Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford
The Parish of Long Melford is part of the Chadbrook Benefice, named after the Chad brook which runs through all three parishes. The Benefice includes the parishes of Long Melford, Shimpling and Alpheton in an area lying north of the town of Sudbury in Suffolk, England.
Holy Trinity Church is one of the great Suffolk wool churches and was built almost entirely in the 15th century at a time of growing prosperity among the local cloth merchants. It was completed in 1484. The only modern part is the tower, dating from 1903. Much of the stained glass is medieval, and the Rabbit (Hare) window above the north door symbolizes the Trinity It is an Anglican Christian church in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich within the Church of England and has served the ancient and beautiful village of Long Melford, near Sudbury, for over five hundred years. The church stands on a hill at the north end of the village and looks down Hall Street, which runs through the village from north to south.
The original tower of Holy Trinity was destroyed by lightning around 1710. A Georgian brick and plaster replacement was built around 1772, considered rather unappealing and not in keeping with the rest of the building. The present tower was built to commemorate Queen Victoria's diamond Jubilee. Construction of the new tower begun on 10th April 1899 and completed in 1903. The present tower stands 118 feet in height and is constructed of flint and flush work, consisting of dressed stone and flints from Brandon and nearby Acton. The four pinnacles commemorate Queen Victoria, Edward VII, Alexandra and the well respected and much loved once time Rector, the Revd. C J Martyn.
In addition to the renowned Holy Trinity Church in Long Melford, there is the small Victorian St. Catherine’s Church in the centre of the village, built at the personal expense of a previous rector, "to save the ladies of the village having to walk to the top church".
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