Trinity's Secret Spaces

Ithiel Town's handsome new building for New Haven's Trinity Church-on-the-Green was consecrated on February 21, 1816, following some twenty months of construction. Very possibly the first Gothic revival church to be built in America, Trinity's new edifice replaced an earlier and simpler structure completed in the summer of 1753 and located on the east side of Church Street, hence the naming of that street, which continues to our day. Let's allow Mr. Town to boast a little about his innovative creation of which he was so justifiably proud:

"This Church is 103 feet long, and 74 feet wide, exclusive of the tower at the front end, which is 25 feet square, and projects forward half of its size, making the whole length 115 1/2 feet. The base of the building is 5 feet thick at the bottom, 3 feet at the top, and 10 feet deep, 3 feet of which is above the ground... upon which, the walls are raised 38 feet, with a hard granite, quarried from a rock about two miles north-west of the city, and layed with their natural faces out, and so selected and fitted, as to form small but irregular joints, which are pointed. These natural faces present various shades of brown and iron-rust; and when damp, especially, the different shades appear very deep and rich; at the same time conveying to the mind, an idea of durability and antiquity, which may be very suitably associated with this style of architecture.

"The cornice is ornamented with appropriate ornaments, above which the walls are finished with an embattled balustrade, with pinnacles at the corners. The height of the tower, from the base to its upper roof, is 100 feet, and is not diminished in size; above which are frustrums of octagonal pyramids, finished at the top with a termination, iron-work, and vane to each, making their height 30 feet above the roof of the tower. There are four other pinnacles, 20 feet high, placed at the centre of each side of the tower, between which and the corner ones, is a very embattled balustrade, 7 feet high, and connecting together the eight pinnacles. The four centre ones are octagonal, with crockets on the corners of the pyramidal parts."

Clearly Mr. Town's new church was meant to take a prominent place on New Haven's Green, and today it continues to dominate the busy corner of Temple and Chapel Streets, sharing the site with its two distinguished sister churches, the elegant Congregational meeting-houses built along Temple Street about the same time on the former town burying ground. It is a setting perhaps unmatched in beauty anywhere else in America.

Trinity Church has been both enlarged and embellished over the years. The clear diamond-pane windows gave way to grisaille stained-glass in the 1870s; a large chancel was added to the west end of the building in 1885; and in 1906 the interior of the church received a major renovation that largely gave the building its present appearance. In the early 1960s two "wings"were added on either side of the chancel to permit the galleries to comply with fire regulations, and to afford more usable space within the church building. While visitors today are often impressed with what seems to be a beautiful old church, Mr. Town might be surprised to see what happened to his pioneering design in the 190 years that have elapsed since it was consecrated.

A major exterior alteration took place in the 1870s when the building received a number of necessary improvements. The original wood shingle roof was by then fifty-five years old and at the end of its practical lifespan. The wooden crenulations around its perimeter had weathered badly, as had the old wood tower that gave the church its distinctive appearance, and which provided a home for the single bell that occupied the belfry. Tired of constant repairs to the old wooden parts of the building, Trinity's Vestry voted in 1870 to replace the roof shingles with slates and erect a handsome new stone tower that would, in 1886, provide a home to a set of ten bells (increased to twelve in 1950). While it is undeniable that the church lost something of its fairy-tale gothic appearance with the removal of the fanciful wooden trimmings, its dignified and somewhat austere new look has been a feature of the Green ever since.

Trinity's members, staff and visitors are thoroughly familiar with the public spaces in Mr. Town's old building. Countless services and many other events have taken place within her thick stone walls over the years. The Tiffany windows, carved stone reredos and altar, creaky old box pews with their curious doors, and the thrilling Aeolian-Skinner organ have long served as appropriate backdrops for the important purpose of the building. But what most people don't know is that there is a good portion of Trinity Church that remains hidden from their eyes. Above the vaults of the ceiling and in the less-accessible parts of the tower are secret spaces known only to those few who are willing to brave an old wooden staircase and some rickety-looking ladders in an effort to look behind the scenes.

On a balmy Memorial Day, parishioner Jake Dell and I decided to explore the lesser known parts of Trinity Church. With a bit of courage in our hearts and camera in hand, we took a journey to the remote regions of the old building, following ancient catwalks and eager for a glimpse of Trinity's least changed spaces. The photos that follow will give you some idea of the parts of Trinity Church that very few people have seen. So put on your sneakers and your casual clothes and come with us for an expedition into the hidden, but still beautiful, parts of this great old church.