Sacred Trinity Church: #surprisingsalford #39

The corner of Salford where you find Sacred Trinity Church has been a special place for many years.  Hard up against the railway line and towards the end of Chapel Street, this lovely and well-proportioned church was originally built in 1635 and was the first church in Salford.  The tower was added later but it is said the vibration of the bells affected the church’s integrity and most of the building, with the exception of the tower,  was taken down in 1751 and rebuilt the following year.  The tower was largely rebuilt in the middle of the 19th century and a clock added on each face.  The church is built in a Gothic-classical style.

The money to build the church came from Sir Humphrey Booth [1580 – 1635] a local wealthy Salfordian and benefactor.  Humphrey Booth was a church warden at what is now Manchester Cathedral but he was keen for the people of Salford to have their own place of worship.  Although the town by then had a borough charter and market charter and was a growing town, there was no place of worship.  Humphrey Booth laid the foundation stone in 1634 and the church was completed a year later, after Humphrey Booth’s death.  At this time the church was on the edge of Salford and it stayed that way until the industrial revolution led to the huge expansion of the city.  Humphrey Booth’s grandson left land in his will to ensure the upkeep of the church and asked if there was any surplus that it should be distributed among the poor of Salford.  This ensured Sacred Trinity was maintained and rebuilt but it also led to the creation of Booths Charities which continues to fund many good causes in Salford.

The Flat Iron conservation area centres around this listed building and the plot that the church sits on is triangular in shape, resembling an old flat iron.  In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the area around here was fashionable residential streets but through the 19th century commerce and industry moved in.  Today the area is once again seeing an increase of residential properties with the building of blocks of flats.  The Flat Iron Market was held in front of the church until the 1930s and LS Lowry painted this scene in 1925.

Author: Back on the Road Again Blog

I write two blogs, one about my travels in our campervan and living well and frugally and the second about the stories behind the people commemorated in memorial benches. View all posts by Back on the Road Again Blog