Listed Building record MDO12712 - Trinity Centre (formerly Church of the Holy Trinity), Bimport, Shaftesbury

Cruciform church heavily rebuilt in 1840-2 on the site of an earlier demolished church, to designs in the 'Early English' style by Gilbert Scott. The Nave, Aisles, North and South Chapels, and West Tower were rebuilt in 1840–2; whereas the Chancel was added in 1908 by Doran Webb.

(ST 8614 2297) Holy Trinity Church [NAT]. <1>

Church of the Holy Trinity. Built 1842 on an earlier site. Cruciform church in 'Transitional' style by Gilbert Scott. Chancel 1908 by Doran Webb. Grade B. <2, 5>

Trial excavations within the church, recently declared reduvilant, revealed the greensand wall-foundation and flagstone floors of the earlier church. Its alignment appears to have been slightly to the north of the Scott church. <4>

Holy Trinity, Bimport. <3>

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 1965 (Map). SWX1197.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 64, plate 58 (Monograph). SDO99.

(3) The Parish Church of The Holy Trinity, some 80 yds. N. of the abbey site, has ashlar walls and slate-covered roofs. The Nave, Aisles, North and South Chapels, and West Tower were rebuilt in 1840–2, to designs in the 'Early English' style by Gilbert Scott (Plate 63). The Chancel, by Doran Webb, was added in 1908. The mediaeval church appears in a sketch in the Wilton terrier of c. 1553 (Plate 58).

Fittings—Bells: treble, 2nd and 3rd by Mears, 1844; 4th by John Wallis, inscribed 'Praise the Lord I.W., 1597'; 5th by William Purdue, inscribed 'God is all my hope, 1641, WP', with 'John Buckton, John Masters' in smaller letters, the words of the two inscriptions alternating; tenor by Mears, 1844. Churchyard Cross: S.W. of tower, with moulded square base on two steps, and tapering chamfered shaft with run-out stops; probably 15th century, cross-head modern. Glass: reset in N. window of N. Chapel, shield-of-arms of Whitaker, with rectangular inscription panel 'Good men need not marble wee dare trust to glass the memory of William Whitaker Esq. who died the 3rd of October 1646 '.

Monuments and Floor-slabs. Monuments: In N. chapel, (1) of Maria Buckland, 1822, marble wall tablet with shield-of-arms, by Hiscock of Blandford. In S. chapel, (2) of Abraham Gapper, 1733, marble and stone cartouche with scroll-work surround (Plate 18); (3) of Elizabeth Atchison, 1766, and her mother Honor, 1769, wall-monument with scrolled cheek-pieces, shaped cornice and gadrooned apron; (4) of John Bennett, 1676, metal plate in oval stone cartouche with heavily enriched and gilded surround, and shield-of-arms of Bennett and Ashlock quarterly, impaling Hall (Plate 18). In N. aisle, (5) of Christopher Erle, 1817, and his wife Margaret (Bowles), 1807, tablet with shield-of-arms of Erle impaling Bowles, by T. King of Bath; (6) of John Mill, 1821, sarcophagus-shaped marble tablet with shield-of-arms of Mill, by Osmund of Sarum. In S. aisle, (7) of Henry Edwards, 1803, and Mary (Ernly) his wife, 1796, marble tablet surmounted by urn, with shield-of-arms, by Waddilove, London. Erected 1805; (8) of Matilda Mill, 1833, wall-monument with kneeling figure beside urn, and shield-of-arms of Mill impaling another coat, by Osmund, Sarum; (9) of William Collins, 1810, marble tablet by T. King of Bath. Reset in S. porch, (10) stone effigy of priest with hands together in prayer (Plate 15), late 13th century (W.A.M., VII (1862), 261); adjacent, tablet recording discovery of effigy in 1817. In churchyard, some 50 paces S. of tower, (11) of Margaret Swyer, 1745, her husband Robert, 1767, and others of same family, table-tomb (Plate 19) with balusters at corners and moulded top slab with dentil enrichment; also, dispersed in churchyard, several 17th-century headstones. Floor-slabs: In N. chapel, adjacent to N. wall, (1) of William Bowles, 1717, slate slab with shield-of-arms. In N. porch, (2) of Arundell B[ennett, 1682]. In S. porch, (3) of George Howe, 1666, with shield-of-arms of Howe.

Plate: the plate listed in St. Peter's church (2) may include items which belong to this church, proper attribution being no longer possible; items which belong certainly to Holy Trinity are—silver cup inscribed 'This chalic belongeth to the holy trinity of Shaston, 1670 ', with stand-paten designed to act as cover, foot hanging inside cup; silver stand-paten with date-letter of 1709, donor's inscription of Humphrey Bishop, and shield-of-arms of Bishop; silver flagon with date-letter, donor's inscription and arms as on foregoing.

Royal Arms: formerly in (2), painted on canvas, with cypher GR and inscription 'Ed. Buckland and Willm. Everett Ch. Wardens, M. Wilmot fecit, 1780' (Plate 27). Miscellanea: reset in ringing chamber of W. tower, 17th-century wood panelling with moulded stiles and rails.

<3> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 364 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1980, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1978, 116-7 (Serial). SDO78.

<5> DOE (HHR), List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: North Dorset, 17 (Scheduling record). SDO17666.

<6> English Heritage, National Heritage List for England (Digital archive). SDO12876.

688/2/3 BIMPORT 20-JUN-52 FORMER CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY (Formerly listed as: BIMPORT CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY)

II By G.G. Scott and W.B. Moffatt, 1841-2. Chancel rebuilt by Edward Doran Webb, 1908

Materials: Greensand ashlar, blue slate roofs.

Plan: Five-bay nave, west tower, north and south aisles of three bays with porches to the west, transepts to the east. Originally a shallow one-bay chancel, lengthened in 1908. The church had galleries at the west end, and over both aisles and transepts; the west porches also contained gallery stairs.

Exterior: The style is Early English of c. 1300. All round, there are chamfered plinths, moulded stringcourses, and two-stage buttresses with weathered offsets and gabled tops. The windows are mostly uncusped lancets, single or grouped, with hoodmoulds and blocked label stops. Below the eaves of both aisles and clerestory are broad raised bands with regular dentil blocks set below, like a corbel table. The gables have shaped kneelers, and pointed copings with a fat roll-moulding at the apex. Decoration is focussed mainly on the west tower, which is tall and of stately proportion. It has four stages and a prominent polygonal stair turret at the north-west, which rises above the parapet with a big spirelet, a feature associated most with Bristol and North Somerset towers. The turret has blind arcading at two stages. The other angles have smaller pinnacles with weathered caps, the embattled parapet sits above a double corbel table. Each face of the bell stage has one large opening with a double chamfered head, a quatrefoil in plate tracery, and two louvred lights. The next stage down is short, and has a cusped oculus in each face. Next, single lancets north and south, and paired lancets to the west, above a west door with one order of colonnettes. The aisles have paired lancets between buttresses; in the clerestory, single lancets with flat pilaster strips instead of buttresses dividing the bays. The transepts have gabled ends with triple lancets above arched entrances. The chancel has in its side walls the original single lancet each side, and the three-light east window (by E. Doran Webb, 1908) has reticulated tracery in the Dec style. Several flat-headed exit doors were cut in the chancel walls, 1980-2.

Interior: (Not inspected). The nave has double-chamfered arcades on octagonal piers with moulded capitals. The interior was comprehensively remodelled 1980-2, and divided with an upper floor. All windows have been reglazed with clear plate glass.

Subsidiary Features: Holy Trinity sits in a spacious churchyard with walks of pollarded limes. There are some good 18th century chest tombs and a medieval churchyard cross with chamfered plinth on two steps. The cross finial is modern.

History: The site is c. 200 feet north of the Benedictine convent church of Shaftesbury Abbey, one of the wealthiest monastic foundations in the south of England. From the Reformation, the churches of Holy Trinity and St Peter nearby were held as one living. Holy Trinity is depicted on maps of 1615 and 1799 as an aisled church with a porch and west tower. It was completely rebuilt on the same site in 1841-2. The church was made redundant on September 30,1977, and the congregation transferred to St Peter's church. The Holy Trinity building was taken into the ownership of the Trinity Centre Trust by October 13, 1980. Conversion was completed by 1982; it is now leased as a Day Centre, Scouts headquarters, workshops and offices.

George Gilbert Scott (1811-78) began his practice in the mid-1830s and became the most successful church architect of his day (he was knighted in 1872). His new churches generally have a harmonious quality, often in the style of the late C13 or early C14. Between 1835 and 1844 Scott was in partnership with William Bonython Moffatt (1812-87), a pupil of James Edmeston under whom Scott also trained. Moffatt did design buildings on his own account but generally brought little to the partnership, which was dissolved in 1844. Edward Doran Webb (1843-1913) was a competent though rarely innovative Salisbury architect who designed many churches in Wiltshire, Dorset and further afield, especially Roman Catholic ones.

Sources: Newman, J. and Pevsner, N., The Buildings of England: Dorset, (1972), 364. Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset, Vol. 4, North Dorset (1972), 64-5.

Reasons for Designation: The former church of Holy Trinity, Shaftesbury, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * A typical 13th century style Gothic Revival church by Scott & Moffatt, 1841-2. * Still with elements of the Commissioners' style, but showing concern for robustness and structural authenticity in the composition, buttressing etc. * The site has a long history as one of the central churches of the Saxon hilltop town of Shaftesbury, associated with the wealthy medieval abbey nearby. * Its hilltop position the tower is a landmark for many miles.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 913539 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jun 27 2023 2:56PM