Holy Trinity Church, Westbury on Trym

Last updated

Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity Church, Westbury-on-Trym (4417611357).jpg
The church tower.
Religion
Affiliation Church of England
District Westbury on Trym
Ecclesiastical or organizational status Parish church
Location
Location Bristol, England
Bristol UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown within Bristol
Geographic coordinates 51°29′38″N2°36′58″W / 51.493968°N 2.6160096°W / 51.493968; -2.6160096
Architecture
Style English Gothic
Completed15th century
Website
Holy Trinity

Holy Trinity Church (grid reference ST5733177405 ) is a Church of England parish church in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, England.

Contents

The first church on the site was established in the 8th century. In the 10th century a Benedictine priory was founded. Construction of the present building began in the early 13th century and it has been rebuilt several times since. It has been designated by Historic England as a Grade I listed building. [1]

From the late 12th century to the middle of the 16th century it was the collegiate church for Westbury College; of the latter, little more than the college gatehouse remains. [2] The church contains the tomb of John Carpenter, Bishop of Worcester, who had planned to make it a joint cathedral for the Worcester diocese. [2]

History

Early years

The date the first church was founded has traditionally been put at 716–17; the historical record does show two foundations at this date, but these were actually at Yate and Bredon. [3] Nevertheless, a church did exist by the end of the 8th century, as King  Offa founded a minster on the site between 793 and 796. [3]

The minster became a Benedictine priory around 963–64. [4] It was the first reformation of a minster by Bishop  Oswald of Worcester, in his introduction of the Rule of Saint Benedict into the diocese. [5] He brought the English monk Germanus from Fleury Abbey as the new Prior. However Oswald soon decided to move the community to Ramsey, after he acquired land in 966 for the foundation of Ramsey Abbey. [4] The priory buildings eventually fell into disrepair. Around 1093 Bishop  Wulfstan reacquired the dilapidated priory and rebuilt it as a monastery under the control of the Worcester diocese. [6]

Collegiate church

Holy Trinity Church in 1882 Church of Westbury-on-Trym.jpg
Holy Trinity Church in 1882

Over the next century, there were successive evictions as monks and secular priests alternated in possession of the monastery; [6] this was finally resolved in favour of the secular priests when the church become collegiate around 1194. [1] The canons of Westbury College were each supported by revenues from one of the areas around Westbury on Trym, including Aust, Henbury and Lawrence Weston. [7]

The great reformist John Wycliffe was a canon from 1362 until his death in 1384, although in 1367 he was accused of neglecting his duties as prebendary of Aust due to his long absence. [7] The prominent Bristol merchant William Canynge was dean of the college from 1469 until his death in 1474. [8]

In 1544, with the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the church became a parish church within the new Bristol diocese, and the residential buildings of Westbury College passed into the hands of Sir Ralph Sadler. [5] [9]

Architecture

The present building all dates to after 1194. The nave and aisles are early 13th century, in the Early English style. The remainder of the church is in the Perpendicular style. [1]

The nave clerestory, chancel, choir and north chapel are the result of extensive rebuilding by Bishop Carpenter in the middle of the 15th century. The chancel has a polygonal apse, which is rare for the late Gothic period. The church tower, although also from this period, was restored in the middle of the 19th century. [2] The reredos, which depicts the Last Supper, is also 19th century. [1]

Memorials

Although Bishop Carpenter's plan to make the church a joint cathedral with Worcester did not come to fruition, it was he who rededicated the church to the Holy Trinity. [10] On his death in 1476 he was buried in the crypt underneath the altar. The stone cadaver from his cadaver tomb is in the chancel, with a Purbeck marble canopy donated in 1853 by Oriel College, Oxford, where he had been Provost. [2]

Churchyard

The churchyard contains war graves of a soldier and officer of the Gloucestershire Regiment and a Royal Flying Corps officer of World War I. [11]

Archives

Parish records for Holy Trinity church, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol are held at Bristol Archives (Ref. P.HTW) (online catalogue) including baptism, marriage and burial registers. The archive also includes records of the incumbent, churchwardens, overseer of the poor, parochial church council, charities, Redland Chapel, schools and societies and vestry plus plans and photographs.

See also

Related Research Articles

John Barlow was a member of Henry VIII's Protestant Church as Dean of Worcester Cathedral. During the king's search for an annulment to his first marriage, Barlow acted as a courier between England and Italy, while Rector of Hever.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aust</span> Human settlement in England

Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Bristol and about 28 miles (45 km) south west of Gloucester. It is located on the eastern side of the Severn estuary, close to the eastern end of the Severn Bridge which carries the M48 motorway. The village has a chapel, a church and a public house. There is a large area of farmland on the river bank, which is sometimes flooded due to the high tidal range of the Severn. Aust Cliff, above the Severn, is located about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from the village. The civil parish of Aust includes the villages of Elberton and Littleton-upon-Severn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henbury, Bristol</span> Suburb of Bristol, England

Henbury is a suburb of Bristol, England, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) north west of the city centre. It was formerly a village in Gloucestershire and is now bordered by Westbury-on-Trym to the south; Brentry to the east and the Blaise Castle Estate, Blaise Hamlet and Lawrence Weston to the west. To the north lie the South Gloucestershire village of Hallen and the entertainment/retail park Cribbs Causeway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglican Diocese of Worcester</span> Diocese of the Church of England

The Diocese of Worcester forms part of the Church of England (Anglican) Province of Canterbury in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirehampton</span> Human settlement in England

Shirehampton is a district of Bristol in England, near Avonmouth, at the northwestern edge of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westbury-on-Trym</span> Suburb of Bristol, England

Westbury-on-Trym is a suburb in the north of the City of Bristol, near the suburbs of Stoke Bishop, Westbury Park, Henleaze, Southmead and Henbury, in the southwest of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westbury College Gatehouse</span>

Westbury College Gatehouse is a 15th-century gatehouse to the 13th-century College of Priests located in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, England, and now a National Trust property.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diocese of Bristol</span> Diocese of the Church of England

The Diocese of Bristol is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Church of England in the Province of Canterbury, England. It is based in the city of Bristol and covers South Gloucestershire and parts of north Wiltshire, as far east as Swindon. The diocese is headed by the Bishop of Bristol and the Episcopal seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, commonly known as Bristol Cathedral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoke Bishop</span> Suburb of Bristol, England

Stoke Bishop is an outer suburban neighbourhood and an electoral ward in the north-west of Bristol, England. Bordered by The Downs and the River Trym, it is located between Westbury-on-Trym, Sneyd Park and Sea Mills. Although relatively low, Stoke Bishop's population has significantly increased in recent years due to the infilling of former school and company playing fields. Moreover, the population of Stoke Bishop varies throughout the year because of the influx of students during term time to the large campus of Bristol University halls of residence situated on the edge of The Downs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odda's Chapel</span> Church in England, UK

Odda's Chapel is a former chantry chapel at Deerhurst, Gloucestershire. It is an 11th-century late Anglo-Saxon building, completed a decade before the Norman Conquest of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Church, Henbury</span>

St Mary the Virgin is a Church of England parish church in Henbury, Bristol, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Fitzharding</span> Anglo-Saxon nobleman

Robert Fitzharding was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman from Bristol who was granted the feudal barony of Berkeley in Gloucestershire. He rebuilt Berkeley Castle, and founded the Berkeley family which still occupies it today. He was a wealthy Bristol merchant and a financier of the future King Henry II of England (1133-1189) in the period known as the Anarchy during which Henry's mother, the Empress Matilda (1102-1167), mounted repeated military challenges to King Stephen. Fitzharding founded St. Augustine's Abbey, which after the Reformation became Bristol Cathedral. Many members of the Berkeley family were buried within it, and some of their effigies survive there. As J. Horace Round asserted he was one of the very few Anglo-Saxon noblemen who managed to retain their noble status in Norman England and successfully integrate with the Norman nobility, if not the only one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeds Minster</span> Church in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England

Leeds Minster, also known as the Minster and Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds is the minster church of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It stands on the site of the oldest church in the city and is of architectural and liturgical significance. A church is recorded on the site as early as the 7th century, although the present structure is a Gothic Revival one, designed by Robert Dennis Chantrell and completed in 1841. It is dedicated to Saint Peter and was the Parish Church of Leeds before receiving the honorific title of "Minster" in 2012. It has been designated a Grade I listed building by Historic England.

John Carpenter (1399–1476) was an English bishop, provost, and university chancellor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Priory Church of St George, Dunster</span> Church in Somerset, England

The Priory Church of St George in Dunster, Somerset, England, is predominantly 15th-century with evidence of 12th- and 13th-century work. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.

St Mary Magdalen Nunnery was a priory of Augustinian canonesses in Kingsdown, Bristol, England. It was founded c. 1173 and dissolved in 1536. St Mary Magdalen is remembered in the name of Maudlin Street; the nunnery was located near to the corner of Maudlin Street and St Michael's Hill, which was later the site of the King David Inn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard Stanley Priory</span>

Leonard Stanley Priory was a priory in Gloucestershire, England. Over the years following the dissolution most of the buildings of the priory complex have been destroyed.

Astley Priory was a Benedictine priory in Astley, Worcestershire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop of Bristol</span> Diocesan bishop in the Church of England

The Bishop of Bristol heads the Church of England Diocese of Bristol in the Province of Canterbury, in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henbury Hundred</span> Former administrative subdivision of Gloucestershire, England

Henbury Hundred was a subdivision of the county of Gloucestershire, England. Hundreds originated in the late Saxon period and lasted as administrative divisions until the 19th century.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Church of the Holy Trinity". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Little, Bryan (1978). Churches in Bristol, p. 32. Redcliffe Press, Bristol. ISBN   0-905459-06-7.
  3. 1 2 Sivier, David (2002). Anglo-Saxon and Norman Bristol, p. 26. Tempus, Stroud, Gloucestershire. ISBN   0-7524-2533-1.
  4. 1 2 Sivier, David (2002). Anglo-Saxon and Norman Bristol, p. 28. Tempus, Stroud, Gloucestershire. ISBN   0-7524-2533-1.
  5. 1 2 "Westbury Minster". PastScape. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  6. 1 2 Sivier, David (2002). Anglo-Saxon and Norman Bristol, p. 77. Tempus, Stroud, Gloucestershire. ISBN   0-7524-2533-1.
  7. 1 2 Orme, Nicholas (2010). "John Wycliffe and the Prebend of Aust", Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 61 (1): 144-152.
  8. ↑ Little, Bryan and Sansom, John (1999). The Story of Bristol from the Middle Ages to Today, p. 15. Redcliffe Press, Bristol. ISBN   1-900178-56-7.
  9. ↑ "Westbury College". PastScape. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  10. ↑ "'College: Westbury-on-Trym', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 2 (1907), pp. 106-108". British History Online. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  11. ↑ CWGC Cemetery Report, details from casualty record.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.