Holy Trinity Church, Guildford

Holy Trinity Church stands in the centre of Guildford, a large red-brick building raised after the old mediaeval church collapsed in 1740. It is the only large Georgian church in Surrey, distinguished by bold classical proportions and a ceiling that ranks among the largest unsupported in southern England. The church’s interior centres on a wide nave that opens to a three-part east end, giving space for choir, sanctuary and side chapel. Frescos painted in the apse show the Crucifixion framed by Old Testament figures on one side and New Testament saints on the other. The church is Grade I listed and commands a prominent position at the top of Guildford’s High Street. The building’s history reaches back to at least the 14th century, when the first rector appears in records. The surviving Weston Chapel, attached to the south wall, was built around 1540 by Richard Weston as his intended burial place. Inside the chapel are three monuments to the Weston family, including a chest tomb for Anne Pickering, wife of Sir Francis Weston who was executed in 1536. The chapel remained in Catholic hands until 2005, when its freehold was transferred to the parish, though an annual Catholic mass is still held there. The church also contains the tomb of George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, and a memorial to Arthur Onslow, Speaker of the House of Commons. Visitors enter a single, lofty space where the octagonal pulpit of 1769 rises on fluted columns beneath a domed sounding board. The Baroque baptismal font, donated in 1910, has a red-marble bowl carved with cherubs and acanthus. Eight bells hang in the tower, four cast in 1769 and four in 1912. The east end’s tripartite openings lead to the choir stalls and organ chamber, while the apse paintings by C E Buckeridge show Christ flanked by Aaron, David and Isaiah on one side and Paul, Stephen and Augustine on the other. The church’s galleries were removed in the 19th century, leaving a clear view of the ceiling and the frescos above the altar.