Church of The Holy Trinity, Crookham

Introduction

The Parish of The Holy Trinity, Church Crookham was formed in 1958 by a division of the parish of Fleet. The new parish's territory comprised the area of Fleet south of the Basingstoke Canal and the villages of Crookham, Dogmersfield, Winchfield, Ewshot and Crondall.

History

In 1960 a plot of land in Aldershot Road was purchased, where an old house called Woodey Corner had stood. Daily Mass began in 1958 when the first Parish Priest took up residence in the presbytery in Moore Road. The church was designed and constructed by the same company that built the Fleet Catholic Church and was opened in 1968. The year after the church opened, the presbytery was built and the old presbytery in Moore Road was sold.

In 1973 it was decided to build a hall to provide a social centre and meeting place. By 1975 the debt on the church was paid.

Architecture and furnishings

The present building was designed and built by Lanner Ltd., of Wakefield Yorkshire, to a ground plan put forward by a canon. The octagonal design of the main building allows seating for 326, arranged with only ten rows in the main aisle and nine in the two sides. The vaulting of the nave is by four pairs of laminated wooden arches meeting in a steel pressure ring, each pair giving a clear span of 68 ft, surmounted by a slim fleche. The walls are of reconstructed Cornish granite, the floor of maple, except for the altar area which is of Yorkshire stone. The porch is tiled in a checker board pattern of terrazzo, and the font is seen behind a clear glass and mahogany screen.