Holy Trinity Church, Wensley

Holy Trinity Church, Wensley
Holy Trinity Church, Wensley, from the northeast
Holy Trinity Church, Wensley Location in North Yorkshire
Coordinates: 54°18′05″N 1°51′36″W / 54.3014°N 1.8600°W / 54.3014; -1.8600
OS grid reference	SE 092 895
Location	Wensley, North Yorkshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Churches Conservation Trust
History
Dedication	Holy Trinity
Architecture
Functional status	Redundant
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	13 February 1967
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic
Groundbreaking	Mid-13th century
Completed	1719
Specifications
Materials	Stone rubble with sandstone ashlar dressings

Holy Trinity Church is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Wensley, North Yorkshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.Alec Clifton-Taylor includes the church in his list of 'best' English parish churches.

The present church dates from the middle of the 13th century, and is built on the foundations of an 8th century Saxon church. Additions or alterations were made in the 14th and 15th centuries, and the tower was added in 1719.

The church was restored in 1927 when the roof was renewed, and the whitewash on the walls was removed. This restoration revealed wall paintings depicting Jacob and Esau which were restored as far as possible. Rt. Revd. Lucius Smith, Bishop of Knaresborough re-opened it on 25 January 1928.

When the church was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust in 2006 a number of repairs were necessary costing about £125,000.

The church is constructed in stone rubble with sandstone ashlar dressings. The roof is in Welsh slate, with lead on the chancel and the north porch. A number of carved Saxon stones are built into the walls. Its plan consists of a nave, with north and south aisles and north and south porches, a chancel with a north vestry, and a west tower. The tower has three stages, with buttresses on the bottom stage, and a two-light west window. On the south side is a stair turret. In the middle stage there are single-light windows on the west and south faces, a door on the east side, and a clock on the north face. The top stage contains two-light bell openings. On the summit, the parapet is plain and there are small obelisks at the corners. The south aisle has a two-light west window. The gabled south porch dates from the 15th century and has diagonal buttresses. Above its opening is a sundial dated 1846. Inside the porch are stone benches. The north porch dates from the 14th century; it is also gabled with diagonal buttresses. Above the doorway are coats of arms, and it also contains stone benches. On the south side of the church are buttresses with three double lancet windows, the middle one of which is over a priest's door. The east window has five lights, and on the east gable end is a cross. The vestry on the north side has two storeys. There is a two-light window on each storey. Inside the church is a tower arch, a chancel arch and a three-bay arcade, all dating from the early 14th century.