November 716
A.D.—Present. Westbury Priory and
Holy Trinity Church, Westbury on Trym, Bristol;
John Wycliffe a Canon from 1362-1384;
Upon Dissolution in Henry VIII’s Day, Became a Parish Church
Saxon minster, a college of secular priests
founded in 716 A.D. Granted to Worcester
in 824 A.D. Probably destroyed in 9th
century Danish raids. Refounded c.
963-964 by Bishop Oswald. The parochial
parish, Holy Trinity Church, Westbury on Trym, was built on the site.
Holy Trinity Church, Westbury on Trym
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
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Holy Trinity Church
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The church tower.
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Shown within Bristol
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Basic information
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Location
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Bristol, England
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District
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Website
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Architectural
description
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Completed
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15th century
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Specifications
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Holy Trinity Church (grid reference ST564770) is a Church of England parish church in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, England.
The first church on the site
was established in the 8th century. In the 10th century a Benedictine priory was founded. Construction of the present building began in the early
13th century and it has been rebuilt several times since. It has been
designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building.[1]
From the late 12th century
to the middle of the 16th century it was the collegiate church for Westbury College; of the latter, little more
than the college gatehouse remains.[2] The church contains the tomb of John Carpenter, Bishop of
Worcester, who had planned to make it a
joint cathedral for the Worcester diocese.[2]
Contents
History
Early years
The date the first church was
founded has traditionally been put at 716–17; the historical record does show
two foundations at this date, but these were actually at Yate and Bredon.[3] Nevertheless a church did exist by the end of the
8th century, as King Offa founded a minster on the site between 793 and 796.[3]
The minster became a
Benedictine priory around 963–64.[4] It was the first reformation of a minster by
Bishop Oswald of
Worcester, in his introduction of the Rule of Saint Benedict into the diocese.[5] He brought the English monk Germanus from Fleury Abbey as the new Prior. However Oswald soon decided to move the community to Ramsey, after he acquired land in
966 for the foundation of Ramsey Abbey.[4] The priory buildings eventually fell into
disrepair. Around 1093 Bishop Wulfstan reacquired the dilapidated priory and rebuilt it as a monastery under the
control of the Worcester diocese.[6]
Collegiate church
Holy Trinity Church in 1882
Over the next century, there
were successive evictions as monks and secular priests alternated in possession of the monastery;[6] this was finally resolved in favour of the secular
priests when the church become collegiate around 1194.[1] The canons of Westbury College were each supported by revenues from one of the areas
around Westbury on Trym, including Aust, Henbury and Lawrence Weston.[7]
The great reformist John Wycliffe was a canon from 1362 until his death in 1384,
although in 1367 he was accused of neglecting his duties as prebendary of Aust due to his long absence.[7] The prominent Bristol merchant William Canynge was dean of the college from 1469 until his death in 1474.[8]
In 1544, with the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the church became a parish church within the new Bristol diocese, and the residential buildings of Westbury College
passed into the hands of Sir Ralph Sadler.[5][9]
Architecture
The present building all dates
to after 1194. The nave and aisles are early 13th century, in the Early English style. The remainder of the church is in the Perpendicular style.[1]
The nave clerestory, chancel, choir and north chapel are the result of extensive rebuilding by Bishop Carpenter in the
middle of the 15th century. The chancel has a polygonal apse, which is rare for the late Gothic period. The church tower, although also
from this period, was restored in the middle of the 19th century.[2] The reredos, which depicts the Last Supper, is also 19th century.[1]
Memorials
Although
Bishop Carpenter's plan to make the church a joint cathedral with
Worcester did not come to fruition, it was he who rededicated the church to the Holy Trinity.[10] On his death in 1476 he was buried in the crypt
underneath the altar. The stone cadaver from his cadaver tomb is in the chancel, with a Purbeck marble canopy donated in 1853 by Oriel College,
Oxford, where he had been Provost.[2]
Churchyard
The churchyard contains war graves of a soldier and officer of the Gloucestershire Regiment and a Royal Flying
Corps officer of World War I.[11]
See also
References
2. ^ Jump up
to:a b c d Little, Bryan (1978). Churches in Bristol, p. 32. Redcliffe Press,
Bristol. ISBN 0-905459-06-7.
3. ^ Jump up
to:a b Sivier, David (2002). Anglo-Saxon and Norman Bristol, p. 26. Tempus, Stroud,
Gloucestershire. ISBN 0-7524-2533-1.
4. ^ Jump up
to:a b Sivier, David (2002). Anglo-Saxon and Norman Bristol, p. 28. Tempus, Stroud,
Gloucestershire. ISBN 0-7524-2533-1.
6. ^ Jump up
to:a b Sivier, David (2002). Anglo-Saxon and Norman Bristol, p. 77. Tempus, Stroud,
Gloucestershire. ISBN 0-7524-2533-1.
7. ^ Jump up
to:a b Orme, Nicholas (2010).
"John Wycliffe and the Prebend of Aust", Journal of Ecclesiastical
History, 61 (1): 144-152.
8. Jump up^ Little, Bryan and Sansom, John (1999). The Story of Bristol from the
Middle Ages to Today, p. 15. Redcliffe Press, Bristol. ISBN 1-900178-56-7.
10. Jump up^ "'College: Westbury-on-Trym', A History of the
County of Gloucester: Volume 2 (1907), pp. 106-108". British History Online. Retrieved
2010-07-27.
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