The Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity with Saint Jude, Upper Chelsea, commonly called Holy Trinity Sloane Street or Holy Trinity Sloane Square, is a Church of England parish church in London, England. It was built in 1888–90 at the south-eastern side of Sloane Street, to a striking Arts and Crafts design, by the architect John Dando Sedding, and paid for by 5th Earl Cadogan, in whose London estate it lay. It replaced an earlier building only half its size which, at the time of its demolition, was less than 60 years old.
In 1818, Parliament created a commission, via the Church Building Act, to increase the number of churches in places where building work hadn't kept up with an increase in population, such as Chelsea. In 1821, the commission bought the land for the church from the landowner, Henry Charles Cadogan. A plan for a new church was drawn up by an architect called George Godwin, but it was rejected as being too expensive. The first church on the site was a Gothic construction of 1828–30 designed by James Savage, with an interior space of 133 ft by 44 feet 10 inches (40.5m by 13.5m). The west front, towards the street, had an entrance flanked by octagonal turrets topped with spires. It was originally intended as chapel of ease to the new parish church of St Luke, but was given its own parish in 1831. It was closed and demolished in 1888, and a temporary iron church with a capacity of 800 was provided in Symons Street while a new building was under construction.
Present building
Holy Trinity as viewed from Sloane Street
The new building, the present Holy Trinity, was built on a grand scale to a design by John Dando Sedding. The nave was built unusually wide, at 40ft (12.2m). The grand scale and edifice was built to attract upper- and middle-class residents. Sedding was a member of the Arts and Crafts Movement, having trained as an architect under George Edmund Street, as had Philip Webb, Norman Shaw, and, briefly, William Morris. He placed a great deal of importance on hiring master craftsmen to create interiors, and so the church is full of works by artists such as F. W. Pomeroy, H. H. Armstead, Edward Burne-Jones, Onslow Ford, and Hamo Thornycroft. The new church was consecrated in May 1890. Sedding died in 1891 (his memorial can be seen on the north wall in the Lady Chapel) and his assistant Henry Wilson took charge of the project to complete the interior decoration of the building to the original design. In part, he failed, for some of the glass was never installed, nor was the important addition of a frieze beneath the high windows even attempted. Some of the internal sculpture or carving is still incomplete. In the 1920s the interior was whitened by F. C. Eden, lightening the character and feel of the building considerably.
The church was hit by incendiary bombs twice during World War II; once in September 1940, damaging the roof of the Lady Chapel; and again on 10th May 1941, when the entire main roof was destroyed. A new, permanent roof was completed in 1951, but the church still needed tens of thousands of pounds for repairs. By 1969 the church was £4,000 in debt, and plans were announced to demolish it and build a block of flats, using the proceeds to build a smaller church. This idea was condemned by the poet John Betjeman as "the height of irresponsibility". After a campaign by Betjeman and the Victorian Society, the plans were scrapped.
The churchmanship at the time of the opening of the new building might be described as eclectically high, as the liturgy seems to have been drawn from a number of sources and traditions, although at this distance it is hard to gauge what exactly was done. After a long period of less symbolic worship, notably under the long tenure (1945–1980) of Alfred Basil Carver and the shorter incumbencies of his successors Phillip Roberts (1980–1987) and Keith Yates (1987–1997), the building has now returned to a liberal Catholic style of worship.
The building now houses a thriving congregation built during the ten years under the incumbency (1997–2007) of Michael Eric Marshall, the former Bishop of Woolwich. The connection with the world of the fine arts, not only represented in the building and its fittings but also in sponsorship and encouragement of artists and musicians, continued under the Rev. Rob Gillion. Trained as an actor, Gillion became Rector late in 2008 but was elected Bishop of Riverina, the extensive diocese in western New South Wales, and moved there in August 2014.[citation needed]
Artworks
The forged-iron screen was designed by Henry Wilson and features scrolling golden vines. During World War II, the screen was officially protected from being melted down for the war effort.
The church has an important collection of stained glass, including an enormous east window by Morris & Co, the largest the company ever made. Most of the design is by Edward Burne-Jones, with William Morris working on the figure of St Bartholomew and his assistant George Campfield drawing the foliage. The Lady Chapel has three windows designed by William Blake Richmond and made by James Powell & Sons, who also made the window in the Memorial Chapel. The south aisle and clerestory windows are by Christopher Whall.
The church contains sculptures by H. H. Armstead, F. W. Pomeroy, Hamo Thornycroft, John Tweed, and Harry Bates, many of whom were members of the New Sculpture movement. Pomeroy created oak sculptures of English saints and divines surrounded by angels playing musical instruments for the choir. Tweed sculpted the reredos, featuring scenes from the crucifixion. The altar front shows a marble relief of Christ in the tomb, by Harry Bates. In two of the church's spandrels are medallions by H. H. Armstead showing the prophets Isaiah and Jonah. The other spandrels' medallions were never completed, and are blank.
Artworks of Holy Trinity Sloane Street
Ironwork gates designed by Henry Wilson
The east window, designed by Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris and George Campfield
Choir reliefs and statues by F. W. Pomeroy
Reredos by John Tweed, showing the crucifixion
Music
Holy Trinity has enjoyed a reputation for Anglican church music since its early days. A full choir was maintained from the completion of the present building until the 1970s directed by leading church musicians of their time, mentioned below. Since 1987, when Keith Yates attempted a revival, choral music has thrived thanks to the efforts of a succession of choirmasters. This continued under the vision of Bishop Michael Marshall, Andrew O’Brien (Director of Music 2002–2015) and organist Michael Brough when Holy Trinity Choir was reborn and the music tradition rebuilt. As well as a professional quartet, occasionally supplemented by choral scholars, the associate choir, conQordia continues to serve the church under the direction of Mike Abrams and Paul Heggs. The church also welcomes visiting choirs.
Organ
Sir Walter Alcock in 1913
John Sedding, himself an organist, provided an unusually large chamber for the noted four-manual J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd organ in the north-east corner. The instrument was badly damaged by enemy action in the Second World War but was repaired in 1947 and partially rebuilt twenty years later in 1967. A definitive rebuild by Harrison & Harrison was completed in August 2012, with the aim of restoring and enlarging the instrument by about 45%, using the surviving Walker pipework and matching new material, confirming its former position as one of the principal organs in London. There are seventy-one speaking stops and approximately 4,200 pipes.
Organists
Notable organists have included Edwin Lemare (1892–95), Sir Walter Alcock (1895–1902), John Ireland, and H L Balfour (1902–42), all of whom were leading men in their field. A vigorous tradition continues to this day.
The composer John Ireland was Alcock's assistant and had hoped to be promoted when the latter left in 1902, but was regarded as too young to take over. Alcock, on the staff at Westminster Abbey after leaving Holy Trinity, played the organ for three coronations and later moved to Salisbury Cathedral. Later players and assistants have included Ian Curror and Simon Lindley, Arnold Greir and, most notably, Alan Harverson (sometime Professor of Organ at the Royal Academy of Music), Michael Brough, Richard Townend, Andrew O’Brien, Cameron Burns, James Brown and Oliver Lallemant.
Present
Holy Trinity has sponsored international Christian links through a network of friends. From 2004 to 2012, it was the host church for the Awareness Foundation, a teaching and outreach organisation dedicated in part to the increase of interfaith understanding and respect, with branches in other parts of the world, notably in the Middle East and North America.
As a local parish church, Holy Trinity offers a selection of liturgical worship and community events and is a concert venue. Uncluttered by static pews, the vast nave provides flexible space for concerts and events, the focus of some of which mirrors and re-expresses the artistic climate surrounding its first two decades. An arts and crafts guild was established by Michael Marshall early in his incumbency; more recently, an annual summer festival, the Chelsea Schubert Festival, appeared, supplemented by concerts and recitals during the rest of the year.
On 1 November 2011, the parish of St Saviour, Upper Chelsea, was added to that of Holy Trinity and the new parochial unit is the Parish of The Holy and Undivided Trinity with St Saviour, Upper Chelsea, and the church building in Walton Place became a chapel of ease to Holy Trinity.
Notable people associated with the church
Many notable figures have worshipped and assisted at Holy Trinity Sloane Street, which was able to attract them from seemingly opposing sides of the British political spectrum. The colourful Liberals Gladstone and Dilke both attended the church: Gladstone had a habit of marching down the street with Lemare before the main morning service; whilst Dilke lived only yards away in the parish (his house lies further up the road on the west side, today marked by a blue plaque); and his funeral was held at Holy Trinity.
The church soon attracted the attention of Bohemian artists and poets some of whom clustered loosely round Oscar Wilde, whose arrest took place, famously, at the Cadogan Hotel. At the same time, the church figured and still figures high in the cherished heritage of the Cadogan family and its Estate. Extremely popular in the 1920s, there was a very extensive clergy team under the rector, Christopher Cheshire, including, for a time, the priest, ecclesiologist and hymnographer Percy Dearmer.
There is a memorial on the north wall of the church to Archibald Sturrock (1816–1909), the Chief Locomotive Engineer of the Great Northern Railway from 1850 to 1866. After his early retirement from the railway, he became a magistrate and lived in Upper Chelsea.
The actor Ernest Thesiger was a lifelong member of the church, frequently served as an usher and also sometimes read the lesson. He was sufficiently active as a member of the congregation at Holy Trinity in the inter-war years to pay for the completion of some of the carved stonework in the chancel.
↑Patricia E.C. Croot, ed. (2004). "Religious history: Church extension". A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 12: Chelsea. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
Ironwork gates designed by Henry Wilson
The east window, designed by Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris and George Campfield
Choir reliefs and statues by F. W. Pomeroy
Reredos by John Tweed, showing the crucifixion
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