Holy Trinity Church and Bell Tower

Thank you Heritage for the extra information that is missing from history of Trinity Church site

My pleasure. I'm afraid that I'm obsessed with Skidmore and his work. A lot of his work was destroyed in St. Michaels during the Blitz. If you visit St. Giles Church, Exhall on Sunday 7th October you will find more information about him on the display boards in the church.

Thanks for bringing such an important craftsman to our notice, your enthusiasm for him made me find out more about him and he deserves more recognition, I had never heard of him. Such a sad end as well. The Master Metalworker

One of Skidmore's best works that is still in use and on public display can be found in the small church of St Luke's, Dunham on the Hill, near Chester. As you enter and look towards the alter your eye is grabbed by a huge ornamental cross hanging from the ceiling, totally out of proportion to the small parish church. It is another Skidmore/Gilbert Scott masterpiece and originally hung above the choir stalls in Chester Cathedral. As with much of the gothic design work of the Victorian period it was removed in the early 1900s and stored in the crypt of the cathedral and stayed there until 1921 when the Vicar of St. Lukes asked if his church could have it. The gilt cross was fully restored in 1999 and is well worth a trip to see another superb example of Skidmore's craftsmanship. Its importance is such that it is on the front of the Pevsner guide to Cheshire. For those with an interest is the news that the Pevsner guide to Warwickshire is in the process of being updated and should be re-published sometime next year.

Transcription to replace original posting: Lost the Gravestone of former Coventry Mayor Thomas Luckman Mayor of Coventry 1782-83. Thomas married Mary Parry at Holy Trinity Coventry on the 7th Mary 1783 and he was buried on the 14th June 1784 in part of Holy Trinity's graveyard that was once belonged to St Mary's Priory and Coventry's first Cathedral. His wife joined him on the 6th July 1813. Over the following years the grave became lost and was only discovered in 1999 during the excavations at St Mary's. Now it would appear that the gravestone has been lost again even though it is of considerable weight and size. Many of the stones removed from the graveyard have since been moved to London Road Cemetery but unfortunately Mr & Mrs Luckman's tribute was not one of them and no trace of it has been found. Update August 2005 The gravestone of Thomas Luckman is still missing and the council have admitted they have no idea of its fate, although they have apologised for its loss. The Council also confessed that no records of the stone were kept so they have no way to trace it's movements at the site or its removal. The Luckman families' stone may not have been the only stone to go missing, but it seems that only the larger stones were affected, could they have been stolen? Perhaps skimmed to be used again by unscrupulous stone masons? If anyone should catch sight of this elusive stone I am sure Mr Luckman's relations would be delighted. Update October 2005 It has now come to light that as many as 50 grave stones could be missing from the historic graveyard. Apparently there were plans to use some of our ancestor's grave stones as paving slabs as part of the Phoenix initiative, this plan however was abandoned and the stones were subsequently lost. The staff responsible no longer work for the council so there is now no way to discover how or where these stones may be now.

Some years ago, I remember someone suggesting that some gravestones from Holy Trinity were being used as the boundaries of some gardens at the town end of Kenilworth Road. Perhaps these were the missing ones.

Is the 'short' building to the left of Holy Trinity in this postcard the Bell Tower Campanile? I knew there was a Campanile (thought was it for St Michaels?) and have seen a photograph before but if this is it I didn't realise it was there or was so big! I thought it was more near St Michaels Avenue?

Once again, great photo Neil! Info from the Holy Trinity Church Timeline.... "In 1865 the bells were removed and placed in a wooden campanile in the burial ground on the North side of the church, originally part of the site of St Mary's Cathedral"

Rob hope Steven doesn't mind - He's got a great Now and Then of this shot.... And another lovely postcard of his:

Binkey11 has just uploaded some fabulous photo's of the old and new cathedral to his gallery. A close-up of the old belfry can be seen in this photo here

Why did they have a separate Belfry/Campanile anyway Tony - any idea? There are bells on Trinity spire aren't there?

Thanks to Sue and the Bells of Warwickshire website.

The tower was repaired several times and in 1855 when they were doing general repairs 4 of the bells were found to be cracked and brought from the belfry to the floor at the west end of the church. In order to open the tower the other bells were removed and 7 of them were recast by Mears of London, for £162 16s. A substantial and antique looking bell-tower of wood was then erected for the 8 bells in the burial ground on the north side of the church. This was written in 1870. Are there still bells in the tower that are rung? I have just also read on google that the bell ringing chamber was removed and the tower was redesigned by George Gilbert Scott to open up the lantern stage of the tower crowning it with a star vaulted wooden ceiling. Hope this helps.

... I believe this is the view looking up from inside the church.