32 ROUND DINING TABLE

Holy Trinity Church, Skipton

This ancient church has been here at the top of the High Street for centuries, welcoming local people as well as folk from all over the world. It is a place where many have spent much time looking, wondering, soaking up its atmosphere, worshipping, being still and quiet. It is the home of a large and vibrant Christian family where many, each in their own way, have found God.

If you are in ever Skipton, come and see us - We hope you enjoy your visit to our church - and find something special here too.

A Brief History

The first church was built in the early 1100's, possibly made of wood. It was near where the tower now stands. Another church was built about 1300 with help from the monks at Bolton Priory. It was extended further eastwards towards the end of the 1400's, probably helped by a gift from Richard III.

The tower was damaged during the Civil War, but it was restored in the 1650's (along with some of the windows too) by Lady Anne Clifford from the castle next door. The tower suffered again in 1853 - this time from lightning. It and the roof were repaired soon afterwards.

At about the same time gas lighting was fitted in the church: this made the church warmer and that caused an unbearable smell from the burial vaults (!) so 30 centimetres of concrete had to be put on the floor.

There used to be galleries with seats to fit everyone in, and the pews used to be box pews, but the galleries came down in 1909 and the pews were replaced by the present oak ones with their little doors.

Lightning never strikes twice they say... well it did at Holy Trinity! In 1925 it caused a fire which completely destroyed the organ.

Recent work has included the development of the Lady Chapel and the extension of the Vestry Rooms (our church hall) in 1979; very recently, the Prayer Corner has been established in the north-east corner of the church for personal, quiet prayer.

Points of special interest to you

1 The Font
For 700 years, the beginning of a Christian's journey and the beginning of your journey today.

2 The Green Man
Amongst the faces on the pillars and roof bosses, you'll find a pagan symbol in our Christian building!

3 The A.P. window
Look to the right to see Lady Anne Clifford's devotion to Holy Trinity during the period of the Civil War.

4 The Screen
This beautiful oak screen is over 450 years old. When it was new it was probably painted.

5 The Sedillia
Three seats in the wall. Here sat the priests in mediaeval times. It was probably once near the main altax.

6 The Lady Chapel
Here you see the magnificent tomb of George Clifford - a reminder of Holy Trinity's links with Skipton Castle. The aumbry light in the corner reminds us of the presence of Christ in the bread and wine of Holy Communion.

7 The High Altar
A reminder of the table of the Last Supper. The colour of the frontal changes with the Church's seasons.

8 The Dole Board
This lists gifts for the community. This is still part of our mission today.

9 The Prayer Corner
A place where you can pray quietly and be with God in peace.

10 The Anchorite's Cell
Someone probably lived here alone in mediaeval times, right next to the church and spent their life in prayer.

11 Honeypot and the Refectory (on Fridays and Saturdays)
To feed the body after refreshment of the spirit!

You will find our History of the Parish Church (price ?1) a valuable souvenir of your visit.


Services here at Holy Trinity

We have a full range of services in our church and you will be very welcome at any of these. This is the usual pattern:

Sundays
8.00am. An Early Eucharist
9.45am Parish Eucharist
6.30pm Evensong

Weekdays
9.00am Morning Prayer (in the Prayer Corner)
4.00pm Evening Prayer (in the Prayer Corner)

On Wednesday
10.45am Holy Communion (Prayer Book)

Honeypot and the Refectory

Honeypot (Fridays, 10am-2pm) and the Refectory (Saturdays, 10am - 4pm offer refreshments and light home-made meals in the Vestry Rooms: do drop in and try our fare!

133-145 West 46th Street, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

The Free Church of Saint Mary-the-Virgin complex, including the church, Clergy House, Mission House, Rectory and Lady Chapel, was designed by Pierre L. LeBrun of Napoleon LeBrun & Sons in 1894. The church, long a center of Anglo-Catholic worship, is a physical realization of the tenets of the Oxford Movement which sought to better the lives of the urban poor through nursing care, inspirational activity and the ritual of the Pre-Reformation Church in England. Built in 1895 to make full use of an irregular site, St. Mary's was designed both to realize the programmatic goals of its trustees and to evoke, in the church and Lady Chapel, the 13th- century French Gothic Style. The Clergy and Mission Houses, and the Rectory were cast in the 14th-century French Gothic style. The result is one of the finest Gothic-inspired designs of New York's late 19th century. The steel frame construction of the church can be said to have made the building the first of its kind and size in the world, thus redefining the conventional methods of church construction. Among the building's several specific Anglo-Catholic characteristics are the subjects selected for the sculptures of J. Massey Rhind whose academic naturalism complements
LeBrun's architecture.

Above the church's side aisles and ambulatory the exterior walls of the clerestory (Plate 15), partially visible from both West 46th and 47th Streets, are faced with limestone. On both sides of the clerestory (east and west) eight out of nine panelled bays, separated by minimal and token buttressing, contain the tall, two-light windows of plate tracery with drip moldings. The windows are filled with leaded glass in geometric patterns, manufactured by Arnold & Locke. The steep saddleback roof is slate-covered. A fleche of pressed copper rises from the ridge line between bays eight and nine (containing the bell brought from West 45th Street). Though visible from West 46th Street, the fleche is seen best from West 47th Street where it is the terminal feature above the church's five apse windows and steep roof. Only the center three of these five windows contain the glass specifically projected for them and manufactured by C. F. Kempe & Co., Ltd., London.

Like the Clergy and Mission Houses on West 46th Street, the Rectory at 144 West 47th Street (Plate 8) is of orange Tiffany brick on a granite base with a limestone water table. The keyed and ornamental door and window surrounds, sills, stringcourses, and drip moldings are limestone. The Rectory entrance has its original bluestone stoop and basement areaway. The double doors with their brass fittings are of paneled oak, two over two, with a transom of plate glass above. The Rectory shelters the sacristy and vestry rooms, as well as the living quarters of the rector and his family. Windows containing one-over-one wood sash some with leaded glass in a geometric pattern, are capped by drip moldings with foliate stops. Of special interest is the bow window at the second story set within splayed reveals. The lintel is an iron "I" beam decorated with five iron rosettes, while the casing is of wood as are the two narrow shafts at the angles of the bow, and the drip molding carries an ornamental finial. The gable coping, chimney and chimney pots are terra cotta. The eastern end of the slate covered roof is broached, its hip adorned with a pressed copper finial.

- From the 1989 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report