Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford
| Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford | |
|---|---|
Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford
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| 52°5′15.27″N 0°43′15.67″E / 52.0875750°N 0.7210194°ECoordinates: 52°5′15.27″N 0°43′15.67″E / 52.0875750°N 0.7210194°E | |
| OS grid reference | TL865467 |
| Location | Long Melford |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Website | http://longmelfordchurch.com |
| History | |
| Dedication | Holy Trinity |
| Architecture | |
| Heritage designation | Grade I listed |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 153 feet (47 m) |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Long Melford |
| Deanery | Sudbury |
| Archdeaconry | Sudbury |
| Diocese | Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Clergy | |
| Rector | The Rev'd. Matthew Lawson |
| Laity | |
| Organist/Director of music | Brian Swallow |
| Organist(s) | Nigel Brown |
The Church of the Holy Trinity, Long Melford is a Grade I listed parish church of the Church of England in Long Melford, Suffolk, England. It is one of 310 medieval English churches dedicated to the Holy Trinity.
The church was constructed between 1467 and 1497 in the late Perpendicular Gothic style. It is a noted example of a Suffolk medieval wool church, founded and financed by wealthy wool merchants in the medieval period as impressive visual statements of their prosperity.
The church structure is highly regarded by many observers. Its cathedral-like proportions and distinctive style, along with its many original features that survived the religious upheavals of the 16th and 17th centuries, have attracted critical acclaim. Journalist and author Sir Simon Jenkins, Chairman of the National Trust, included the church in his 1999 book “England’s Thousand Best Churches”. He awarded it a maximum of 5 stars, one of only 18 to be so rated. The Holy Trinity Church features in many episodes of Michael Wood's, BBC television history series Great British Story, filmed during 2011.
A church is recorded as having been on the site since the reign of King Edward the Confessor (1042–1066). It was originally endowed by the Saxon Earl Alric, who bequeathed the patronage of the church, along with his manor at Melford Hall and about 261 acres of land, to the successive Abbots of the Benedictine Abbey of Bury St Edmund’s. There are no surviving descriptions of the original Saxon structure, although the roll of the clergy (see below) and the history of the site extend back to the 12th century.
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