Description

SE 5951 NE,
1112-1/15/689

YORK,
MICKLEGATE (South side),
Church of Holy Trinity and wall attached to south-east

14/06/54

GV

I

Holy Trinity Priory church of the Alien Benedictine Abbey of
Marmoutier; now Parish Church: wall attached to east corner
comprises lower courses of south wall of choir and chancel of
original church, and now forms footings of the wall on south
side of the garden of Holy Trinity Rectory, No. 81
Micklegate (qv).
Early C12 crossing piers, north end of west front, and wall
attached to south-east corner incorporating reconstructed mid
C14 window; 5-bay nave with fragment of triforium c1180, and
early C13 arcades; tower of 1453, the lower stage formed from
remains of north aisle. Church remodelled post 1536, when nave
was re-roofed with C15 timbers and embattled parapet added.
1850 south aisle rebuilt during restoration; 1886-7 chancel
and vestry rebuilt. 1902-5 west front reconstructed retaining
parts of early C13 west door; west bay of nave re-roofed and
north porch added, incorporating parts of early C13 north
doorway. 1850 restoration by JB and W Atkinson; 1886-7 work by
Fisher and Hepper; 1902-5 restoration and reconstruction by C
Hodgson Fowler.
MATERIALS: dressed sandy limestone and magnesian limestone
with some gritstone; chancel of rockfaced sandstone; west end
of limestone ashlar; south aisle of dark red brick in English
bond. Roofs of tile and slate. Rectory garden wall of red
brick above lower courses of sandy limestone.
PLAN: two-and-a-half bay chancel, 5-bay nave and south aisle,
north porch and north-west tower, with Chapel of St Nicholas
on ground stage.
EXTERIOR: buttressed east end on chamfered plinth. East window
of 5-lights with panel tracery in 2-centred head, with moulded
sill string and hoodmould. Coped gable with gable cross.
Chancel north side has two 3-light windows with panel tracery
in 2-centred heads, over moulded sill string. Surviving north-
west pier of early C12 crossing, with half cylindrical north
respond, divides chancel from nave. Chancel south side
obscured by adjacent buildings. Former nave north arcade
blocked with three C19 3-light windows, two with reticulated
tracery, one unfinished. Moulded eaves string beneath
embattled parapet. 2-storey buttressed porch, built on
footings of former north aisle, incorporates part of original
north door. Doorway arch is 2-centred, of 3 orders, of which
the inner is original and has twin filleted shafts with
moulded capitals and bases separated by band of continuous
nailhead moulding; outer orders have shafts with moulded
capitals, one original on east side, and bases, one original
on west side, separated by bands of coarse dogtooth moulding.
Restored C15 panel-traceried door with inset wicket. Lancet
window above has floral stopped hoodmould. In east return,
square-headed window of 3 lights with cusped ogee heads. In
west bay of south aisle is 2-centred window of 2 lights with
cusped tracery; above is reconstructed portion of triforium
arcade. Clerestory of three dormer windows with diamond
lattice glazing. Tower of 5 stages with embattled parapet and
offset angle buttresses, north-east one on chamfered plinth.
North-east and north-west buttresses are stop chamfered on two
lowest stages. Ground stage incorporates part of original
north aisle wall on chamfered plinth, and chamfered lancet
window beneath 2-centred arch on jamb shafts with roll necking
and nailhead moulded capitals. Hoodmould on floral stops and
double chamfered sill string. On north, east and west faces,
belfry has a chamfered round-headed louvred opening recessed
beneath round arch on jamb shafts with roll necking and
moulded capitals. Moulded string at belfry level. West end
buttressed with pilasters, north one original retaining
vestigial twin gabled niches on west face, and one similar
niche on north face with trefoiled head and nailhead moulded
capitals. South buttress reproduces these features. North jamb
of west door original. 2-centred doorway arch of 4 orders, the
inner of paired filleted shafts, the outer plain, 2 detached
with annulets, 1 attached, with moulded capitals and bases.
Double doors with scrolled C-hinges and wrought-ironwork. On
either side are arcades of 2 pointed arches on side shafts,
corbelled in centre. Continuous dogtooth hoodmould over both
arcades and door. Above, arcaded window of 3 pointed lights,
stepped over door, on filleted shafts with moulded capitals;
corbelled hoodmould. Moulded string to eaves beneath embattled
parapet with gable cross.
1-2 courses of former south wall of choir and chancel visible
in The Rectory garden beneath later brick courses;
incorporates reconstructed window of 4 cusped pointed lights
beneath curvilinear mouchette tracery, in chamfered surround
with 2-centred head and hollow chamfered mullions.

INTERIOR: 2-centred chancel arch of three orders springing from
foliate corbels attached to former crossing piers. Piers are
square on plan with attached shafts now embedded in later
construction. North and south arcades of 5 bays, the north
blocked and forming nave north wall: of 2-centred arches of
three chamfered orders on octagonal piers and responds with
roll necking, hollow chamfered capitals and abaci, and
waterhold bases, some renewed. On south-east face of first
pier of north arcade is an escutcheon carved with the arms of
Micklethwait. Above each pier of both arcades is an attached
triple shaft with continuous annulet moulding, formerly the
lower half of vaulting shafts. At west end of nave on north
side, one bay of original triforium survives, with triple
arched arcade of blind lancets with chamfered heads on shafts
with moulded capitals and bases. Segment-arched west door on
slender jamb shafts with foliate capitals, beneath corbelled
hoodmould. Triple lancet west window on shafts with moulded
capitals separated by bands of continuous dogtooth moulding,
beneath hoodmould. St Nicholas Chapel on tower ground stage
has a lancet in north and west walls.
Roofs. Chancel has C19 hammer-beam roof. Nave roof is of 7
bays, of collar trusses with kerb principals and slightly
cambered tiebeams; two trusses to east have moulded ties, the
seventh a demi-angel boss.
FITTINGS: Fonts: west end of nave, possibly C18 octagonal bowl
on C19 shaft and C15 base, with scrolled cover dated 1717
around upper rim, and 1794 around the lower. At east end of
south aisle, disused octagonal font bowl. In outer porch to
east of door, reset stoup in C19 surround. At west end of
south aisle, medieval altar slab with incised crosses.
Coffin lids: in porch, C13 lid with foliated cross. Behind
pulpit, stone lid reused in C17 with brass inscribed to
Alderman Micklethwait, d.1632. Amongst numerous fragments of
carved stone, the following are reset:
St Nicholas Chapel, C11 dragon, waterleaf capital, the upper
part of a double coped graveslab and fragments with black
letter inscriptions.
Inner porch, west wall, mid C12 acanthus capital. Other carved
and moulded fragments found on the site over a period of time
are loose in the church. Reredos by G. Hodgson Fowler.
Hatchment dated 1832 on wall of south aisle.
STAINED GLASS: east and west windows by Kempe; also west
window in nave, and window in St Nicholas Chapel.
MONUMENTS: include marble wall monument on south-west crossing
pier, to Dr John Burton, d.1771, physician and author, and
wife Mary: parchment scroll draped over a Gothick-traceried
tablet, weighted down by the two volumes of his Monasticon
Eboracensis, and an urn. Dr Burton was the model for Dr Slop
in Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy.

(Bartholomew City Guides: Hutchinson J and Palliser DM: York:
Edinburgh: 1980-: 220-221; City of York: RCHME: South-west of
the Ouse: HMSO: 1972-: 10-16).

Listing NGR: SE5987651540

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Holy Trinity Church, Micklegate, York at Wikipedia
• Holy Trinity Church, Micklegate, York official website
• Wikidata Q17530596

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
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