Holy Trinity Church
In March 1868, a letter appeared in the Leicester Mail commenting upon how the church of All Saints was never full to capacity during either the morning or evening services, and that Emmanuel church was not full during the only time when it was open, which was during the morning. The letter-writer was therefore questioning why a need had been identified for a new church to be built in Loughborough.
This need had been articulated in a report in the Leicester Chronicle in 1865, which suggested that the Church Extension Society was contemplating building a new church in Loughborough, at an outlay of £6,000 and with an endowment of £300 per annum. Apparently, a site had not yet been determined upon.
The date of
that newspaper article was 1st April 1865, but this was certainly no April Fool’s
Day joke. The laying of the foundation stone for what was to become the Holy
Trinity Church, on Moor Lane took place 12 years later, on Tuesday 20th November
1877. Lord John Manners laid the stone, and the service on the site was
conducted by the Lord Bishop of Peterborough, William Connor Magee – a busy
week for the Bishops who also consecrated St Lawrence church in Northampton. The
procession to the new Holy Trinity church left from the nearby Warner School on
Pinfold Gate at 12.30pm and luncheon was served at the Bull’s Head Hotel on
High Street – to those who had paid in advance.
 |
| Holy Trinity Church |
The new
church was designed by William Arthur Blomfield who, as we know from last
week’s blogpost about the Reverend Eddowes at Jackfield, was responsible
for designing the new church at Jackfield, and also for the renovations at St
Mary’s church in Sileby. The cost of building the Holy Trinity church was
expected to be just over £4,500, and would be constructed by Mr Clipsham, the
builder from Newark, the fabric of the building being made from Mountsorrel
stone with Bath stone dressings. The internal height would be 24 feet, and from
the eaves to the roof would be another 24 feet. There would also be a turret of
84 feet, the west side of the church would be 186 feet and the north and south
sides 60 feet.
The church was to be positioned on land given by Mr Edward Warner and the committee responsible for organising the contributions to the endowment included Dr John Henry Eddowes, grandfather to Arthur Eddowes, who had just been born, and who would later become vicar of Jackfield.
The consecration of the church took place on Tuesday 8th October 1878, the event taking place at 11.30 in the morning and being delivered by the Lord Bishop of Peterborough. The procession again started from Warner School, at 11am, and lunch was provided in the Victoria Rooms in the Town Hall – to those who had paid in advance. The evening service took place at 7pm, and the sermon was preached by the Reverend Leonard Leader Cooper, MA, the Vicar of Raunds, who had recently left his position as Chaplain to the Board of Guardians in Loughborough, and who would shortly move to become the vicar of St John The Divine church, in Leicester.
Once the new church building was consecrated and completed, in December 1878 the incumbency of Holy Trinity church was confirmed as being conferred upon the Reverend Edward Bell, who had been born 30 years earlier in Ireland, son of Daniel, a clerk in holy orders. On August 12th 1879, Reverend Edward Bell married Sarah Elizabeth Noble. Sarah had been born in Loughborough, also in 1848, and was the daughter of Frederic Collins Noble, a surgeon of the town. The marriage ceremony took place at St John’s church in Ealing, the Right Reverend the Bishop of Travancore and Cochin presiding.
 |
| Holy Trinity Church |
By the time
of the 1881 census, Edward and Sarah were living at 17 Leicester Road, which is
the rectory associated with the Holy Trinity church, now an exclusive, boutique guest house, although now numbered 68a.
Edward and Sarah's daughter, Mary Winifred Bell had been born 3 months before the census was
taken, and the family were supported by three servants, Elizabeth Ann Marston
(?) the 29-year old domestic cook born in Thrussington, Martha Sharratt the
18-year old nurse, and Eliza Alice Barman (?) the 16-year old housemaid, both
born in Manchester. A further daughter for Edward and Sarah, Kathleen Margaret,
arrived in 1885.
 |
| The former Rectory to Holy Trinity Church |
The 1891
census records the family still living and working in Loughborough, but in
September 1892, Reverend Edward bell moved to St Stephens in Saltash to become
the vicar there, replacing the Reverend William Fraser who was moving from
Saltash to - would you believe - Loughborough. When Reverend Fraser moved away
from Loughborough’s Holy Trinity church, he was followed by Reverend Samuel
Wathen Wigg, and the Reverend David Dewar.
There are many more stories to tell about the church of Holy Trinity in Loughborough, and of the resident vicars, but these must wait for another day. Suffice to say that the church ceased operation as a church in 1996, and the name passed to the All Saints church, now referred to as All Saints with Holy Trinity. The former church is now a school and the church hall home to Affixxus Films.
Posted by lynneaboutloughborough 14 February 2021
You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:
Lynne
Lovely brickwork on the old rectory chimneys: I must have walked past without really noticing a hundred times. I don't recall ever passing by Holy Trinity. I'm glad that its new use is as a special school.
ReplyDeleteHi Colin! Thank you for reading the blog, and taking the trouble to comment! Yes, the old rectory is a beautiful red brick building with lovely features, especially the chimneys! If you haven't already, and if you're still in Loughborough, make that area of town on of your daily exercise walking routes: the church is well-worth a look. Thanks again, Lynne
DeleteMy late father, Rev Len Hancock, was rector of All Saints at the time that Holy Trinity was amalgamated with it. He carried out many services there until it finally closed.
ReplyDeleteHello Sazzyangelwings! Thank you for reading the blog and taking the time and trouble to comment. How lovely to hear that your late father was Rector of All Saints when Holy Trinity church merged with All Saints, before closing completely. Thanks for sharing. Lynne
DeleteI remember attending trinity with my grandad who had been treasurer and church warden for many years. A lady called Dorothy used to play the beautiful organ there and there was the most magnificent brass eagle reading lecture. I wonder what became of that? I also remember attending the welcome club in the hall next door. Such happy days.
ReplyDeleteHello Unknown! What lovely memories you have of Holy Trinity Church - thank you so much for sharing them with us. And, thank you for reading the blog and taking the time to comment. Lynne
DeleteI was a member of the choir there from around 1958 ish to 1964 when we moved. I became a head choirboy
ReplyDeleteI remember we used to get paid too, usually the old 2/6 (Two shillings & sixpence) now around 121/2p for weddings and funerals on top of a 5 shilling (25P) twice a year which always came in a little brown envelope.
I remember the excitement when we got paid.
Mr Hague was I think the original choirmaster and then followed by I think a Mr Pearson, who was not that popular as he made us stand up for the whole rehearsal night!!!!
I remember too that Basil Williams was my first known vicar there and when he went to Leicester, The Rev ?? Taylor took over and he had two daughters who went to the same school as me (Warner)
We lived two doors away from the church in Moor Lane next to Pearsons butchers, so it wa snot far for me to go to on a Sunday for morning service around 10am, Sunday school in the afternoon followed by the evening service 6.30pm.
So you could say that I knew this church extremely well
Hi Anonymous! Wow, you have some wonderful memories of your time at Trinity Church, and the choirmasters and vicars! Both the butchers and the Warner School are now much changed with the buildingof the inner relief road. Thank you for reading the blog and taking the time and trouble to reply. Lynne
Delete