the summer season but also at Bunny and that all the year, as also sometimes at Kingston.’ The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was administered here four times a year; Poynton observed that ‘there generally is not above six or seven who partake of it.’
Between 1832 and 1840 the church, originally dedicated to St Mary, was re-dedicated to The Holy Trinity.
The incumbent of Ratcliffe-on-Soar, the Rev John James Vaughan, vicar of Gotham, reported in the 1851 Religious Census that on average 23 parishioners and 20 Sunday Scholars attended the service on Sunday. There were 42 free spaces and 18 other.
In 1868 the church was reported to be ‘fast falling into decay' and Kelly's Directory of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire published in 1881 noted that 'the church was in much need of restoration.' Godfrey (1887) provides a description of the interior in the 1880s:
'Two bays of the nave and half the chancel is enclosed by boarding as high as the capitals of the pillars, and service is conducted in this box, which is fitted up with an altar, pulpit, reading desk, and benches. The floor, also, is partly boarded over, probably concealing other floor stones ... The church is in a most neglected state, and requires much reparation.'
According to Kelly's Directory of Nottinghamshire (1900) there was a partial restoration of the building in 1891 'when the unsightly boarding which enclosed the nave was removed, the chancel rescued from its previously desecrated condition, and the fabric in part new-roofed’. The work cost £830 which was mostly met by Lord Howe, the impropriator and patron of the living. The altar stone was restored and re-consecrated at the same time.
Edwyn Hoskyns, bishop of Southwell, carried out a visitation of his diocese between 1911 and 1915. In December 1913 he visited West Bingham Deanery and in his report to the deanery noted that 'the Church fabric at Ratcliffe-on-Soar is in a very bad condition, and calls for immediate restoration.' At the same time the diocesan calendar for the previous year records that the net annual value of the benefice was £56, the church was able to accommodate 80 worshippers, and there had been six baptisms and one confirmation in the year ending 30 September 1912.
Further restoration work on the church fabric was carried out in 1915-16. Lord Belper and the Diocesan Church Extension Society funded the work.
In 1936 a modern font, a gift from Kingston-on-Soar, was installed near the door.
southwellchurches.nottingham.ac.uk/ratcliffe-on-soar/hhis...
I served in the RAF for fifteen years.
I worked in the food industry for five years previous to joining up, then worked in the deep sea survey industry before ending up with wind turbines for the last 15 years before retiring.
I am proud to have served, and made many, many long-term friends and comrades.
I last went to a reunion over a decade ago, where the heavy drinking, I realised, was a thing of the past.
Every year I think of going to that year's reunion, but think better of it.
I was an armourer. That is a trade that deals with anything and everything that goes bang, from bombs and missiles, to small arms, loading aircraft to bomb disposal.
We are very proud of our trade, and are very active on social media in keeping in touch and letting the rest of us know when one of the family is called to the Tea Bar in the Sky.
Two years in the planning and fundraising, was a memorial to be erected at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, and this week it was to be dedicated.
I decided that I wanted to be there.
So, hotel was booked and much planning of some churchcrawling to be done on the Monday afternoon and maybe Tuesday.
I thought Cheadle was in Lancashire, but it turns out it is near Stoke in the Midlands, a 40 minute drive from the hotel, so it seemed a good idea that I would visit on the Monday, before turning back south to the hotel.
St Luke was designed by our old friend, Augustus Welby Pugin, and is considered his "gem". It even says that on the brown road signs as you get near to Cheadle.
But before getting there, I had the small matter of driving nearly five hours from Dover, heading north, mostly by a route you'll be very familiar with.
The alarm went off at five.
Early.
I get up, and between us we feed the cats, make coffee, so that by five to six, the car was packed and I was ready to leave.
It was so early that there was no traffic heading away from the port, meaning I had a good run up the M20 past Ashford and Maidstone as dawn crept across the sky, and the sun rose.
Above, the sky was laced with clouds, but mostly blue, though tinged with pink from the early sun.
Amazingly, the M25 was fairly clear. I cruised to the tunnel in just over an hour after leaving home.
Along to the M11, then just head north.
North through Essex. The harvest is in, fields are ploughed and seeded, trees are still green, though edged with gold telling us that autumn is here.
Even Cambridge at eight wasn't busy, though it was coming the other way along the A14. I pressed on, stopping for breakfast at the massive Cambridge Services.
Breakfast was a bacon and sausage butty, a cup of tea and a Twix.
Breakfast and dinner as it turned out.
I ate in the services, then back in the car for the next leg north.
West of the A1, the A14 is still a two lane road, and the trucks that use it, overtaking, cause tailbacks as they creep past other trucks.
Its 42 miles, and it seems to take forever, but the junction at the foot of the M6 arrives, but the sat nav tells me to take the M1 instead.
Once I turned off the motorway, I went through an almost endless series of roundabouts, parkways and strip malls, as one Midland town blends with the next.
Between, sometimes, there are green fields, and rolling countryside, while above a "Simpsons" sky allows lots of sunshine to make nature's colour really punch.
The final 30 minutes were through villages rather than towns, up steeper hills. But I reached Cheadle just before eleven, and once driving round the town's one way system, I found the main car park, a short walk from the church.
St Giles is open every day, once I reached the church, the most striking feature is the west doors, with matching golden rampant lions on a bold red background.
Pugin was here.
I thought Ramsgate was Pugin's perfect church, but St Giles is breath-taking.
There were three others in the church, they sat in the pews and took in the church, talking in whispers.
I went round taking picture after picture, with both the DSLR and mobile.
How do I describe it? How can mere words do justice to a force of natures greatest work?
I guess its like listening to an orchestra, where all the parts combine to make a symphony. St Giles is a symphony in stone and paint and glass for the senses.
I had to leave, as I only had an hour on my parking ticket, so walked back up the main street and cut through back to the car park.
I had asked a friend, Aidan, if there were any churches in the area he recommended, and one was Radcliffe-on-Soar. So, I set the sat nav, and headed 40 minutes back in the direction I had just come.
Ratcliffe is a small village, spread out along a dead end lane, with the church near the end, and would be unremarkable. But decades ago, a massive coal fired power station was built the other side of the main road, its eight cooling towers dominate the village and landscape for miles around.
The power station is now closed and set to be demolished soon, so the towers still stand, stark against the light clouded sky.
Holy Trinity is open daily. I checked. So, I parked on the side of the lane, walked to the porch and pushed open the door.
Inside, the stillness was deafening. The centuries laid heavy on the tombs in the chancel, for it was the tombs that make this church so special.
Five, I think, tombs with carvings of the occupants on top, all in pious poses, though through the untold years, vandals and visitors have broken bits off: nose here, a foot or hand there.
I took my shots, enjoying the peace inside.
But my last church closed at four, it was half two, so should be OK, but you never can be sure.
It was another half hour drive, this time along country lanes winding its way over the Wolds.
The thing with postcodes is that in urban areas are very specific, and you find your destination quite easily. In rural areas a large part of the parish can be under the same postcode, or the whole village.
The sat nav got me to the village, but I could find no church. It suggested going down a road marked private. I decided not to follow, and visited all parts of the village in search of the church.
I found Church Lane, and like me you'd think the church was on church lane.
It isn't.
Or as I found out soon after, the bridge from Church Lane to the church has been closed.
Hmmm..
I checked on Google Maps, and sure enough the church was down the private lane. So I went back, following another car, that was being driven by the keyholder.
This was Widmerpool, the road took me past the outbuildings for a country estate, all now turned into large private residences. I could feel watchful eyes following me as I drove up the road.
I parked at the end, and saw the lady walk up a path with an old gas street lamp indicating it might be the way to the church.
It was.
The lady was talking to a workman who was dealing with a wasp infestation.
"Can I help you?"
I have come to see the church, it took some finding. It should be open today.
"I have the key, I will open it for you".
We went in and we talked about this church, and churches in general, but mainly about people like her who give parts of their free time for caring for these grand buildings.
Apparently there was an ancient church here, but mostly rebuilt in the first half of the 19th century, and again in the second half, what is there is mainly late Victorian, but of a good standard.
I liked it, and the location, far away from the towns that link like spider's webs across most of the Midlands.
But it was time to go to my hotel in Burton. I bid the keyholder farewell, as two dozy wasps buzzed around sounding like two very small bagpipes.
Back out along the private road, across the crossroads, over the railway and back to the main road. And then just twenty minutes to noisy, busy Burton.
In the middle of a retail park set along the main road into town was the Premier Inn, I pull in and check in.
Nothing wrong with the hotel or room. Clean and functional.
I settle down for 90 minutes before going next door to the restaurant for dinner. I had a table booked to make sure.
At half five, I walked over to the "restaurant", and found the place near deserted, the lady with improbable eyebrows who checked me in was double shifting in the bar all evening, and the oncoming shift found supplies were short.
I found out there were no burgers, no chips, no pizzas, no cheesecake, and other things ran out in the two hours I was there.
I couldn't have burger, so had fish and chips. Though not chips as such. Weird shaped slivers or potato. They did OK.
I had a beer too.
And as I was finishing, an old friend, one of the first corporals I worked for back in 1991 walked in.
Hello Mark.
"Hello Ian"
So, we sat down to catch up and found out what we have done in the last 34 years.
A friend of his came in, to eat, but hearing the ever growing list of items they place were running out of, they caught a taxi into town for a highly rated Indian restaurant (which had closed), so I drank up my third beer and went back to my room.
And went to bed at nine.
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Domesday Book records that Radeclive possessed a priest and a church in 1086.
In 1115 William Fitz Nigel, constable of Chester and second baron of Halton, established an Augustinian priory a short distance from his castle at Halton, near Runcorn, Cheshire. The foundation charter of the priory includes his gift of the Nottinghamshire churches of Ratcliffe-on-Soar and Kneesall. In 1134 Fitz Nigel's son moved the canons to a new site 4 km away which would become known as the priory (later abbey) of St. Mary at Norton.
The history of the church during the medieval period is marked by several disputes over the advowson.
On 4 May 1270 Ratcliffe’s manorial lord, Peter Picot, presented Theobald de Belhus to the church of Ratcliffe. Five days later Norton Priory presented Richard de Halton to the same church. The dispute over the advowson was resolved in October of the same year by King Henry III who informed Walter Giffard, archbishop of York, that the prior of Norton had recovered the presentation of the church of Ratcliffe against Picot and ordered the archbishop to admit at the prior’s presentation.
The Taxation Roll of Pope Nicholas IV. (1291), gives the clear annual value of the church at £46 13s. 4d., the pension of the Prior of Norton being valued at 13s. 4d.
In 1317 Walter de Allesland became rector of Ratcliffe on Soar and was given licence to study for two years from the date of his institution. The benefice now being apparently ‘void’ the Pope then granted Ratcliffe to Bertrand du Pouget, Cardinal priest of S Marcello, who in turn appointed his own nominee and ordered the prior of Lenton to make the necessary arrangements. King Edward II, however, prohibited the prior from taking any action. Papal correspondence of 1319 to the archbishop of York, the bishop of Hereford and the bishop elect of Winchester accuses the prior of Lenton of refusing to ‘obey the papal order directing him to induct the proctor of Bertrand, cardinal of St. Marcellus, into the rectory of Radclive on Sore’ and also refers to Walter de Alminslond [Allesland] ‘who by lay power has thrust himself into the parish church of Radclive on Sore, of which papal provision was made to cardinal Bertrand.’ The issue dragged on and in 1325 the Pope wrote to King Edward II to beg him to grant possession of the church to cardinal Bertrand’s proctor and to remove from it from the occupier (Walter de Allesland). It would appear the Pope ultimately failed as Allesland was still the rector of Ratcliffe when he died c.1331.
On 1 August 1358 Norton Priory granted to John de Winwick, treasurer of York Minster, the advowson of the church of Ratcliffe on Soar, chapels annexed to it and all other things pertaining. In December 1359 Winwick appointed Henry de Blakeburn rector of Ratcliffe.
Winwick died in late 1359 or early 1360 and in his will specified that the advowson of Ratcliffe on Soar church should be assigned to the chapter of Lichfield. However, when his will was proved on 28 June 1360 a codicil had been added that stated ‘the advowson of the church of Radclyve on Sore should be assigned to the maintenance of scholars dwelling in Oxford in a hall to be built by his executors.’ Presumably, John’s brother, Richard, changed the assignment of the advowson from the chapter of Lichfield to the college at Oxford. An inquisition of 1361 confirmed that it was ‘not to the loss or prejudice of the king if he grants to Richard Wynewyk … that he may give the advowson of the church of Radeclive on Sore to the Provost of the king’s hall of Blessed Mary at Oxford called “le Oriole” to find and maintain certain poor scholars dwelling in the aforesaid hall … The same church is worth, according to the true value of the same, 40 marks a year and the extent of the same is 50 marks.’ Richard also petitioned the Pope in 1363 to confirm the gift and although the Pope granted the petition ‘in regard to the foundation made from the goods of the deceased’ the appropriation of the church was refused.
Further problems arose in 1375 when Richard de Winwick appointed William Julyan as rector of Ratcliffe after the resignation of Henry de Blakeburn. In May 1375 an order was issued to arrest Walter Levenaunt, (a canon of Exeter Cathedral), Ralph Daventre and Baldwin Taillour (‘his proctors and … his aiders and abettors’) and have them presented before the king and council. Apparently, the king had learned that ‘although Henry Blackeburn, clerk, canonically obtained the church of Radecleve upon Sore, by virtue of the presentation of John de Wynewyk’ Levenaunt had challenged his appointment and intended ‘to intrude into the said church and expel therefrom William Julyan.’ The Pope demanded that Julyan be removed but Winwick had the support of King Edward III and ignored him.
In November 1380, twenty years after John de Winwick’s death, his executors obtained a licence from Richard II to give the advowson to Burscough Priory, near Ormskirk in Lancashire. In the following year Alexander Neville, the archbishop of York, allowed its appropriation to relieve the poverty of the priory caused by the pestilence, bad seasons and other misfortunes and to provide a competent income for the cure of the parish of Ratcliffe.
Levenaunt, however, refused to admit defeat and decided on a more direct approach. On 9 October 1381 he led a gang that attacked the church with the intention of forcibly ejecting the rector. Finding the doors barred the gang tried to burn them down and Julyan fled to the roof for safety. Having failed to gain entry to the church the attackers departed. A warrant for Levenaunt’s arrest was issued by the king in May 1383 but in 1384 he petitioned the king to be released from the charge of outlawry stating that he purchased the presentment to the church of Ratcliffe on Soar by due process at the court of Rome, and claimed he had been outlawed by a false judgment brought against him by the king. He was pardoned the following year.
According to the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535 the church of 'Ratclyf super Soore (with the chapels of Kynston [Kingston upon Soar] and Thrompton [Thrumpton])', which was then appropriated to Burscough Priory, Lancashire, was valued at the clear yearly sum of £6 13s. 4d. The vicar was Thomas Wynter.
In the mid 16th century the Archbishop of York ordered that all altar stones should be 'broken, defaced and bestowed to common use'. Such altar stones were to be replaced by an ‘honest table’. Ratcliffe was lucky in that the altar stone was too massive to be broken and it was dropped into the church floor. This order was rescinded at Mary’s accession in 1553 but c1571 the altar stone was buried and replaced by the honest table now used as a Communion table situated at the forefront of the chancel above the steps to the nave. Also at the time of Mary’s accession, two bells were given to the church by the Commissioner of Church Goods. These were replaced c1600 by two bells by Henry Oldfield.
In 1650 the Parliamentary Commissioners reported the impropriate rectory, with an annual value of £80, was the joint possession of Colonel John Hutchinson and William Hazard, gentleman, in right of Hellenor his wife, the impropriators, who received the profits thereof to their own use, 'the Cure being well and constantly served at the charge of the said Impropriators.'
There are frequent references to the poor state of the church fabric in the churchwarden presentment bills of the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1618 the churchwardens of Thrumpton and Kingston-on-Soar were presented for ‘not doing those reparations in the parish church of Ratcliffe upon Soar which time out of mind have been carried out by them, viz. repairing the north and south aisles.’ In 1684 they reported that ‘the church wants whiting and some of the windows are stopped up at the top and the bottom; the church porch floor is out of repair; the chancel walls want whiting and drawing [with lime and hair]; part of one of the chancel windows is stopped up and the chancel floor wants paving; the church wall on the north side is propped up with timber; the leads on the north side want mending…’ There were problems with the church roof on the north side, the flooring and walls in 1704 and in 1718 an order stipulated that the following work was to be carried out: ‘walls to be whitewashed inside; canopy of pulpit to be mended; partition between church and chancel to be mended.’
During the first half of the 17th century a wooden altar, sanctuary rails and font cover were installed.
By the 18th century the church was still in a very poor state of repair and in the latter half of the century the north aisle including the clerestory was completely re-built and the arches rounded. At this time the treble bell by Hedderley was installed.
At the time of Archbishop Herring’s visitation in 1743 the curate, Edward Moises, reported that there were only 17 families in the parish, including a Quaker family and one that was Anabaptist. There was no meeting house, almshouse, school or parsonage house in the parish and no lands or tenements left for the repair of the church. The curate received £28 for serving the cures of Bunny and Ratcliffe. Divine service was performed once every Sunday and Holy Communion was administered four times a year to about ten communicants (out of 50 in the parish).
Thomas Poynton, the vicar of Bunny with Bradmore, appeared and made the return for Ratcliffe-on-Soar on the occasion of Archbishop Drummond’s Visitation in 1764. The village had only twenty families, none of whom were dissenters ‘except two or three of those called Moravians.’ He lived in the vicarage house at Bunny, where he was the vicar. The curate, James Deavin, lived at Kegworth and was paid £14 for serving both Ratcliffe and Kingston churches. Poynton added that he performed divine service ‘not only here once a fortnight during the summer season but also at Bunny and that all the year, as also sometimes at Kingston.’ The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was administered here four times a year; Poynton observed that ‘there generally is not above six or seven who partake of it.’
Between 1832 and 1840 the church, originally dedicated to St Mary, was re-dedicated to The Holy Trinity.
The incumbent of Ratcliffe-on-Soar, the Rev John James Vaughan, vicar of Gotham, reported in the 1851 Religious Census that on average 23 parishioners and 20 Sunday Scholars attended the service on Sunday. There were 42 free spaces and 18 other.
In 1868 the church was reported to be ‘fast falling into decay' and Kelly's Directory of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire published in 1881 noted that 'the church was in much need of restoration.' Godfrey (1887) provides a description of the interior in the 1880s:
'Two bays of the nave and half the chancel is enclosed by boarding as high as the capitals of the pillars, and service is conducted in this box, which is fitted up with an altar, pulpit, reading desk, and benches. The floor, also, is partly boarded over, probably concealing other floor stones ... The church is in a most neglected state, and requires much reparation.'
According to Kelly's Directory of Nottinghamshire (1900) there was a partial restoration of the building in 1891 'when the unsightly boarding which enclosed the nave was removed, the chancel rescued from its previously desecrated condition, and the fabric in part new-roofed’. The work cost £830 which was mostly met by Lord Howe, the impropriator and patron of the living. The altar stone was restored and re-consecrated at the same time.
Edwyn Hoskyns, bishop of Southwell, carried out a visitation of his diocese between 1911 and 1915. In December 1913 he visited West Bingham Deanery and in his report to the deanery noted that 'the Church fabric at Ratcliffe-on-Soar is in a very bad condition, and calls for immediate restoration.' At the same time the diocesan calendar for the previous year records that the net annual value of the benefice was £56, the church was able to accommodate 80 worshippers, and there had been six baptisms and one confirmation in the year ending 30 September 1912.
Further restoration work on the church fabric was carried out in 1915-16. Lord Belper and the Diocesan Church Extension Society funded the work.
In 1936 a modern font, a gift from Kingston-on-Soar, was installed near the door.
southwellchurches.nottingham.ac.uk/ratcliffe-on-soar/hhis...
Holy Trinity would have been the star attraction in any other town or city, it is a majestic cruciform 15th century Perpendicular church with a tapering central tower and spire, the second of Coventry's famous 'Three Spires'. However it has always been overshadowed by larger neighbours, having been encircled by no less than three separate cathedrals through it's history, a unique distinction! Holy Trinity was founded by the monks of the adjoining priory to act as a parish church for it's lay tenants, thus it is ironic that it has long outlived the parent building.
The earliest part is the north porch, which dates from the 13th century, but the majority of the building dates from a more ambitious phase in 15th century Perpendicular style. The 15th century rebuilding has given us the present cruciform arrangement with small transepts and extra chapels on the north side giving an overall roughly rectangular footprint. These chapels were some of many in the church that served the city's separate guilds in medieval times.
The church has gone through much restoration, most notably the rebuilding of it's spire after it was blown down in a storm in 1665. The east end of the chancel was extended in 1786 (in sympathetic style) and much of the exterior was refaced in the early 19th century in then fashionable Bath stone (which clashes with the original red sandstone).
The church luckily escaped major damage during the Coventry Blitz in 1940, largely thanks to the vigilance of Canon Clitheroe and his team of firewatchers who spent a perilous night on the roof tackling incendaries. The main loss was the Victorian stained glass in the east and west windows, which were replaced with much more fetching glass in the postwar restoration.
The most recent restoration involved the uncovering of the 15th century Doom painting over the chancel arch in 2004. Hidden under blackened varnish since it's rediscovery in the early Victorian period, it has now been revealed to be one of the most complete and important medieval Last Judgement murals in the country. There is further painting contemporary with this on the exquisite nave ceiling, painted a beautiful dusty blue with large kneeling angels flanking coats of arms on every rafter.
There are only a handful of monuments and most of the furnishings date from G.G.Scott's 1850s restoration (as does the magnificent vaulted ceiling high above the crossing) but there are some notable medieval survivals in the rare stone pulpit and the brass eagle lectern, both 15th century, along with a fine set of misericords originating from the former Whitefriars monastery church. Just a few fragments of medieval glass survive in the north west chapel.
The church is happily normally open and welcoming to visitors every day.
For more detail on this church see it's entry in the new Warwickshire Churches website below:-
warwickshirechurches.weebly.com/coventry---holy-trinity.html