Holy Trinity Church in Skipton

A general view of Holy Trinity church

My day out to Bolton Abbey and Skipton, as part of the Rotherham Deanery Pilgrimage, got off to great start with a very quick exploration of Bolton Priory Church, the ruins of Bolton Priory and the River Wharfe – in the 90 minutes between the coach arriving at Bolton Abbey and it leaving on the next leg to Skipton. 

The tower

Arriving in Skipton at 1 o’clock, the small group that I was with immediately set off to Holy Trinity church, where they decided to have lunch. Having brought a packed lunch with me, and only having 3 hours available before setting off back to Treeton, I left our group and spent 5 minutes photographing the tower and accessible south elevation – enough time to record its essentially late C15 Perpendicular Gothic character. 

A general view of the south elevation

In most if not all churches that I have visited to date, the aisles and nave – usually with a clerestory above – form a distinct structural unit that is distinct from the eastern chancel, with a significant difference in height; however, here, the height of the nave and chancel are the same and the aisle extends all the way to the east end. 

The porch

The only change in the roofline is that the first four bays are castellated, with a change to a plain parapet at the east end, which is matched in the south aisle. All of the windows are square head, but a closer look shows various differences in the style. 

The west end of the south aisle and clerestory

The four westernmost bays of the nave were built c.1350, with this being raised with a clerestory and extended to the east, and although there is a difference in the size of the windows – with 3 lights to the west and 2 lights to the east, the simply cusped style is the same. 

The east end of the south aisle and clerestory

Along the aisle, there are two larger windows in the west end of the aisle that, although squared headed, have reticulated tracery and are dated to c.1350, which marks the transition between the Decorated Gothic and Perpendicular Gothic styles. Looking very closely, it can be seen that they are set in coursed rubble masonry, whereas the remainder is built with large blocks of ashlar. 

A geological map of the area around Skipton

Skipton is set on Lower Carboniferous limestone and mudstone, but Holy Trinity church is built entirely of Millstone Grit, which outcrops to the north, south and east of the town. Although I don’t know the quarry sources, like Bolton Priory there is a high proportion of distinctly red gritstone throughout the fabric. 

A general view of the east end

At the east end, both of the windows to the aisles are in a Decorated Gothic style, with that of the south aisle probably one of the C17 restorations undertaken by Lady Anne Clifford following damage during the siege of Skipton in the English Civil War. 

Columns to the north arcades in the nave and chancel

In the interior, all of the walls are plastered and, with very little time left before I had to join up with the group, I didn’t have a close look at its features; however, I did notice differences in the columns to the arcades, which are quatrefoil in plan in the nave and octagonal in the chancel, and managed to see the sedilia in the south aisle.

The sedilia