Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford

Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford
Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford
Map
52°5′15.27″N 0°43′15.67″E / 52.0875750°N 0.7210194°E / 52.0875750; 0.7210194
OS grid referenceTL 865 467
LocationLong Melford
CountryEngland
DenominationChurch of England
Websitehttp://longmelfordchurch.com
History
DedicationHoly Trinity
Architecture
Heritage designationGrade I listed
Specifications
Length153 feet (47 m)
Administration
ProvinceCanterbury
DioceseDiocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
ArchdeaconrySudbury
DeanerySudbury
ParishLong Melford
Clergy
RectorThe Rev'd. Matthew Lawson
Laity
Organist/Director of musicNigel Brown
Organist(s)Nigel Brown
Holy Trinity Church aerial view

The Church of the Holy Trinity is a Grade I listed parish church of the Church of England in Long Melford, Suffolk, England. It is one of 310 medieval English churches dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

The church was constructed between 1467 and 1497 in the late Perpendicular Gothic style. It is a noted example of a Suffolk medieval wool church, founded and financed by wealthy wool merchants in the medieval period as impressive visual statements of their prosperity.

It is chiefly known for its relatively large array of surviving medieval stained glass, described by a leading expert at the Victoria and Albert Museum as a ‘very special and extremely rare collection’.[1]

The church structure is highly regarded by many observers. Its cathedral-like proportions and distinctive style, along with its many original features that survived the religious upheavals of the 16th and 17th centuries, have attracted critical acclaim. Nikolaus Pevsner called it ‘one of the most moving parish churches of England, large, proud and noble’.[2] In Simon Jenkins' England’s Thousand Best Churches, it is one of only 18 churches to be rated with a maximum five stars – and the only one in Suffolk.[3] The church features in many episodes of Michael Wood's BBC television history series Great British Story, filmed during 2011.

  1. ^ https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/21408955.suffolk-churchs-stained-glass-return-former-glory-800-000-restoration/ [bare URL]
  2. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002). Suffolk. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300096484.
  3. ^ Jenkins, Simon (1999). England's Thousand Best Churches. London. p. 658. ISBN 978-0-14-029795-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)