Details
BICTON C.P. CHURCH LANE (north side)
SJ 41 SW
9/31 Church of the Holy Trinity
-
- II
Parish church. 1885-7, by Mr. A.E. Lloyd Oswell of Shrewsbury. Snecked
dressed Alberbury and Redhill breccia with red/grey sandstone ashlar
dressings, including bands. Plain tile roofs. 3-bay nave and south
aisle, south porch, 2-bay chancel, north vestry and south-east tower in
angle of chancel and aisle. In an early Decorated Gothic style. Tower:
3 stages. Double-chamfered plinth, diagonal buttresses with chamfered
offsets, string course to belfry, string course below parapet, parapet
string course and battlemented ashlar parapet with moulded coping. Square
south-west stair turret with chamfered offsets, broaches to ashlar
octagonal top stage with arrow loops and battlemented parapet, chamfered
rectangular staircase windows, and nail-studded boarded south door at base
with strap hinges, chamfered reveals, shaped heads and flanking buttresses
with chamfered offsets and trefoil-gabled tops. Belfry openings of 2
louvred trefoil-headed lights with quatrefoils in tracery, hollow-chamfered
reveals and hoodmoulds with scrolled stops. Second stage with hollow-
chamfered lancet to south and chamfered trefoil-headed lancets to east and
west. Ground-floor chamfered lancet to east with moulded cill and hood-
mould with scrolled stops, and 2-light window to south with quatrefoil in
tracery, hollow-chamfered reveals, returned hoodmould, and cill string.
Clock below belfry to south. Nave: chamfered plinth, buttresses with
chamfered offsets (angle buttresses to west), cill string course,
chamfered stone eaves, and parapeted gable ends with stone copings, crosses
at apices and string at apex to west. Two-light north-west window and two
3-light north-east windows, with trefoils and quatrefoils in tracery, hollow-
chamfered reveals, moulded cills with scrolled stops, and returned hoodmoulds.
Four-light east-window with Y-tracery incorporating 3 cinquefoiled circles,
hollow-chamfered reveals and returned hoodmould. South aisle: chamfered
plinth, buttresses with chamfered offsets (angle buttresses to west) and
chamfered stone eaves, and parapeted end walls with stone copings. Two
pairs of chamfered lancets. Two-light west window with quatrefoil in
tracery, hollow-chamfered reveals, hoodmould with scrolled steps, and cill
string course. South doorway in left-hand bay with chamfered arch,
hoodmould with scrolled stops, and nail-studded boarded door with strap hinges.
Porch with chamfered plinth, low angle buttresses, and parapeted gable with
coping, cross at apex and string course in apex with 3 stepped flutes above.
Moulded archway including one order of shafts with moulded capitals and
bases, chamfered inner arch,hollow-chamfered outer arch, and hoodmould with
carved heads as stops. Low paired lancets to sides. Interior of porch
with trussed-rafter roof, chamfered segmental rear arches and side benches.
Chancel: double-chamfered plinth, buttresses with chamfered offsets (angle
buttresses to east), moulded cill string, stepped up to east window,
chamfered stone eaves, and parapeted gable end with stone coping and cross
at apex. Internal lateral stack to north with weathering, chamfered
offsets to sides, each having gables above with 3 stepped flutes, and
circular shaft with trefoil panels to moulded cap. East window of 3 stepped
lights with trefoils and quatrefoils in tracery, hollow-chamfered reveals and
returned hoodmould. Foundation stone in plinth beneath window inscribed:
"To the honour and Glory of God / this Stone was laid on 6th August 1885 /
by the Rt. Revd. Bishop Bromly D.D: later Tasmania./ The site was given by
Col. Wingfield. / G.N. Lloyd Vicar / Col. Wingfield ) Churchwardens".
George Gittins )
North and south sides of chancel have trefoil-headed lancet with chamfered
reveals and returned hoodmould. Vestry: one storey with attic. Chamfered
plinth, chamfered cill string, buttresses with chamfered offsets, and
parapeted gable with stone coping and string course and cross at apex. Two
chamfered lancets to front and continuous hoodmould with scrolled stops, and
quatrefoiled circle in gable above with returned hoodmould. Steps down to
boarded crypt door to right. Doorway in left-hand return front with
chamfered reveals, Caernarvon-arched head and nail-studded boarded door
with strap hinges. Lean-to to right has boarded door to front with strap
hinges and chamfered reveals and chamfered rectangular window to side.
Interior: 3-bay south aisle arcade consisting of circular piers with
moulded bases and capitals, double-chamfered arches and continuous hood-
mould with scrolled stops; chamfered piers to left and right with carved
foliate capitals. Moulded cill string to west wall of nave. Three-bay
nave roof with cusped arched-braced scissor-braced trusses springing from
small hammer beams with curved braces resting on moulded stone corbels;
moulded wall plate, ashlar pieces, simpler intermediate trusses, and
single purlins. Double-chamfered chancel arch, the inner springing from
short wall shafts with moulded capitals and bases and resting on moulded
corbels, the outer continuous: hoodmould with scrolled stops. Double-
chamfered arch between south aisle and organ chamber beneath tower, the
inner chamfer dying into responds. Double-chamfered vestry and tower
arches to north and south of chancel, the inner chamfer springing from carved
foliate corbels and the outer continuous; hoodmoulds, with scrolled stops
to west and carved foliate stops to east. Moulded cill string at east end
of chancel, sedilia beneath south window and piscina beneath north window,
with scalloped bowl and side shelves. Trussed-rafter chancel roof with
billet-ornamented moulded wall plate. Chamfered rear arches to windows
throughout church, and south door with chamfered rear arch and hoodmould
with scrolled tops. Complete fittings of c.1885-7: altar with 3-sided
wooden screen consisting of circular columns with hangings between. Stone
reredos has 2 moulded ogee trefoiled-arches to each side, with painted
inscriptions (Lord's Prayer, Commandments and Creed). Wrought-iron altar
rails with twisted stems, decorative brackets and wooden rail. Choir stalls.
Boarded wooden vestry screen with billet-ornamented top rail. Plain organ
to south with painted pipes. Low stone chancel screen with chamfered top
and square piers; integral polygonal pulpit to left with stone base and
wooden top with trefoil-headed open panels and billet-ornamented top rail.
Wooden lectern consisting of 2 shafts with moulded bases and capitals and
triangular-section top with carved quatrefoil panels and billet ornament.
Pews. Circular marble font with octagonal step and iron-bound wooden
cover; inscription to base of font: "To the glory of God and in memory
of Sophia Cotes January 25 1885". Encaustic floor tiles. Stained
glass: east window of 1892, by C.E. Kempe. South aisle glass of 1894,
also by Kempe. Panel near south door with inscription: "THE ACETYLENE
LIGHTING WAS / INSTALLED IN THIS CHURCH / IN 1913 TO COMMEMORATE THE /
25 YEARS MINISTRY OF THE / VICAR THE REV. F.S. EDWARDS". The old Church
of the Holy Trinity (q.v.) in Bicton, now ruined, was a chapelry of the
Church of Saint Chad in Shrewsbury. This building replaced the old church
and Bicton was made a separate parish in 1885. The new church was
consecrated by the Bishop of Lichfield on 16 Sept. 1887. It cost £3,400,
the builder was Mr. Groves and the foreman carpenter was Mr. R. Yeomans, who
also made and donated the lectern. B.O.E., p. 75; D.H.S. Cranage,
An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire (Shrewsbury volume),
pp. 850-1; Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire and Shropshire (1900),
pp. 31-2.
Listing NGR: SJ4480114872