Holy Trinity, Coxheath, Kent

Holy Trinity, Coxheath Church

Image Source: Rob Baker

Built in 1883 as the chapel to the Maidstone Union Workhouse that was built roughly four miles from the town centre on a piece of common ground known as Cox's Heath.It superseded a previous chapel built within the workhouse complex, and was officially dedicated in 1884. Following the closure of the workhouse in c1930, which then became Linton Hospital, the chapel found a new use. It was in this era that the dedication of Holy Trinity became attached to it, a name which remained when the Chapel passed into the Church of England in 1996 to serve the large modern village of Coxheath, which during the 20th century had been built over the large open heath. The workhouse was demolished in 1994.The design is simple: nave and chancel, but with small north and south transepts, and a vestry to the north east. The nave is clerestoried, with three triangular gables each housing a small sexfoil window. The east window was inserted in 1885.It depicts the Crucifixion and is topped with a small window featuring the Star of David and a dove. During the workhouse era, the services were conducted by the Rector at nearby Linton. He came in via the vestry doorway and went out the way he came, with very little interaction with the workhouse "inmates" as a plaque in the chancel describes them. His entry into the service would have bordered on the majestic; passing though a set of double doors in the north transept and moving straight to the pulpit. The pulpit has now gone, replaced by a lectern, but the hexagonal outline in the floor shows where it was once positioned. There are communion rails under the east window, intended for the "inmates" of the workhouse, but the main altar was moved from directly under the east window to the centre of the chancel in the Linton Hospital era. Workhouse chapels (and early hospital chapels) would have had their religious services segregated by gender - men and women would have entered via different entrances, hence the north and south porches. It is possible that, if both men and women had to attend chapel together, then a temporary screen would have been erected down the central aisle. Otherwise the Rector would contact two services, one for each gender. The pews become more narrowly spaced apart the further towards the back (west end) of the church you are - a reminder that the people sitting here in the late Victorian-era would have been malnourished workhouse children. The workhouse would also have had many pregnant women among their number - mainly unmarried; or if they were married couples they would have been declared bankrupt and been consigned to the Union Workhouse as a punishment for accruing debt. The font, placed underneath the west window, is original and would have seen much usage in the workhouse era. This would have declined when it became a hospital, but revived again in 1996 when the chapel became the Parish Church of Coxheath. In the book "The Victorian Churches in Kent," written by the esteemed scholar Roger Homan in 1984, the chapel is described as having a "strange turret." The bell, once housed in a triangular gable at the north side of the church above the vestry (maybe the Rector of Linton had the job of ringing it), is now sited behind the communion rails.Since 1996, when it became a Coxheath's Parish Church of the Holy Trinity, it has had a kitchenette and toilet facilities added. It is now the most well-attended church in a benefice consisting of five churches; Coxheath being by far the largest of the five villages, but with the unfortunate dynamic of having the smallest building. Text by Rob Baker

1851 Census Details

Seating Capacity: Not built

Morning Attendance: Not built

Afternoon Attendance: Not built

Evening Attendance: Not built

Architecture Details

Original Build Date/Architect:

Restoration:

Second Restoration:

Notes

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