Holy Trinity Church
A Grade II* city-centre church, long associated with the evangelical preacher Charles Simeon.
Holy Trinity occupies the corner of Market Street and Sidney Street in the heart of the city, close to Sidney Street and Market Hill. It carries a Grade II* listing. Its congregation sits on the charismatic, evangelical wing of the Church of England, and the parish website presents it as a friendly church that welcomes everyone.
Medieval fabric, rebuilt in stages
The story begins with a small thatched timber church beside the old Roman road, lost to fire in 1174. A stone replacement was started in 1189, and only the tower's west wall remains from it. Around 1350 the nave was widened and given two aisles, with a steeple on the tower from about 1348. Transepts in the Perpendicular style followed about 1400, and the north side of the nave gained a gallery in 1616.
Charles Simeon
The church is best known for Charles Simeon, whom the Bishop of Ely made vicar in 1782 even though the churchwardens and congregation objected to his evangelical views. He stayed until 1836. In 1794 he installed a barrel organ playing sixty hymn tunes, and in 1799 he helped to found the Church Missionary Society. In 1834 he had the small chancel, with its 14th-century ribbed vault, pulled down and replaced by a far bigger one in brick and plaster, built without an architect.
In 1887 the chancel was refaced in stone, new pews went in, and most of the galleries came out. The Henry Martyn Memorial Hall, built the same year beside the church, served Christian undergraduates.
Practical notes
The church holds Sunday services and runs student groups; check its website for current times before visiting.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
