South Shields: Holy Trinity
Overview
Grid reference: NZ 358 663
The church was built in 1833-4 as a result of a petition presented to the Dean and Chapter of Durham for a new church in the Parish of South Shields.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
West tower (which also forms the porch), nave of four bays with aisles of three bays and tiny clerestory lights above. The chancel is of three bays with double transepts (one bay of which overlaps the eastern bay of the nave). Eastward of the transepts there is an organ chamber on the south side and a chapel on the north with a vestry further to the north again.
Description of Archaeology and History
The church was built in 1833-4 as a result of a petition presented to the Dean and Chapter of Durham for a new church in the Parish of South Shields. As a result the Dean and Chapter gave the site and paid much of the cost (5,000). Holy Trinity was the first of several churches to be built in the area during the nineteenth century and was designed by Anthony Salvin. The foundation stone was laid on 22 May 1833 by the Revd. James Carr, Vicar of St. Hild's, South Shields, and the church was consecrated on 18 September 1834 by Bishop Sumner of Chester.
Exterior Description
Approached from the west the church still presents the profile which Salvin intended, with the west tower standing forward from the nave but flanked on the north by a continuation of the aisle which houses a staircase to the west gallery. The tower is not tall, yet has four stages with a west doorway in the lowest stage having two pairs of nook shafts and two orders of mouldings and then above is a lancet window of wide proportions, both these stages being blind in the north and south walls and having diagonal buttressos at the angles. The third stage is very shallow, without buttresses, and has a clock face in the three visible walls. A turret at the south west angle, which gives access to the upper floors, terminates at this point. Finally, the belfry has two lancets in each face within a recessed area of wall which allows pilaster strips at the angles.
The side walls of the nave for the first three bays also show Salvin's design, with buttresses dividing the bays and each bay having a wide lancet. The pattern is repeated for the additional bay on the north side of the tower, and this also has a doorway in the west face. The shallow clerestory wall is pierced with small rectangular windows which were added in 1878. The eastern parts of the church follow much the same style, being fenestrated with lancets throughout, one in each gable of the double transopts and one in the eastern walls also of these projections. The east wall of the chancel has a low pitched gable which marks the end of the continuous roof over both nave and chancel, and in this are set three lancets, the middle one slightly taller than the flanking pair. There aro also single lancets in the north and south walls of the chancel.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
1879
The three east lancets have glass showing The Crucifixion flanked by The Resurrection and The Ascension, 1879 by Wailes.
Stained Glass
1910
Chancel south I : Pentecost and The Laying on of Hands, by Wailes and Strang.
Stained Glass
c.1920
Chancel north I : The Baptism of Christ and St. John the Baptist Points out Christ
Stained Glass
1949
North chapel east window: The Virgin and Child, by Millicen, Baguley and Atkinson.
Stained Glass
1909
North aisle I : The Sower, by Clayton and Bell.
Stained Glass
c.1909
North aisle II : The Feeding of the Five Thousand, by Cleyton and Bell
Stained Glass
1886
South aisle I : The Good Samaritan, by Clayton and Bell
Stained Glass
1914
South aisle II : The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus, by Reed Millican
Stained Glass
1879
The west window shows The Good Shepherd and is by Wailes
Interior
Interior Description
The interior is approached through a porch on the ground floor of the tower and thence into a space under the west gallery which is provided with two rows of large canopied stalls. A tall tower arch with two continuous chamfers opons from the nave into the first two stages of the tower, access to the gallery being either by a staircase in the northern addition already describedor by the turret stair on the south. The nave has tall arcades (there were originally galleries removed c.1935 - on all three sides) with double-chamfered arches on circular pillars provided with crudely shaped octagonal cops. The comparatively small windows are filled with stained glass in the lower parts (showing where the gallery ran across them) and the nave is in general quite dark. There is a flat plaster ceiling with tie-beams at each bay extending the whole length of the church without a chancel arch.
Further east the building opens out, with the peculiar plan of double trensepts which overlap both nave and chancel. The arcades continue through the chancel on the same line and with the same proportions as those in the nave, but the pillars are of more refined form, still circular but with properly moulded circular capitals. The western transepts are open to the nave aisles but on the south the eastern transept is partly a small chapel and partly curtained off as a meeting room. On the north side the eastern transept forms in the inner part the congregational area of a small lady chapel and in the northern part a vestry. The chapel continues one bay further east, matched on the south by an organ chamber, and the vestry also has a further bay to the east. The sanctuary has a short eastern bay untrammelled by aisles or chapels. The three east lancets are finely detailed, with attached ringed shafts and dogtooth and other mouldings round the arches, forming (together with the Wailes glass which they contain) the most dignified part of the whole church. This impression is set off by the painted panels of the ceiling over the sanctuary which are also of good quality. The sanctuary has, moreover, marble paving in black and white paviours which was added in 1888 and a reredos designed by Kempe and carved in Oberammerga.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
1878
The altar is of oak, panelled.
Reredos
1896
The reredos consists of a wide central panel carved in relief with lanking doors, all of timber. It was designed by C.E. Kempe in 1888 but not made until 1896, when it was carved in Oberammergau.
Pulpit
1929
The pulpit is carved in oak, and dates from 1929. It has plain panels and stock designs of vine trail.
Lectern
1885
The lectern is a brass eagle.
Font (object)
19th Century
The font was given by Archdeacon Thorp of Durham in about 1835 with an octagonal bowl on a square stem. Round the bowl are shields of arms of the see of Durham, Bishop van Mildert and the donor; the fourth is unidentified. The delicate octagonal cover of oak , which hangs on a counterweight, is by H.S. Hicks and dates from 1892.
Churchyard
Grid reference: NZ 358 663
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | N/A |
| Solar Thermal Panels | N/A |
| Biomass | N/A |
| Wind Turbine | N/A |
| Air Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ev Charging | N/A |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
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