England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Coventry Holy Trinity

The Parish

The parish of Coventry Holy Trinity, one of three making up the ancient city of Coventry together with St John the Baptist & St Michael, occupies the nortthern portion of this ancient city which lies to the northeast of central Warwickshire. Coventry sits roughly 18 miles southeast of Birmingham and 91 northwest of London. Prior to modern road-spread Coventry sat upon the route of the A45 from London to Birmingham but today a wealth of major roads meet and pass by the city. Coventry's origins date back to the early 11th century when a Benedictine priory was founded jointly by the Earl of Wessex and Countess Godiva. Later, in 1139 a castle was built to the east by the Earl of Chester creating a second city foundation site and a triangular centre emerged. Coventry was granted its market in the reign of Henry II and was walled between 1356 & 1423 with 12 gates for entry. The area covered by these walls roughly corresponds to that within the present inner ring road. By the 14th century Coventry was estimated to be the 4th city of England by wealth, a wealth developed by firstly wool production and then, and more profitably, by cloth production. With the industrial revolution cloth production notably shifted to the powered factories of the north and Coventry went into something of a decline. The twin trades of ribbon & watch making saw the city through. Modern developments abound, canals somewhat passed by, only a spur of the Oxford Canal arriving, but the railways, the main line from London to Birmingham & associated branches, saw Coventry's spectacular growth from its medieval core, industry arrived and Coventry became a major centre for car production following the opening of both Daimler and, what became, Armstrong Siddeley works, the latter evolved into aircraft production in the 20th century. Today Coventry is surrounded by modern motorways, the M45 to the south and the M6 to the north being supplemented by fast dual-carriageway road encircling the expanding city. From the medieval core Coventry now extends for almost 8 miles from west to east whilst it forms an industrial & commercial corridor through Bedworth to Nuneaton to the north. Coventry is drained by the river Sowe which heads south to join the Avon to the east of Kenilworth, the Avon heads westwards joining the Severn and thence to the sea through the Bristol Channel. Coventry is sited at around 80 metres above the sea in fairly gently rolling countryside where local heights rise, away from the river valley, to around 120 metres in the northwestern suburbs. Holy Trinity  parish occupied both the north of the city and an extensive once rural hinterland, it covered roughly 3,000 acres and would have held roughly something over 15,000 parishioners. In Domesday times Coventry was a holding of Countess Godiva offering 23 ploughs, a small wood and a mill.

The Church

Holy Trinity church sits at the heart of the city close to the original market place but hemmed in between the rejuvenated Cathedral and the former priory site. Holy Trinity was founded to serve the priory's lands to the north of the city and is first mentioned in documentary evidence of 1113. By the end of the 13th century Holy Trinity had already become a substantial church when disaster struck and most was destroyed by a fire of 1257. The northern porch is, today, the only remaining piece of this 13th century church and is in the Early English Gothic style. Given the church's importance it was rebuilt and enhanced into one of the largest and tallest churches in the land. From west to east the church stretches for 194 feet whilst its immense crossing tower stands 237 feet to the tip of its spire. Evidence indicates that most of the church was completed between roughly c1360 and c 1540 but perhaps the northern transept showing traces of Decorated styled features pre-dates that major build. The remainder of the church, nave, with aisles and outer chapels, chancel equally equipped and transepts, excluding parts of the northern version, are all in the Perpendicular style. Restoration came early to the church and in many phases. In 1786 the eastern end was re-cased in a Bath stone, in 1826 something similar happened to the tower, the western end was re-cased similarly in 1843 and in the 6 following years most of the remainder. For whatever reason the work on the tower was re-done in Gloucestershire Cotswold stone between 1916 & 1918. Thankfully the major damage wrought during the infamous Baedeker raids missed Holy Trinity leaving us this tremendous structure and asset to the town for posterity. Views from both west and east are aided by the extensive pedestrianisation of the centre, views from north and south are, however somewhat compromised by the proximity of adjacent commercial premises.