Diameter: 24.5" Bell 1 of 1
Founded by John Warner & Sons 1881
Dove Bell ID: 50771 Tower ID: 18173 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Bath: Holy Trinity
Overview
Grid reference: ST 746 649
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Nave and apsidal chancel in one, north aisle with east chapel and organ chamber, gabled east vestry building at angle across east end of chancel. Boiler room under nave.
Dimensions:
Nave c 19m (66 ft) x 8m (25 ft), chancel 8m (25ft) x 7m (21’6ft).
Footprint of Church buildings: 739 m²
Description of Archaeology and History
Archaeology
There are obviously highly significant Prehistoric and Roman settlement remains in the area, as the church sits on the line of the Medieval city walls and within the World Heritage site of Bath / Aquae Sulis.
History
The church was built within the then parish of St James to replace St Mary’s chapel (hence Chapel Row), which had stood a short distance to the north-east in the south-west corner of Queen Square. This chapel had been built in 1734, but was demolished in the early 1870s by the Midland Railway Co to widen the road. This was Bath’s first proprietary chapel, possibly the first of its kind outside London, designed by John Wood the Elder in Greek Classical style with a lavish stuccoed ceiling by the Franchini brothers. It was compared to Inigo Jones’ St Paul’s Chapel in Covent Garden, although smaller. It had an impressive bell turret and portico. The monuments were perhaps taken on from this chapel.
The history of the new church is complex. The new church was originally dedicated to St Paul, and was built in 1872-4 by Wilson, Wilcox and Wilson of Bath, the same architects added the north aisle in 1880-1. It would appear from the ICBS notes that they rejected an earlier design for a new church by Manners and Gill. Wilson & Wilcox designed or worked on several churches, their magnum opus is St Stephen’s also in Walcot, Bath.
The bellcote was hit by lightning in June 1948, bringing part of it down onto the nave roof. Documents relating to the repair of this, and to the conversion described below, are preserved in the Council’s survey file on the church (Walcot St Paul). The majority of the north aisle was converted by Hugh Roberts in 1954 into a church hall spread over two floors, creating some useful rooms.
The church was rededicated as Holy Trinity in 1957 following the demolition of the nearby church of that dedication in Walcot, which had been badly damaged during a Baedeker raid in 1942. The original dedication to St Paul is preserved in the name of the parish.
The hall and the church itself were used for complementary purposes such as concerts, dance classes and charity purposes until 2011 when the church was closed, the reason given being the cost (£40,000) of repairing the electrical system. The church was spot-listed in December 2011.
Exterior Description
There is some very good detail enlivening the 13th-century French Gothic idiom, with plate tracery and much use of elaborate gablets, including to the prominent buttresses to the nave. Stone copings and final crosses. The nave west façade is particularly richly detailed, with an arcade of four arches with two doors and two 3-light windows. Above the arcade is a gallery with balustrade of small lancets under hooded gablets, and above this again an arcade of five lancets with double colonettes below a large rose window in the gable.
The original design of this potentially fine small church was changed by the addition of a gabled north aisle, rather unbalancing the west façade. In particular there is an oversized gabled bellcote rising from the intersection of nave and aisle, with a protruding round stair turret with cupola. A large pointed doorway is set within a otherwise blank wall (by Roberts?) forming a narthex with a plain parapet, behind which rises the aisle gable, pierced by a pointed 4-light window.
The nave south wall is pierced by four 2-light plate tracery windows between gabletted buttresses and under a corbel table with billet, the apsidal chancel has seven lancets with tracery in the head, widely spaced. The north aisle wall has tall 2-lights with plate tracery and a transom. A large stone fleche once marked the intersection of nave and chancel, with an odd pagoda-like profile, which has been removed (following the lightning strike?).
Another idiosyncratic feature is the gabled vestry set at an angle across the east end of the chancel, making best use of the tight plot. It is joined to the south wall of the chancel by a canted lean-to porch with a pointed doorway and dogtooth to three small 2-light pointed windows. The gabled vestry itself has a large 3-light pointed window to the street.
Building Materials
Slate
19th Century Timber roof covered in slates
Interior
Interior Description
Moving inside the church through the northern door at the west end, one enters a passageway within the north aisle conversion, with rooms to the left, ahead, and a large hall above with stage. There are toilets and small kitchens, all rather dated but functional, or would be if the electrics worked.
A door on your right leads into the church, the walls are plastered and whitewashed. The broad open space of the nave and chancel under one roof was advanced for the time, and is undeniably impressive, as well as potentially useful. Good king-post roof, pendant Rood. Encaustic tile floor to the chancel up three marble steps, blue carpets elsewhere. Wooden panelling around the apse. There is no fixed seating, rather a number of different types of chair.
The north arcade of the now narrow aisle has pointed arches with continuous hoodmould supported by tall slender piers with intricate foliage detailing to the capitals and bases. The 1950s conversion juts into this within a plain wall with skylights in the ceiling. At the east end is what used to be a chapel, with the organ chamber within a wooden traceried screen set within the east side. The console sits within the easternmost arch of the arcade.
The vestry is rather damp, though apparently structurally sound.
Fixtures and fittings
Pulpit
Ornately carved open tracery chest on red marble base. Plain chest with gilded frame.
Lectern
Oak reading stand, ornately carved.
Font (component)
Square tub font, with carved symbols to the bowl and supported on four colonettes around fat central column.
Organ (component)
19th Century 2-manual pipe organ by Griffen and Stroud of Bath 1886, rebuilt by them in 1946, now unplayable.
Plaque (object)
19th Century Three simple early 19th-century tablets on south nave wall, ie earlier than this church and presumably brought from St Mary’s chapel. One to William John Darby died 1826 and three sons who all died before him. The two others are of Colonel Robert Bull died 1833, veteran of the Peninsular and Waterloo, with trophy of arms, the other to his daughter. Both signed Biggs fecit, Biggs being a family firm of sculptors and masons based in Bath.
Bells
Churchyard
Grid reference: ST 746 649
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 | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
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
Quinquennial Inspections
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