Holy Trinity Church, Morecambe

Holy Trinity Church stands in Church Street, Morecambe, Lancashire, on land once part of Poulton-le-Sands. The first chapel opened in 1745 after Francis Bowes, the village blacksmith, left money in his will. By the early 1800s the building could no longer hold the growing congregation. In 1840–41 Edmund Sharpe rebuilt it for £1,288, and Queen Victoria gave money towards the cost. A south aisle followed in 1866, then a new chancel, organ chamber and vestries in 1897. In 1966 a Lady chapel was added, and in 1995 the church was rearranged for its 250th anniversary. The exterior is of sandstone under a green slate roof, with a west tower rising in three stages. Buttresses mark the tower corners, and three lancet windows sit above the west door. Clock faces appear on the middle stage, and the top stage has triple lancet bell openings topped by a parapet and pinnacles. The nave’s north wall shows six lancet windows between buttresses, while the south wall has seven two-light windows with triangular parapet gables. The east window contains five lights, and the chancel roof sits lower than the nave. Inside, an arcade of seven bays rests on octagonal timber columns, and a west gallery displays Queen Victoria’s coat of arms. Shrigley and Hunt designed much of the stained glass, with additional windows by Abbott and Company and the Loyne Ecclesiastical Studios. The Lady Chapel holds a Westmorland slate altar, and the vestry keeps a tablet honouring Francis Bowes. A South African War memorial of copper and brass repoussé work stands in the south aisle. Eight bells hang in the tower, recast and enlarged in 1939 by John Taylor & Co.