Holy Trinity Stones

Further information about Holy Trinity Church.

In his article, Newly-discovered sculptured and inscribed stones at Millom, Transactions, 1931, Frank Warriner describes the ANTEF stone:

III. Towards the east end of the north chancel wall was found a slightly curved sandstone slag, somewhat weathered, thirteen and a half inchess by fifteen and four and a quarter inches thick. On one of the shorter side is incised ANTEF, the letters varying in size from two and a half inches to three inches. It has been inserted above the ambry niche in the chancel.

Warriner quotes historian Mr. R.G. Collingwood:

"The stone seems Roman to me. I think of CUR]ANTE F[LAVIO the person in charge of a piece of construction is often mentioned in late inscriptions (say 3rd century), and the lettering here suggests a late date. Roman inscriptions cut on the edge, as opposed to the face, of a stone are fairly common. Having regard to the possibility of bringing such a stone from Ravenglass, I should not argue from it to the existence of a Roman site at or near Millom."

Given the number of Roman artefacts found in the vicinity of the church and castle this puts into question Collingwood's statement that the stone was brought from Ravenglass.

The stone was found during the restoration of Holy Trinity in 1930. Several other carved stones, thought to belong to the 10th Century also found during the 1930 restoration are now built into the outside wall. This short video from the Furness Hidden Heritage tells you more about them: Holy Trinity Church

As far as we know there has never been a comprehensive survey of the stones used to build Holy Trinity church. There are three articles in Transactions that are relevant:

1924 Rev WS Sykes The Parish Church of Millom

1931 Frank Warriner Newly-discovered sculptured and inscribed stones at Millom

1937 Mary C Fair The Church of the Holy Trinity Millom

Here is an interesting extract by the Rev William Sykes in Transactions

When I was Curate of Millom Church in 1895 the place was a pretty bit of country road and the spring, known as Deer Leap Well or sometimes Penny Pot Well, was a favourite resting place of the parish clerk between services. Unfortunately the rock and spring and some old oak trees have all been swept away to widen the road for modern traffic and all that remains is the trickle of water which can still be heard passing under the road even after many weeks of dry weather. Quite recently an unknown resident has sent an old photograph of the exact spot and a friend in Birkenhead made for me a coloured sketch which now by the kind permission of the Vicar, the Rev. S. Taylor hangs in the vestry of the church. Another pen and ink sketch-differing perhaps in some minor details- is presented with these notes in the hope that it may be preserved among the records of our Society. The suggested date in the Furness Coucher is 1183-1216, but this could perhaps be narrowed down to c. 1200, because John, the Rector of Bootle was one of the witnesses.

In the Transactions N.S. xxv, it is shown that the Church dedication, Holy Trinity was established in England by Thomas Becket in 1162. The Church of Millum is not so named before 1225 and the feast of Holy Trinity not until 1234, but it seems probable that within the margin 1162-1200 the dedication of the church and the Festival and the Fons Sanctae Trinitatis had become familiar features of the parish history. It was hoped that during the restoration of the church in 1930 some new light might be thrown upon its early history, but although a cross head and part of the shaft of another cross were found, no conclusive date seems to have been assigned to them. Our member Miss Fair in a recent article states that Godard probably founded the original Norman Church; to this I would add that it seems permissible to think that Godard's grandson Henry carried out needful repairs and perhaps also an enlargement in view of the fact that the very ancient Sancta church of Kirksanton was receding into the position of a capella within the larger and more important parish of Millum. I would like to suggest that some alteration was made between 118o and I200 and was the occasion for the dedication of the church in the name of the Holy Trinity. A photograph of this interesting site was supplied by Mr. Sykes to be preserved among the papers of the Society at Tullie House.

The following site includes a plan of the Church and discusses and identifies some reused stone features. The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland.