Friends of The Collegiate

Church Of The Holy Trinity

Tattershall Lincolnshire

Keeping this old house alive

Introduction

The Church of the Holy Trinity at Tattershall was completed in 1500 AD having been endowed, in 1439 by King Henry VI, with Collegiate status.

A Collegiate Church is one that has attached to it, a Chapter of canons and prebendaries – priests whose livings are paid through endowments and by the income from land or tithes.

The Church

The Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity, Tattershall, holds the distinctive position of being a national treasure, which will hopefully dominate the surrounding Fenlands for many centuries to come.  It stands impressive and proud, next to Tattershall Castle, and was designed to supplement its founder's aspirations to develop a chantry college.

Building the Church

The Church is cruciform in shape, and is 180ft. 6ins. long, with the width of the transepts being 100ft.  It consists of four bays with clerestory (a row of windows in the upper part of the wall) and north and south aisles, which engage the western tower to form a processional way beneath it.

The College

The Collegiate Church of The Holy Trinity was built on the site of a previous church, dedicated to SS Peter and Paul.  It is impossible to tell when the original church was built, but it was probably soon after the Conquest, and came to be used as the family Church of the Barony of Tattershall.