Description

SK39NE WENTWORTH CHURCH DRIVE
(north side)

4/62 Holy Trinity,
Wentworth (Old) Church
(formerly listed as
29.3.68 Wentworth Old Church)

GV II*

Church, partly derelict and in the care of the Redundant Churches Fund,
chancel and chapel still in occasional ecclesiastical use. Tower C14-
C15, rest rebuilt 1684 for William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford
although chancel and chapel appear mid C17. Nave dismantled late C19.
Chancel and chapel restored 1925 for the 7th Earl Fitzwilliam and
undergoing internal renovation 1985. Ashlar sandstone tower, otherwise
rubble sandstone; stone slates to-chancel and chapel. West tower; nave
of which only 5-bay south wall remains; chancel with separately-roofed
north chapel. Tower: chamfered plinth. Small west window offset to
left: 3 cusped lights, 4-centred arch, hoodmould. Quatrefoil in chamfered,
square opening above and to right. String course beneath blocked 2-light
belfry openings with depressed 4-centred arches, hoodmoulds. String
course with corner gargoyles. Nave: central projecting porchway has
recessed, round-arched doorway with moulded impost band and archivolt
with cherub-carved keystone. Flanking Ionic pilasters; pediment formerly
with cartouche in tympanum but now housing displaced finial. Nave windows
each with round-arched opening in rectangular architrave; architraved
panels above formerly with carvings, fragment remaining in easternmost
panel. Eaves cornice, partly missing. Chancel: central south door in
moulded surround with cornice. Cartouche in architraved panel above.
Headstone fixed to left of door: to Hannah Jennet (d.1769) housekeeper
to 2nd Marquis of Rockingham. Flanking windows have 2 round-headed lights
within architraves, panels over with carved bird and beast. Eaves cornice;
gable copings. East windows to chancel and chapel each of 3-lights with
cavetto-moulded mullions under panels with cartouches. 2-light and 3-light
windows to north wall. Two 3-light windows to west wall: curved-headed
lights, outermost lights blocked.

Interior: Double-quadrant moulded tower arch, now infilled. Chancel: 2-bay
arcade with octagonal piers, moulded capitals and double-chamfered arches.
Pointed west arch to chapel with light double-chamfer. Chancel arch:
depressed, double-chamfered. Wall monument on north wall of chancel to
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (d.1641): kneeling figure within
garlanded frame, flanking columns with broken segmental pediment with
cartouche and putti. Wall monument on north wall of chapel to William,
2nd Earl of Strafford (d.1695) and wife Henrietta (d.1685): two kneelers
face each other in draped classical niche; beneath, a panel extolling the
virtues of Henrietta and signed '1689 Strafforde'. At time of resurvey
many of the important Wentworth monuments and most fitments temporarily
removed for conservation. These include: C15 alabaster effigies of a
Gasgoigne knight and wife (north chapel); chest tomb with alabaster
effigies of Thomas Wentworth (d.1588) and wife Margaret (north chapel).
In chancel north wall a wall monument to Sir William Wentworth and wife
Anne parents of the 1st Earl of Strafford.

Numerous lesser items remain including brass to Michael D'Arcy (d.1588)
by south door. Brass to Thomas Wentworth (d.1548) in north chapel floor.
Removed fittings include C17 panelling, some family box pews and balustraded
altar rail. Benefactions board remains listing gifts to the curacy and
poor of Wentworth by the Wentworth family and others. West end of chapel
partitioned-off to form a vestry; within, the steps down to the external
Fitzwilliam vault.

Descriptions of monuments in:

J. A. Harrison, A Brief Guide to the Two Churches of the Holy Trinity
Wentworth, 1981.

N. Pevsner, B.O.E: West Riding, 1967ed, p538-9.

P. E. Routh, Medieval Effigial Alabaster Tombs in Yorkshire, 1976, pp131-3

Listing NGR: SK3838198283

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Old Holy Trinity Church, Wentworth at Wikipedia
• Old Holy Trinity Church, Wentworth official website
• Wikidata Q7084230

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.

Recommended Books

• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990