Holy Trinity Churchyard

Prior to 1849 Leverstock Green had no church of its own, in fact the village was divided between three parishes: Hemel Hempstead, Abbots Langley & St. Michael’s St. Albans. There had also grown up a considerable nonconformist congregation in the area, firstly based at Woodlane End, and by 1841 near the centre of the village in its own purpose built Baptist Chapel, now demolished.

In 1846, following a meeting a meeting of local worthies held at Abbots Hill, the home of paper manufacturer John Dickinson, it was decided that a new church should be built in Leverstock Green. Those present contributed financially to the project, and the land on which the church & Vicarage were to be built, was donated by the Earl of Verulam.

Raphael & Arthur Brandon were employed as architects. Despite being only in their twenties, they were amongst the most important architects in the gothic revivalist movement of the time, jointly producing a series of three works on Early English Ecclesiastical Architecture that became, and remained architectural pattern books for the whole 19th century. Their books are still in print and available today.

In August 1847 Mr. Lilley of Measham was contracted to build the church at a cost of £1,591,10s 6d. The stone mason was a Mr. Elliot of Leicester. Despite various set-backs, including the untimely death of Arthur Brandon, the new church of Holy Trinity was consecrated on October 30th 1849, and eventually a new parish of Leverstock Green was established in 1851.

Since then many changes have been made to both the church & the parish including the installation of the clock (1878), the organ (1900), central heating & electricity (1939), and the oak Rood Screen (1932), now moved from its original position. The Trinity Room, with new vestries and modern facilities, was added to the west end of the church in 1974 and has been recently refurbished.

Now part of the new benefice of Langelei, the one thing which has never changed is Holy Trinity’s place at the very heart physically and spiritually of the Leverstock Green Community.

More detailed information on many aspects of Holy Trinity’s history can be found on my website The Leverstock Green Chronicle, (www.lgchronicle.net) with principle articles and links to specific items relating to the church’s history to be found on these pages: https://bacchronicle.homestead.com/church.html;

https://www.lgchronicle.net/20th-Century-LG.html; and https://www.lgchronicle.net/HOLYTRINITY-ARCHIVE-DOCUMENTS.html