Holy Trinity, Cambridge

Holy Trinity, despite being in the heart of Cambridge within spitting distance of all the other churches which are kept open and a sign declaring "Come to Christ, Learn to Live and Love to Learn", is locked, which seemed to me rather strange. I rather like the exterior and would have loved to have a nosey inside.

Pevsner: The first Holy Trinity was destroyed by fire in 1174. The lower parts of the present tower may be c 13. It opens by tall and narrow double-chamfered arches to the N and S. The E tower-arch has a less elementary moulding. The nave arcades are C14 piers with four attached shafts and four hollows in the diagonals; moulded capitals;
double-chamfered arches. The aisles run on to the W l. and r. of the tower which had or that reason to be buttressed. The buttresses towards the nave are panelled. Transepts and clerestory were added in the later C15. The transepts are very light with big two-centred six-light windows and two tiers of windows on the E and W sides. The lower of these are of four lights and two-centred, the upper tier are of three lights and four-centred. The rhythm of two windows below to three above to one on the show sides is refreshing. Early in the C16 the S aisle of the church was widened and new windows put in. The ceilings of transepts and nave are excellent original work with very flat four-centred transverse arches. The chancel was rebuilt in 1834 and re-decorated by Badley in 1885. The spire was rebuilt in 1901.

Do I like it - I think not since it's ludicrously locked.

The tower and spire of Holy Trinity, rising over the busiest part of the town, belong to a church which has been greatly changed since its 13th century days. The aisles were added in the 14th century; from the 15th come the transepts, the clerestory, and the north porch; and the chancel is modern. It is lofty and light with walls seeming to be all windows, the beautiful glass in one of them showing Moses, Elisha, and the disciples healing. Its striking feature is the west end, where the tower, standing in the nave, is supported by two flying buttresses to the slender 14th century arcades, and by two great panelled buttresses which reach the fine old roof. This is 15th century, the time of the roofs of the transepts and the north aisle. There are three 700-year-old arches in the 13th century tower, the oldest portion of the church.

There is a memorial to Sir Robert Tabor, who has been sleeping here since 1681; a famous physician, he perfected the cure of ague by the use of quinine, two of his royal patients being Charles the Second and the Dauphin.