We are now going to leave West Stockwell Street and head south over the High Street, down the alleyway called Pelham Lane and into Trinity Street. It is another of the medieval streets that form part of the grid first laid out in the tenth century. It is full of interesting buildings and stories.
The most obvious building which along with its surrounding churchyard occupies about a third of the eastern side of the street at its northern end is the former Church of the Holy Trinity. It is a Grade 1 listed building. The Church was first built here by the Saxons around 1000AD. The Saxons and Angles were peoples who came over from Germany and the Low Countries after Roman rule of Britain finished in 410AD. They became the dominant culture in England and by the time this church was built had seen off invasions and occupations of large parts of England by the Scandinavian peoples we now call Vikings.
Saxon churches were normally built of wood as there is no quarriable stone in Essex, but there was plenty of trees. However here the Saxons built this church from the Roman brick and rubble that they would have obtained from the many ruined buildings of Roman Colchester which would have still been upstanding at this time. Fifty years later they added a tower which is also of Roman brick and rubble to the west end of the building. It may have been built as a watch tower to look out for Viking approaching.
The body of the church as we see it today was built in 1349. Lots of churches were rebuilt in this period. The only parts of the original Saxon church that remain are the west wall of the nave and the southeast corner of the building. However, the tower is still the original one. It is the only Saxon building still standing in Colchester and the oldest standing building in the city.
It has a triangular arrowhead arch over its west door in the tower which faces onto the street. It is typical of the late Saxon style for archways. The door is sometimes referred to as “The Devil’s Door”. The story goes that when a child is baptised it was opened so the Devil could leave. As he did so he would open his wings that meant he couldn’t get back in again. This does beg the question of how he got into the church in the first place.
Also, the baptism ceremony often started outside the church and this included the Devil being exorcised so he never got to go in anyway. These so-called Devil’s Doors are more usually found in the north walls of churches. However, some people maintain that the story of the Devil’s door, wherever it located, is just that, a story and has no basis in historical reality. There are lots of theories as to what they were for. The simplest explanation is that they were to get in and out of the building.
The church was much restored by the Victorians in 1886. The very top of tower was restored in the late 19th or 20th century. It was made redundant in 1956 and was subsequently deconsecrated. In 1974 it was converted into a museum of agriculture and it was last used as combination art centre and café by a charity. It has now received a grant to be restored and there is a consultation taking place on the future use of the churchyard.
In the churchyard John Willbye (1574 – 1638) is buried. He was an English madrigal composer. Madrigals were secular chants and were among the pop songs of their day. People still sing them and you can find videos of them online. He lived the last few years of his life in No. 6 Trinity Street where there is a plaque to him on the front of the building.
Also in the churchyard is the grave of Captain Thomas Pinto (1774-1851). He was a Lieutenant on HMS Agamemnon at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 where Nelson defeated Napoleon's French Navy. He was grazed by a bullet which he managed to keep and tell the story about. HMS Agamemnon was once commanded by Nelson, but he was Admiral on HMS Victory at Trafalgar.
In the church itself is a memorial to William Gilbert or Gilberd 1(544-1603) who is said to buried in graveyard, but his grave is not marked. He was born and educated in Colchester graduated at Cambridge, physician to Elizabeth I, scientist who discovered static electricity and magnetic poles. I will have more to say on him in a future blog.
Trinity Street was also once known as Sherdegate Street. This is named after the Scheregate. If you go to the southern end of the street and turn east into Eld Land, just round the corner you will find this gate in the Roman Wall. It takes its unusual name from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘sceard’ meaning a gap or notch, as it gave the townspeople a short cut through the Roman wall to St John’s Abbey, a short distance to the south. It was not therefore put in the way by the Romans but was built through the wall in medieval times making it Colchester’s only surviving medieval gate, although it now consists of a wide entry with a flight of steps through a C17 house built in the wall.
