Stockton-on-Tees: Holy Trinity
Overview
Grid reference: NZ 416 184
The church is built in an eclectic Gothic style to a plan which is typical of the "Commissioners" churches of the period - essentially a large rectangular box with galleries on three sides, a shallow chancel (and here shallow transepts also) at the east end and a prominent tower at the west end which also houses the stair to the galleries.
Visiting and facilities
Building is open for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
West tower (formerly with spire), broad aisle less nave with small transepts; chancel with north organ chamber and vestry and south vestry.
Description of Archaeology and History
The church was built to the designs of John and Benjamin Green. The spacious site was given by Bishop van Mildert, the foundation stone was laid by Archdeacon Thorp on 18 November 1834 and the church was consecrated by Bishop van Mildert of Durham on 22 December 1835. The church was altered in 1882-90, the south vestry was added in 1892, and the chancel was added in 1905-9.
John Green (1787-1852) and his son Benjamin (c.1811-1858) had an extensive practice as architects and civil engineers in Northumberland and Durham. At first John Green joined his father as a carpenter and agricultural implement maker in his birthplace of Nafferton, and later they moved to Corbridge. Here the business extended to building, and in about 1820 Green went to Newcastle to practise as an architect. Both his sons became architects, and Benjamin joined his father after being a pupil of the elder Pugin. They designed several Gothic churches together and ruthlessly altered some old ones. They were perhaps more proficient in the neo-classical and, in particular, the Grecian style. They also designed railway bridges, stations and farmhouses. Holy Trinity Stockton comes about halfway through their years of practice.
Exterior Description
The church is built in an eclectic Gothic style to a plan which is typical of the "Commissioners" churches of the period - essentially a large rectangular box with galleries on three sides, a shallow chancel (and here shallow transepts also) at the east end and a prominent tower at the west end which also houses the stair to the galleries. This simple form was embellished with pierced arcaded parapets, pinnacles on all corners and gables, and a spire on the west tower which rose, it is said, to a height of 200 feet.
The tower is square in plan, all of one stage internally since it houses the staircase to the gallery. In the west face there is a doorway with a moulded arch under a gablet (the linenfold panelled door itself a replacement of 1935). Above this is a four-light window with cusped geometrical tracery. Two-light windows in the north and south walls have trefoils in the head and are of the same pattern as windows in the side walls of the nave. The corners have set-back angle buttresses terminating in pinnacles. At this point the tower becomes octagonal, and there is a clock face under a stone gablet in the west face. Here the tower now stops. Until 1957 it continued with a tall octagonal lantern stage with two-light openings in each direction and small flying buttresses linking the pinnacles to the main structure. This had a pierced arcaded parapet within which rose a slender stone spire with three tiers of lucarnes in the principal faces, a strong feature of the townscape which managed to combine the dignified severity of father Green's character with the artistic sensibilities of his son.
The nave is broad and set under a low-pitched roof. In the west wall each side of the tower is a doorway with a single-light window above. It is worth mentioning here that the doors throughout the church mostly dating from early in the 20th century, are all of thick oak timbers of the best quality with good iron latches and furniture. Along the wall-heads run parapets with pierced arcading and at each corner is an octagonal pinnacle. The windows are of two lights with trefoil in the head and they rise to a considerable height to light the former side galleries as well as the areas below them. The bays are marked by slender gabletted buttresses. The shallow transepts have details similar to those of the nave.
The chancel was extended eastwards in 1906-9. Although its paired two-light windows in the north and south walls have tracery of a later period than the nave windows, the parapet and pinnacles are as before. On the south side is a vestry under a low pitched roof with a south doorway under a gabled porch and lancet windows. On the north side there is a cross-gabled orgen chamber with a low vestry to the east of it. The east window of the chancel is of three broad lights with cusped ogee heads and late Perpendicular tracery.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
1924
The east window has three lights depicting The Ascension, the design spread across all three lights.
Stained Glass
1864
North chancel : two windows filled with lights reset from the former east window. They depict The Nativity, The Flight Into Egypt, The Sermon on the Mount, The Crucifixion, Christ Disputing with the Doctors, The Baptism of Christ, The Deposition and The Ascension.
Stained Glass
c.1922
Chancel south I : Christ Walking on the Water; c.1922; the disciple watching from the boat is clearly a representationof Eric Purves, the son of the vicar who died at sea, aged 18 in 1922.
Stained Glass
c.1920
Chancel south II : The Epiphany, c.1920 by George Kruger Cray.
Stained Glass
1872
South transept south: Six Deeds of Charity
Stained Glass
1908
North transept north: Christ and the Children and Christ the Good Shepherd.
Stained Glass
1902
North nave I : The Stoning of St. Stephen, by A.L. Moore
Interior
Interior Description
The tower contains a large entrance lobby with a stone paved floor and a stone staircase carried on iron columns rising round all four walls to the gallery, which is reached by a door above the inner door of the porch. The inner door leads into a draught lobby within the church. The nave has stone paved alleys with wooden platforms under the pews and gratings for the heating pierced with quatrefoils stamped by R. Watson of Newcastle. The walls are plastered and painted and the roof is an open timber construction with tie-beams spanning the great width and queen posts above with cusped arcading and tracery filling the spaces between. The west gallery has an arcaded front (and there were until the 1940's galleries along the north and south walls also).
At the east end of the north and south walls of the nave tall arches with shafted responds and complicated mouldings open into tall but relatively constricted transeptal spaces. That on the north is furnished as a baptistery and contains the large marble font, and that on the south is furnished as a chapel with an altar under the south window. The transepts, and indeed most of the eastern parts of the church, are panelled with oak traceried panelling dating from c.1920-35 and forming part of an enrichment of the building provided by the Ropner family.
The chancel arch is of similar design to the arches opening into the transepts, but much wider, and there are three steps up from the nave to the level of the choir, with a low stone screen on each side into which the pulpit is incorporated on the north. The floor of the chancel is paved with red tiles and the sanctuary floor is laid with red and green marble paving. On the north an arch opens into the organ chamber behind the choirstalls and on the south is a door to the later vestry.
There is also a door to the vestry on the north. There is one step at the communion rails and then two more up to the footpace of the altar. There are windows in the north and south walls of the sanctuary but the whole chancel is dominated by the stained glass in the east window depicting The Ascension in vivid colours. The chancel roof is panelled and painted blue with white ribs and gold florets along the cornices. There are three plain stone sedilia and a piscina in the south wall of the sanctuary.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
The altar is an oak table.
Reredos
The reredos consists of oak panelling in the gothic style with three gablets and lesser panels at each side.
Pulpit
The pulpit is octagonal, of stone with small colonettes of red marble and an oak tester of 1921 with florets on the cornice and openwork cresting.
Lectern
1889
The lectern is a brass pedestal with pierced stylised foliage and flowers on the front of the desk and an inscription inlaid with mastic stating that it was given in 1889.
Font (object)
1921
The font is octagonal, of brown Frosterloy marble on a stop of pink Peterhead granite; round the stem are four angelic children with a scroll, a palm, a cross and a lily all in white marble. The cover is of oak in the form of a spire with doors opening on hinges to allow access without removing the cover from the font.
Organ (object)
1881
The organ was originally installed in 1881, and was rebuilt in its present form by Harrison and Harrison in 1909. It has forty specking stops arranged over three manuals and pedals and includes pipework from the organ in Newcastle Cathedral by Renatus Harris (late seventeenth century) and by Hill.
Rail
The communion rails have iron uprights with prickly tracery and moulded oak capping.
Churchyard
Grid reference: NZ 416 184
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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