Church of the Holy Trinity

Details

804/3/372 RICKMANSWORTH ROAD 06-SEP-74 (Northeast side) CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY

II 1852-3 by Samuel Sanders Teulon. N aisle added 1894 by JEK and JP Cutts (Cherry and Pevsner) or 1895 by Messrs Fassnidge of Uxbridge (Clarke). Nave extended W by 4.5m and the S aisle and W baptistry added 1927 by WC Waymouth.

MATERIALS: Flint rubble with limestone dressings. Red tiled roof as except grey Welsh slates to the spire.

PLAN: Six-bay nave, S aisle and porch, chancel and S chapel, W baptistry, tower with spire at E end of N aisle, NE vestry.

EXTERIOR: The style of this Gothic revival church is derived from medieval work of the late C13 and early C14. The church presents a symmetrical W end of three gables to the main road, the nave being higher and wider than the flanking aisles. A baptistry with two flanking vestibules is attached to the W end of the nave below the W window. The nave W window has a 1-2-1 rhythm under a superarch. The aisle W windows have flowing tracery, and are designed to match one another. The S elevation of the church is dominated by two paired gables, each containing a two-light window: this arrangement resembles transepts but there is no such expression internally. The E window is of three lights and the other windows are mostly a variety of one-, and two-light designs. The tower has been surrounded by subsequent building campaigns but its low, chamfered spire is still an important visual feature: at the base of each of the W and S sides there is a clock face beneath a gable. The S porch has an ornate timber superstructure on a stone base.

INTERIOR: Aisles have been added to create six-bay arcades on either side of the formerly aisleless nave. The N arcade has double-chamfered arches, and round piers and capitals. The S arcade was built to a very different design, apparently after much debate on the matter: the arches die into the piers and the N and S faces have shafts rising to the corbels for the wall-posts of the roof. The chancel arch has foliage corbels, semi-circular responds and a moulded arch. The roof over the nave is of hammer-beam construction.

PRINCIPAL FIXTURES: Although they have been moved, the font and pulpit appear to date from the building of the church. A few pews are thought to date from the 1850s (some on the S side of the central alley) but the others have been added to the same design and form a largely complete ensemble. The reredos, bearing Instruments of the Passion, and the flanking arcading, date from the original church. Many windows contain stained glass by a variety of artists. That in the Lady Chapel SE window and in two windows in the N aisle probably dates back to 1854. There is a Morris & Co window of 1887 designed by Edward Burne Jones in the Lady Chapel SW window. Other artists and makers are represented by Powell & Sons (E window, 1935, Lady Chapel E, 1933); Shrigley & Hunt (St George, S aisle, 1920); and Sir Ninian Comper (baptistry, W, 1930).

HISTORY: The church was originally built to serve the northern part of Ruislip parish by Robert Grosvenor, 1st Baron Ebury. The foundation stone was laid on 12 October 1852 and the consecration took place on 5 January 1854. At the time the area was agricultural and the church was known as the 'Church in the Meadows'. The arrival of the Metropolitan Railway in 1887 led to population growth, hence the need for the addition of the N aisle (consecrated 12 October 1895). Continued expansion led on to the lengthening of the nave and addition of the S aisle in 1927. The original architect of the church, Samuel Sanders Teulon (1812-73), was a well-known and active church architect who worked primarily, as in Lord Ebury's case, for low Church clients. His work is often made striking by the use of structural polychromy and exotic architectural details. However, here at Northwood we see 'his least ostentatious mood' (Cherry and Pevsner).

SOURCES: Cherry, B and Pevsner, N The Buildings of England: London 3: North West (1991), 342. Clarke, T, Holy Trinity Northwood: a Guide (c.2005).

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The Church of the Holy Trinity, Northwood, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * An early Victorian church by SS Teulon, added to sensitively in the late C19 and early C20. * It is an imposing building, prominently visible on the main A404 road. * It has a good collection of stained glass by leading C19 and C20 artists and makers.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

202940

Legacy System:

LBS

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