History: Church

For a small village, Wentworth is quite unusual as it has two churches - the partly ruined ‘Old’ Church and the Victorian ‘New’ Church.

 

The new church was commissioned in 1872 by the 6th Earl Fitzwilliam at a cost of around £25,000 in memory of his parents. It was designed by John Pearson, who was the leading Victorian architect at that time. (In fact, some people will tell you that Pearson based Truro Cathedral on the design of the New Church!)

 

Like the Old Church, it is dedicated to the Holy Trinity and has been described by architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as “a very fine, sensitive, and scholarly piece of Gothic revival”. It was built on an impressive scale and it's 200 foot spire is visible for miles around. The vast interior can comfortably seat over 500 people, which is far more than the population of the village at that time.

 

As well as this, there a number of interesting architectural features including the impressive stone vaulting and two large stained glass windows; the western by Kempe and the eastern by Clayton and Bell.

 

There is also a carved stone depicting the Last Supper which was donated by the 6th Earl's children to commemorate the Golden Wedding anniversary of the Earl and his wife, Lady Frances Harriet

 

As well as the Sunday services, the New Church is often used for art exhibitions and concerts - its excellent acoustics have also made it a popular venue for classical music recording sessions.

 

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