Horncastle: Holy Trinity
Overview
Grid reference: TF 262 695
Although Holy Trinity church was quite cheaply built, there are two features upon which money was evidently thought to be well spent, one external and one internal, and these were the north doorway by which the church was entered and the east wall of the chancel which formed the most frequently seen part of the interior.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Nave with north and south aisles and clerestory, west bell-cote and north porch. Chancel with north organ chamber-cum-vestry.
Description of Archaeology and History
The church was designed by Stephen Lewin who was also responsible for Boston Methodist church (1839, classical), Brothertoft (1847 nave, 1854 chancel), Swineshead chancel (1848) Saleby (1850) and the tower of East Keal (1853). The corner stone of Horncastle was laid on 6th April 1847 and the building was finished by October, being consecrated by Bishop Kaye of Lincoln on 27th April 1848. The total cost was about £2,500 of which £500 was a legacy from a former Vicar of Horncastle. The church was closed in about 1918 but was re-opened as a children's church in June 1948. Having then fallen into disuse again, it was used by the Roman Catholic congregation for a time.
Exterior Description
The church is approached from the north and from this direction may be seen the flank of the nave and the chancel with its small north chamber forming both vestry and organ chamber. The wall of the nave is plain with the aisle bays divided by irregularly spaced buttresses and correspondingly pierced with either one or two simple lancet lights. The clerestory above has alternating trefoils and quatrefoils. Above this rises the extremely steep slope of the nave roof, while towards the west end of the north aisle wall is the porch, quite deep but very shallow in width. Almost all the gabled wall is taken up with the doorway, deeply recessed with four orders of shafts each side and complementary orders of mouldings separated by dogtooth above, the whole outlined with a moulded hood terminating in stops of a male and female version of the "green man" with leaves for hair. An unexpectedly sophisticated detail is the hollow chamfer up the edges of the porch terminating at the top in a delicated carved leaf. The two-leaved door has particularly fine scrolling ironwork to the hinges.
The west wall gable shows clearly by its attenuated proportions how uncommonly steep the pitch of the nave roof is, and the impression is exaggerated further by the slender bell-cote at the apex, built of stone and with one arch decorated with attached shafts and dog-tooth housing a single tiny bell and terminating in a foliated cross. Below, the wall is pierced by a tall two-light west window with a quatrefoil in plate tracery flush with the wall surface. Buttresses with steep gables divide the nave wall from the aisles each side, each of which has a single lancet in the west wall. The nave wall only has a moulded stringcourse about five feet above the ground which also embraces the two buttresses. Except that on the south side there is no porch, a small doorway being placed at the furthest east end of the aisle, the south flank of the church is virtually identical to the north.
The chancel is externally of two bays divided by tall buttresses like those against the west wall, without off-sets but with steeply sloped gablets. The western bay on the south is blind while on the north the vestry occupies this position, under a cross gable like a small transept and with a spherical triangle for a window in the north wall and a prominent chimney stack at the north east corner set diagonally with small gablets in each direction at the top. The eastern bay of both north and south chancel walls has three sharply pointed lancets of equal height.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
1853
The east window: has three lights with eight Scenes from the Life of Christ
Stained Glass
c.1880
The west window: four Scenes from the Life of Christ connected with baptism
Stained Glass
c.1895
North aisle west window: two Scenes from The Acts of the Apostles, by Clayton and Bell.
Interior
Interior Description
The walls are plastered and whitewashed but since the windows are small and mostly filled with stained glass, the church is not light. The arcades are carried on octagonal piers, quite tall with square bases and round moulded caps. The aisle and clerestory windows are set within plain reveals and the roof timbers are supported by moulded stone corbels between the clerestory lights. The construction, of exposed timbers, has arch braces to each bay with wind-braces across the rafters between. The west window has two orders of attached shafts at each side, the inner carrying plate tracery which duplicates that of the window itself with the addition of trefoiled heads to the main lights. The whole design is outlined with dogtooth up the sides, while the hoodmould has heads as stops which seem to be portraits. The responds of the arcades at the east end are carved with lavish foliage and shields of arms of the City of Lincoln on the south and the Royal Arms on the north. The doorway to the vestry at the east end of the north aisle has two orders of nook-shafts carrying three orders of mouldings, the innermost decorated with carved leaves. The stops are carved as a beast and a female head.
The chancel arch is of three chamfered orders carried on groups of three stumpy little colonettes on richly carved corbels, those being again carved with shields of arms and on the south a small devil's face. The three pairs of corbels supporting the chancel roof principals take the form of angels close by the chancel arch, but the other four are again shields of arms. The floor is one step above the nave and in the west bay an arch (now covered by a curtain) opens into the vestry, and this was formerly the position of the organ. The eastern bay has three lancets in the north and south walls shafted internally with shafts just free standing but attached by rings at two intermediate points. The chancel roof is much like that in the nave with windbraces across the rafters, but the tie beams here giva place to scissor-braces at each bay, and the arch braces below are furiously decorated with dogtooth along the edges. The east wall below the arch braces is filled with three lancet lights, the central one much taller than the outer pair, and all with three ringed shafts and two orders of dog- tooch. The area above the windows is entirely carved with foliage in relief, giving a remarkably rich effect. Although the leaves do not look like English oak, the clusters of acorns and empty corn cups makes the identification of the foliage undoubted. The whole arrangement is outlined by a moulded hood terminating in stops carved as Queen Victoria on the north and a Bishop (presumably of Lincoln) on the south. Below is a reredos with blind panelling in stone each side above an area of shallowly incised patterns. The floor is paved with red and black tiles in the western part and rises by three stone steps at the altar rails. Within the sanctuary are tiles laid in very accurately mediaeval designs - four tiles to each pattern. There are also patterned tiles (of buff on red) of small figures in the chancel.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
The alter is made of Queensland ash and is a facsimile of that at St. Mark's church, Darling Point, New South Wales, Australia, which was also designed by Lewin and built in the same year.
Reredos
The reredos has three gabled arches, all with cusping and the central one wider than the outer pair; each is separated from the next by a small buttress and each has alabaster shafts and a foliated finial.
Pulpit
1848
The pulpit is circular, of stone with trefoiled arches much decorated with dogtooth enclosing panels painted with the signs of the Evangelists and with scrolling foliage in the spandrels. A further band of dogtooth runs round the circular top but the base, which is octagonal, is much plainer. Presumably by Lewin, 1848.
Lectern
The lectern stands on a simple stained deal pedestal.
Font (object)
The font stands on eight low colonettes of stone with foliated capitals, and above these are trefoiled arches decorated with dogtooth like those of the pulpit, awkwardly splayed outwards because of the curve of the bowl.
Churchyard
Grid reference: TF 262 695
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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