HOLY TRINITY CHURCH WONSTON

History

901 The church is one of the earliest documented churches in Hampshire. It was in the manor of Wonston which was granted by Edward the Elder to the Abbey of St. Peter's. Winchester.

1086 The Domesday Book records Wonston as belonging to the Bishop of Winchester for the support of the monks at the Priory of St. Swithun, Winchester.

1150 The Saxon church was enlarged and the present nave and chancel are thought to have been completed by 1225.

1333 The Prior of St. Swithun was given consent by the Pope to appropriate the revenues of the church at Wonston (part of which was to be for the benefit of the Hospital of St. Mary Magdelen on Morne Hill, Winchester). The appropriation in fact never took place, probably due to the appointment of a new Bishop of Winchester.

1450 The east window in the chancel was replaced by the present Perpendicular style window.

1520 The tower was built.

1541 When the Priory of St. Swithun was dissolved and Henry VIII established Winchester Cathedral as a Dean and Chapter, the Cathedral was endowed with the Priory's properties including the manor and church of Wonston.

1562 At the Reformation, the Rector, the Revd. John Fowler, refused to conform to the Act of Supremacy which abolished the authority of the Pope and established the Sovereign as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. As a result, he was deprived of the living.

1714 Fire destroyed the roof of the church and a new roof was built, of which the truss against the west wall survived the later fire of 1908.

1780 A gallery was built at the west end of the nave.

1802 The church's five largest bells were cast.

1825 The north aisle and a further gallery were built to accommodate the growing congregation.

1871 The two galleries were removed and the church was re-seated with open pews, replacing the previous box pews. The mullions of the east window were restored, windows were constructed in the wall of the north aisle and an arcade of arches built between the north aisle and the nave. A new font was installed.

1900 The west tower screen and ringing loft were added.

1908 A serious fire destroyed the chancel roof, the east end of the nave roof, the altar, communion table, some plate and many fittings and furnishings.

1909 The church was restored, the vestry added to the east end of the north aisle, new stained glass windows installed and a new organ built. The restoration work: was supervised by T. G. Jackson (later Sir T. G. Jackson), the eminent architect trained under Sir Gilbert Scott. The organ was placed at the west end of the nave but the console was on the south wall of the chancel, in the recess.

1920 The war memorial was erected and the crucifix placed over it in the following year.

1924 The organ console was moved to its present position at the west end of the nave.

1932 A treble bell was added to complete the present ring of six.

1948 Electricity was installed.

1981 The bells were rehung and tuned. The bell from St. Luke's Church at Sutton Scotney was hung in the south porch.

Over the last 20 years extensive repair work has been carried out to the tower, roofs and nave windows.


Two Fires at Holy Trinity
The first fire, which burnt the major part of the roof of the church, was in 1714. No information about the cause of this fire is available. The board, pictured below, hangs at the west end of the north aisle.

The second fire  was in 1908 and an extract from the 'Hampshire Chronicle' of the day, giving great detail, hangs at the west end of the nave. Lady Ridding, who lived in the Old House next door and the Bishop of Bombay, who was staying with her, organised a large number of local volunteers to make a human chain from the River Dever to the church, passing buckets of water. Eventually the Whitchurch Fire Brigade arrived at about 4.30 a.m. and shortly afterwards, the Winchester brigade arrived with their steam engine. A message was received almost as soon as they started pumping, to say that a fire had broken out in the Lion Brewery in Winchester and so they rolled up their hoses and returned to deal with the brewery fire!

The cause of the second fire has always been a mystery. There had been no service nor choir practice the previous evening nor any reason to have lamps or candles lit. The fire burnt everything in the chancel, including the four stained glass windows, the altar, the communion table, the organ and pews. The extent of the roof damage was vast, as can be seen from the picture. When the foundations for the new vestry were dug after the fire, a gentleman's silver shoe buckle and a trooper's belt buckle dating from the Civil War were discovered. They probably belonged to a Cavalier and one of his men who had fought in a cavalry engagement at nearby Waller's Ash in 1644.