| Holy Trinity Church, Brathay | |
|---|---|
 Holy Trinity Church, Brathay | |
  Holy Trinity Church, Brathay Location in Cumbria | |
| 54°25′16″N2°59′04″W / 54.4211°N 2.9844°W /54.4211; -2.9844 | |
| OS grid reference | NY 362,033 |
| Location | Bog Lane,Brathay,Cumbria |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | holytrinitybrathay |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Founded | 1836 (1836) |
| Founder | Giles Redmayne |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II |
| Designated | 25 March 1970 |
| Architect | John Latham (?) |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Romanesque Revival |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Stucco with stone dressings Slate roof |
| Administration | |
| Province | York |
| Diocese | Carlisle |
| Archdeaconry | Westmorland and Furness |
| Deanery | Windermere |
| Parish | Brathay |
| Clergy | |
| Rector | Revd Beverley Lock |
| Vicar | Revd Nick Hallam |
| Laity | |
| Reader | Brian Lock |
Holy Trinity Church is in Bog Lane in the village ofBrathay,Cumbria, England. It is an activeAnglicanparish church in the deanery of Windermere, the archdeaconry of Westmorland and Furness, and thediocese of Carlisle. The church is recorded in theNational Heritage List for England as a designated Grade IIlisted building.[1] The hilltop site for the church was recommended byWilliam Wordsworth who, when describing it in a letter in 1836, said "there is no situation out of the Alps, nor among them, more beautiful than that where this building is placed".[2]
Holy Trinity was built in 1836 with funds from Giles Redmayne, the owner of nearbyBrathay Hall. Redmayne, who had bought the Brathay estate a few years previously, was a successfuldraper, who had a shop on London's fashionableBond Street.[3] The architectural historianNikolaus Pevsner described the design chosen by Redmayne as "joyless": the architect is thought to have been John Latham, together with Redmayne himself.[4] The church wasconsecrated in October 1836 by thebishop of Chester, whose diocese at that time extended as far north as the Lake District.[5] Additions were made to the church in 1905 by theLancaster architectsAustin and Paley.[6][7]
The church has astuccoed exterior with stone dressing and aslate roof.[1] Its architectural style isRomanesque.[4] It is orientated north–south (in the following description the liturgical directions are given). The plan consists of a six-baynave, a shortchancel with a northvestry, and a tower at the southwest corner. Around the church arepilasterbuttresses, and acorbelledfrieze. The tower is in three stages. In the bottom stage is a west round-headed window and a north doorway. The middle stage contains two slots on each side, and the top stage two-light round-headedlouvred bell openings. Along the sides of the nave are more round-headed windows. At the west end are three round-headed windows, the central being taller with two lights, and the flanking windows with a single light. At the northwest corner is a squarepinnacle. The east window has three lights.[1]
Inside the church is an inscribed octagonalfont carried on a squat round shaft. The chancel contains panelling, and there is areredos behind the altar.[1] The stained glass in the east window dates from 1916, and is byPowells. On the south wall are three windows dating from about 1910, designed by Revd E. Geldart and made by Taylor and Clifton.[4] There is aring of six bells, cast in 1836 by Thomas Mears II of theWhitechapel Bell Foundry.[8] The organ is by Wordsworth, a firm from Leeds.[9]
Thebenefice is united with those ofSt Mary, Ambleside, and Holy Trinity, Langdale. Together with the Mission Chapel, Little Langdale, and the Ambleside Baptist Church, the churches form the Loughrigg Team Ministry.[10]
In 2011 there was a major restoration of the building and its facilities. The church has become a venue for musical events,[11][12] in addition to holding services each Sunday.[5]
