HTC History - key areas of the church
A - Archdeacon’s Court
B - Fragments of Medieval glass
C - North Porch c.1260
D - Peace Chapel - formerly St Thomas’ Chapel
E - The Bishop’s High Chair
F - The Marler Chapel
H - The Nativity Window
J - East Window
The High Altar
K - The Littlewood Memorial Window
The Crossing and Tower
L - The Choir
M - The Pulpit
N - The Eagle Lectern
The brass lamp standards
O - The South Transept
P - Stone seats
Q - 15th century font
R - The Doom Painting
S - The Great West Window
Archdeacon’s Court.
Originating before 1350, it was originally a chapel in the medieval church and was used a Consistory Court
where the archdeacon and his staff heard cases of indiscipline against the church’s own legal system.
The annual Archdeacon’s visitation (when churchwardens are sworn in) also used to take place here.
The roof dates back from the fifteenth century. Monuments formerly in other parts of the church were re-sited here during the restoration in 1854 - 1856.
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Fragments of Medieval glass.
These are from the “Godiva Window” which was originally on the south side.
We know from church records that the church windows were rich in medieval glass.
Sadly the reformers destroyed much of the glass in the sixteenth century.
These fragments are all that remain and they form a part of one of the Archdeacon’s Court windows.
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North Porch c.1260.
The oldest part of the building. It was probably constructed in the early thirteenth century to be the
Prior’s entrance to the Norman church, since the south door of the Priory lay directly opposite.
The first church built on the Holy Trinity site was the parish church for the lay tenants of the monastic lands,
which stretched from Radford, Coundon and Keresley to Willenhall, Sowe, Harnall and Hawkesbury.
This Norman church burned down in 1257 and only the North Porch remained. There is a room above which served as the
thirteenth century vicarage; records show that the churchwardens leased it to the vicar of Holy Trinity in 1570,
George Chestton, for 12d per year. Above can be seen the “Priest’s room” which was used as a vicarage in the 16th century
and is reached by an extremely steep spiral staircase. The north transept is mainly 14th century but the north wall is 13th century.
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Peace Chapel - formerly St Thomas’ Chapel.
Founded in 1296 by William de Allesley as an extension to the building, for one priest to sing Mass daily at the
altar dedicated to St Thomas the Martyr (Thomas a Becket). The stone coffins are Elizabethan and were moved here from the Archdeacon’s Court.
The glazed openings were a doorway opening into the North Porch. The chapel now contains two Gulf War prayer desks to commemorate
two young soldiers from Coventry who lost their lives in that war, a stone tablet commemorated to those who lost their lives on
H. M. S. Coventry in the Falklands War and other memorials.
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The Bishop’s High Chair.
This was commissioned in 1833 by the Vicar, Walter Farquhar Hook for his friend, the Bishop of Ross, Moray and Argyle to be “carried” into the church,
Church of England law precluded Scottish clergy “setting foot” in its churches.
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The Marler Chapel (or Mercers’ Chapel)
This was founded in 1526-7 and was built by Richard Marler - a rich Coventry Merchant.
The ceiling which is finely carved (note that Richard Marler’s merchant’s mark is also carved here in the roof)
at one end only, suggests the stop put to all such embellishments at the Dissolution of the Chantries
(endowment for priest to celebrate masses for founder’s soul) in about 1550. The chapel was refitted in 1917,
but suffered some damage during the bomb raids in Holy Week 1941 when a single incendiary bomb broke through the ceiling.
Burn marks are still visible on the floor. The gold carpet under the altar comes from Westminster Abbey where it formed
part of the carpet for the coronation of Elizabeth II. Holy Trinity is entitled to this piece because it is a Crown living
(i.e. the appointment of the vicar is made by the Queen.) The Wooden Reredos in the Marler Chapel is unusual in that everyone is kneeling.
Jesus is in the centre with his disciples either side
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The Nativity Window
Dating from 1885, in memory of William Lynes.
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The East Window
This depicts the Crucifixion and was installed in 1956 by Sir Ninian Comper (b.1864 d.1960) and partly paid for by brides married in Holy Trinity.
This window replaces an earlier window that was blown out in 2nd World War.
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The High Altar
The chancel (choir and sanctuary) was rebuilt in 1391 and extended 7 metres to the east, making it 5 metres larger than the nave.
The altar has undergone considerable change; the original high altar was destroyed in the Reformation and the first Protestant Communion Table was set up in 1560.
However, in the time of Archbishop Laud before the Civil War, a new high altar was installed in a raised position, which was not at all popular with the predominant
Puritan feeling in Coventry, especially when the Communion Table was removed. An Order of Parliament in 1641 led to a Vestry meeting where it was decided to restore
the altar to its previous position, level the ground and take the rails away but communion “rayles” and steps are mentioned in the church accounts
towards the end of that century. Then in the 1854-56 restoration the area was greatly altered by Sir George Gilbert-Scott, who added the Minton tiles to the sanctuary,
and the brass communion rail. The reredos is also nineteenth century, carved from Caen stone, but the aumbry (wall recess), piscina (basin) and sedilia (seat)
are all fourteenth century. The altar is dressed on special occasions in heavy brocade in the early seventeenth century Laudian style; the “Restoration” candlesticks
were the gift of Vicar Hook, 1827-37.
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The Littlewood Memorial Window
Installed in 1933, it depects Ch.4 of Revelation - worship of the Trinity. It was designed and made by Mr Geoffrey Webb in memory of Canon Reginald Basil Littlewood
who was vicar for seventeen years.
Next to the Littlewood window is the Armorial Window. Note the sign of the Trinity and also the ‘Coventry Elephant’
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The Crossing and Tower
These date from C.1380-1420. The spire and upper part of the tower were brought down in “a great gale” in 1666, but by 1669 the had been rebuilt. In 1854-56 during the
restoration the lantern stage was opened up and the bells and ringing floor were removed. The tower was then refaced with Woolton Stone in 1915-19.
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The Choir
This dates from the 1460’s. At that time there was a finely carved and painted Rood Screen and loft with figures of Mary, Jesus and John,
but this was removed in the Reformation in around August 1560. However the rood loft doors can still be seen up on the pillars one bay east of the crossing on the north and south sides.
The Choir Stalls/Misericord seats on the south side are several centuries old. These misericord seats started life at Whitefriars, went to the Old Grammar School at the Reformation,
and to Holy Trinity when the present Henry V111 School was built in 1885. They are beautifully carved. A misericord is a tip-up seat which one could lean on during a long service.
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The Pulpit
This is attached to the south east pier and is traditionally considered to be circa 1470. However, more recent research indicates a date nearer 1400.
The heads in the foliage may represent Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou; royalty often visited Coventry in its medieval heyday.
16th and 17th century records indicate that this too was painted and had the usual accompaniment of an hour glass. It was restored to its original state in the early 19th century.
The stone reading desk faces north; prior to 1854 the preacher had to address the congregation sitting in the galleries all around the church interior as well as in the nave and chancel.
The pulpit is supported on one single column and is beautifully carved.
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The Eagle Lectern
This dates from the 15th century. It is one of only 33 known to have been cast in East Anglia in the early 15th century. Interestingly one of its
contemporaries in in Urbino Cathedral, Italy. Made of brass and at one time used for collecting church funds, with money being inserted into its beak and
extracted via the tail feathers. It has been in almost constant use since 1539 when the first English language Bibles were authorised for use, apart
from the brief time when it was banished from use in 1654 during the Puritan Revolution. The lectern (affectionately known as “Polly”!)
survived being sold off by the churchwardens who moved it from its ancient position in the Choir and used it as a collection box for Cromwell’s New Model Army.
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The brass lamp standards
The lamp standards in the Nave and Choir and the communion rail are the work of Francis Skidmore and his company, “Coventry Art Works”.
He was a renowned Coventry metal worker in his time. He also created the choir screen in Hereford Cathedral which is now in Victoria and Albert Museum and the
Albert Memorial. Apparently both Francis and his father were churchwardens at Holy Trinity. The lamps were installed before the 1854-56 restoration.
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The South Transept
This also has a date of 14th century. The “Jesus Chapel” is sited in the south transept. This chapel originates from 1478 although the size was reduced
in 1499 to the upper section. This was when a priests’ house called the “Jesus Hall” was built next to the south wall. A right of way existed underneath
for the local people, cut through the transept from east to west. The original “Jesus Hall” was actually demolished in 1742 but the “right of way”
or “Jesus Passage” was not sealed off until 1834. The Jesus altar was removed between 1558-60 in the first years of Elizabeth I’s reign and the space used to store the organ.
The Chapel of Remembrance (now “Jesus Chapel”) was fashioned after the last war, to a design by Sir Ninian Comper.
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Stone seats
These seats were provided for the infirm before pews were added. Hence the expression “the weakest go to the wall”
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15th century font
This originally stood in the baptistry, although the exact location is not known. A Puritan order meant that the churchwardens had to remove it and they stored
it in 1645 whilst replacing it with “a simple vessel to hold water”. In 1662,following the Restoration of the monarchy, the font was brought to its present position at a cost of
£3 16s 6d. It stands on a group of low well worn steps which are thought to have been the steps for a cross in a market square.
It is so big because babies used to be (and can still be) totally immersed. It is filled by hand and drains away through a hole in the bottom.
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The Doom Painting
This was painted between 1430 and 1433 on the tower wall at the east end of the nave above the archway. It depicts Christ at the last judgement.
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The Great West Window
Also known as the “Te Deum” window, it was made by Hugh Easton in 1955. It represents the story of the Church of England.
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