Holy Trinity Church, Ratcliffe-on-Soar: A Thirteenth-Century Parish Church
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.9
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- English
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
On this page7 sections
History
Holy Trinity Church, Ratcliffe-on-Soar is a thirteenth-century parish church of the Church of England in the United Kingdom, dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It follows a Low Church and Evangelical tradition and belongs to the Province of York, the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, the Archdeaconry of Nottingham, and the Deanery of West Bingham. A province is a major ecclesiastical jurisdiction containing several dioceses, while a diocese, archdeaconry, and deanery form progressively smaller administrative divisions within the Church of England.
Major restoration took place in 1886 and was paid for by Earl Howe, a British hereditary peerage title. The church is a Grade I listed building, the highest category of protection for historic buildings in England, reserved for buildings of exceptional interest. It also belongs to an informal group known as “The 453 Churches,” whose five churches straddle the A453: St. Lawrence’s Church at Gotham, St. George’s Church at Barton in Fabis, St. Winifred’s Church at Kingston on Soar, and All Saints’ Church at Thrumpton.
Remains
The surviving church contains memorials associated with the Sacheverell family, a single-manual pipe organ, and a tower with three bells. Together, these features reflect the building’s memorial history and the changes made to its furnishings during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Memorials and monuments
Sacheverell family memorials
Several alabaster monuments commemorate members of the Sacheverell family. They include a monument to Henrie Sacheverell, who died in 1625; monuments to Henrie and Jane Sacheverell dating from around 1590; a monument to Henry Sacheverell and his wife dated 1558; and a monument to Ralph Sacheverell and his wife dated 1539. Alabaster is a soft stone widely used for funerary sculpture in England during the late medieval and early modern periods.
Organ and tower
Pipe organ
The church’s single-manual pipe organ was purchased from St. Winifred’s Church, Kingston on Soar, in 1936. It was originally operated by hand pumping, received an electric blower in 1946, and was moved to the north aisle in 1973.
Three bells
The tower contains three bells. Their intervals are irregular, so they do not produce a musical sound when chimed together.
