Church of the Holy Trinity
CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, TRINITY ROAD
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1369476
- Date first listed:
- 28-Jun-1972
- List Entry Name:
- Church of the Holy Trinity
- Statutory Address:
- CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, TRINITY ROAD
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2002-10-05
- Reference:
- IOE01/09075/21
- Rights:
- © Mr Gary Irvine. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1369476
- Date first listed:
- 28-Jun-1972
- List Entry Name:
- Church of the Holy Trinity
- Statutory Address 1:
- CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, TRINITY ROAD
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, TRINITY ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Oxfordshire
- District:
- Oxford (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SP 55451 06867
Details
612/25/854 TRINITY ROAD 28-JUN-1972 HEADINGTON QUARRY CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY
II
Urban parish church. 1848-9 by George Gilbert Scott in the Decorated style. Nave, chancel, N aisle with Lady Chapel, large bellcote.
MATERIALS: Coursed rubble limestone with ashlar detailing (stone locally quarried from Quarry Farm Pit). Red tile roofs.
EXTERIOR: Nave with two-light and lancet windows and tall porch to S. W end with two windows, double bellcote and diagonal buttresses. Low N aisle with squat, square-headed windows in late medieval style. C20 vestry, single-storeyed with flat roof, extending N from E end of aisle. Chancel of same height as nave, with to S two two-light windows and low door, and to E diagonal buttresses and three-light window.
INTERIOR: Little altered, apart from addition of Lady Chapel at E end of N aisle in 1990s. Limestone arcade, chancel arch, and window surounds, otherwise plastered and limewashed. Stone pulpit and font. Stained glass in E window by Sir Ninian Comper. Plain benches in nave and aisle.
HISTORY: In 1847 Bishop Wilberforce preached a sermon which marked the start of fundraising efforts, intended to provide an Anglican place of worship for Headington Quarry, 'a hamlet, the peculiar circumstances of which demand the sympathy and assistance of Christian neighbours'. The church was built 1848-9. It was designed by George Gilbert Scott and the contractors were Wyatt's of Oxford.
Worshippers at Holy Trinity have included the novelist C.S. Lewis (for 30 years a member of the congregation) and his brother Warren ('Warnie'); a plaque marks where they sat, and a Narnia window was consecrated in 1991. Both are buried in the churchyard, as are William Merry Kimber, the father of the English Morris dance tradition, and Robert Doyne, eye surgeon.
SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: This is an early commission by George Gilbert Scott, a leading figure in the Victorian Gothic Revival. This is an assured design and a convincing evocation of a late medieval church. The association with C.S. Lewis is also of note. It has further historic interest as the fruits of a characteristically evangelical C19 church-building campaign.
SOURCES: J. Sherwood and N. Pevsner, Buildings of England: Oxfordshire (1974), 337; K. Clark, The Gothic Revival (1928, 1962); Gavin Stamp, 'Scott, Sir George Gilbert (1811-1878)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; Victoria County History of Oxfordshire 5 (1957), 167.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 245915
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 06-Jun-2026 at 14:10:44.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.