Holy Trinity Stapleton is a Grade II* church, completed in 1857 to designs by Bristol based architect John Norton - master of Victorian Gothic, and author of nearby Tyntesfield House. Although Norton was a prolific ecclesiastical designer, only two of his churches survive in the city. Norton received his architectural training in the office of Benjamin Ferry, a close friend of AWW Pugin, and the lineage of Victorian Gothic Revival can be traced through Norton’s career.

The distinctive spire rises fifty metres above its site, which itself is on a prominent hill in the north-east suburbs of the city. The church replaced a medieval church on the same site, and several features survive from the earlier building and were relocated to the Victorian church once completed – notably the Norman font, and numerous wall monuments adorning the interior of the tower.

In the years following the covid pandemic the congregation was facing several demographic challenges exacerbated by a lack of facilities at the church. A plan was formed to graft a new ordained leader and 30 congregants from a nearby thriving church to reinvigorate the mission at Holy Trinity. This was successfully completed in 2024, and the church is happily flourishing – and now able to look to the future with confidence and anticipation.

Connolly Wellingham Architects were commissioned to undertake a Feasibility Study assessing both the urgent needs of the congregation today, and their long term aspirations for how the church family might continue to grow. The works will provide urgently needed kitchen and toilet facilities, as well as some simple upgrades to accessibility and welcome.

The design of the new architectural interventions have grown from the team’s research into Norton’s contemporaneous designs across the south west through the 1850s and 1860s - layering materials, framing views, and reintroducing colour to the Grade II* interior.

Faculty Application was submitted in December 2024.

Cover image – ‘The Village’ by Eric Ravillious c.1933