Holy Trinity Church, West Hendred
Holy Trinity Church in West Hendred consists of a chancel 29 ft. 6 in. long, nave 39 ft. 4 in. by 18 ft. 9 in. with side aisles making a total width of 38 ft. 6 in., a west tower 9 ft. square and a south porch. All the measurements are internal. The church appears to have been entirely rebuilt during the 14th century, the south aisle being probably the latest portion, and little alteration has been made in the structure since that date. It has been little restored, but there is a row of modern buttresses on the north of the nave. The chancel has a pair of one-stage buttresses at each eastern angle, finished with very tall gables. The 14th-century east window is of three lights under a pointed head with net tracery and an internal hood. In the north wall is a two-light pointed window of the same date, and further west is a singlelight window with a trefoiled head. In the south wall is a two-light window like that in the north, and at the west end a square-headed 14th-century window also of two lights; between them is a pointed priest's doorway. All the larger windows have chamfered rear arches. The chancel arch is pointed and of two chamfered orders with semi-octagonal responds having moulded capitals and bases. The nave has late 14th-century north and south arcades with octagonal piers and responds having moulded capitals and bases of the same detail as the chancel arch. The roof is of the trussed rafter type, ceiled and having three massive tie-beams. The north aisle has a late 14th-century east window of two lights under a square head. The east bay was screened off to form a chapel, and traces of cutting for the screen are visible on the east respond and pier of the arcade. In the north wall are two late 14thcentury windows of two lights and between them is a blocked north doorway, pointed and chamfered and having a pointed segmental rear arch. In the east wall is a stone bracket, and there is another at the east end of the north wall. The south aisle has a square-headed 15th-century east window of two lights, and flanking it are two semi-octagonal stone brackets. In the south wall are two pointed early 15th-century windows, both of two lights, and between them is the plain pointed south doorway. At the east end of this wall is a piscina with a shelf and a four-centred head. The west tower is three stages high, of late 14thcentury date, and has diagonal western buttresses of ashlar rising to the base of the bell-chamber; it is finished with a plain ashlar parapet having a moulded string-course. The tower arch is pointed and of two hollow-chamfered orders dying into the side walls. The west window is of two lights under a pointed head. The second stage is lighted by loops in the south and west walls and the bell-chamber has a two-light pointed window in each face. The south porch has a four-centred outer archway with a wide hollow chamfer and has a two-light trefoil-headed window in each side. The gabled roof of stone slabs is supported by a chamfered rib forming a pointed arch. The exterior of the church is covered with cement, that on the tower bearing the initials and date 'W.T., I.G. 1744' on the south side; the south aisle, porch and tower have a deep moulded plinth, but the plinth of the remainder of the building is a plain chamfer. The nave roof is lead covered and that of the chancel tiled. The good Jacobean communion table has turned legs and a carved rail; the rails are also of the 17th century and have turned balusters. The pulpit of the same date is hexagonal from the ground up and has panelled faces with good conventional flowers and foliage. The clerk's desk adjoining it is made up of similar panelling. In the nave are some bench fronts, probably of the 16th century, with four-centred panels in front with intersecting ribs. There is also one good bench end, possibly of the 14th century, with window tracery panelling and a wheel in the head. Other benches are plain and solid. The font has a plain octagonal bowl and stem and an octagonal pyramidal cover capped with an acorn and having carved panels, one being inscribed 'A.D. 1630 I.P, TS.' At the west end of the north aisle is a vestry screened off by Jacobean panelling, including some carved frieze-work, but all much displaced. The east window contains a considerable amount of 14th-century grisaille glass with a head of Christ in the upper part. Some similar glass remains in the head of the first north window, and there is some old glazing in the south window opposite. Fragments of old glass also remain in the heads of the north aisle windows, and in one of them the crowned initials E.S. occur twice. The east window of the south aisle has old yellow glass in the head. Numerous ancient slip tiles of simple design remain in the chancel and many others, much worn, are set in the paving of the centre and south nave aisles. There are six bells: the treble, second and fourth by Mears & Stainbank, 1886, 1887 and 1889; the third is inscribed, 'Love God 1610' (?); the fifth, 'Prayes ye the lord 1623, EK'; and the tenor, 'R. Wells Aldbourne fecit 1790,' with the churchwardens' names. The plate includes a cup (London, 1787) apparently a copy of the 17th-century shape; a flagon (London, 1674) inscribed on the bottom, 'This flagon belongeth to ye parish church of West Hendreth Berks'; and a paten (London, 1662 or 1664) with a similar inscription. The registers previous to 1812 are as follows: (i) mixed entries 1558 to 1604; (ii) mixed entries 1599 to 1727; (iii) all entries 1727 to 1812, marriages to 1754 only; (iv) marriages 1755 to 1812. Historical information about Holy Trinity Church is provided by 'Parishes: West Hendred', in A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 4, ed. William Page and P H Ditchfield (London, 1924), pp. 302-307. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4/pp302-307 [accessed 13 March 2023]. Holy Trinity Church is a Grade I listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, West Hendred - 1200322 | Historic England. For more information about Holy Trinity Church see Parishes: West Hendred | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk). |
