Church Heritage Record 610144

3-stage west tower with spire. Entrance through base of tower from north. Nave with north and south aisles and clerestory (western most bay screened off to form lobby). North transept with organ chamber. Chancel. Octagonal choir vestry (now parish office) in the angle of the north chancel wall and organ chamber. South vestry. Church hall attached to south aisle.

[Approximate] Nave as is now - 14m (46ft) long x 10m (33ft) wide, aisles - 4m (13ft) wide, chancel - 8m (26ft) long.

Following the arrival of the railway in 1845, Worthing grew rapidly and expanded towards the west. The Gratwicke Estate, near to Holy Trinity, was developed from 1860. Christ Church became overcrowded and a petition to the Bishop of Chichester was made for the provision of a new church. An ICBS grant was secured and money towards the project was given by the Bishop of Chichester.

The architects were Henry Edward Coe [1825/6–1885] and his partner Stephen Robinson, but completed by Coe alone. Coe was a pupil in George Gilbert Scott's office at the same time as Street. The foundation stone was laid in the west wall in 1882 and the church consecrated in 1883. The tower was not finished until 1888 once sufficient funds had been gathered. In 1894 an octagonal choir vestry (now parish office) was built between the chancel and organ chamber in memory of Revd Lancaster d.1893, the first incumbent (commemorated by a brass plaque in the nave).

A church hall, designed by W J Threasher of Southwick, was built to the south of the church in 1970. Although insulation had been added to the chancel in the 1960s, in 1978-79 work was undertaken to improve the heating and to resolve draughtiness. An architect from the congregation, Kenneth Murrin, devised plans to separate the nave and west bay by inserting a glass and wood (from removed pews) screen to create a lobby. He also designed the insertion of a lower, insulated ceiling with cut-aways to allow light in from the clerestory windows. Although the alterations hide the roof structure and alter the interior space, they maintain an appreciation of the east and west windows. All improvements were complete by 1981.

The church was listed in August 2009 on account of its scale, its historic value, its well-surviving interior and as evidence for the expansion of Worthing.

The archaeological potential of the site is low. The site has tree preservation orders to its north boundary. There are no further known designations relating to the ecology of this urban site.

Holy Trinity is a red brick Victorian church with stone sills and kneelers, built in an Early English style with lancet windows. It has a varied and playful roofline. North and south aisles have separate roofs to the nave and 2-tier buttresses situated at the bay divisions. Continuous moulded brick hoods to aisle and clerestory single lancet windows in addition to continuous projecting brick string course at sill height to aisles. Brick modillion cornice around aisles and nave wall plates.

In the north-west corner a 3-stage square tower with 8-sided shingle clad spire. Clock faces on north and west sides and louvred bell tower openings. The upper stage is octagonal and has stone spirelets at each corner.

To the north a gabled north transept with crested ridge tiles. A single spirelet in the style of those on the tower located above. To its north-east side the octagonal choir vestry (now parish office) with polygonal roof. Stone finials surmount east and west gable ends and the vestry roof. In addition there is a gabled porch at the east end of the north aisle, adjacent to the door into the north transept.

The main entrance to the interior is via the north door in the base of the tower, though there are other points of entry. Here, beneath a shallow gable, pointed-arched double oak doors open into a tower lobby where inside another set of double oak doors is reached before a set of glazed doors opens into the west end. 4 tall lancet windows in the west wall above 5 small lancets all with stained glass. This westernmost bay is divided from the nave by an inserted glazed wood screen and the pews have been cleared. Yellow bricks have been used to block north and south aisles from the space. The glazing maintains views along the length of the church.

Stone nave arcade columns with clustered shafts and carved capitals carry pointed brick arches. Throughout the nave (and west end) a suspended ceiling has been inserted so as to ensure that light from the clerestory windows can still permeate the interior. Although the roof structure is hidden it is reported to consist of braced and double collar roof trusses on stone corbels (evident below the inserted ceiling).

The nave floor is paved with red and black quarry tiles and is covered by red carpet in the aisles with iron grates either side. Original fixed pine pews with umbrella stands and numbers located on raised timber pew platforms either side of the aisles. Original  suspended iron light fittings. A door in the south-east corner leads to the attached hall. At the east end of the north aisle a passage behind the organ leads to the parish office.

The chancel arch has been obscured by the inserted ceiling, though photographs pre-dating 1970 show that a banner of text decorated the nave side of the chancel arch (unconfirmed if this survives). The chancel is raised by two steps. The floor is paved in decorative encaustic tiles. Choir stalls are positioned to north and south sides. The roof structure is of scissor beam trusses. Marble steps rise to the sanctuary and altar table. The east wall is curtained beneath the windows whilst the bricks above are painted white.