If you know Holy Trinity well you may have noticed the corbels finishing off some of the arches but you may not know that they are the faces of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert - an architectural flourish by Edward Blore who designed the church. There are most likely twelve in all (we can't view the west arch to be sure - the organ was later moved there and the pipes cover much of it): eight are placed on the sides of the galleries looking into the church - they are placed alternately so that a Victoria is always facing an Albert; there is one either side of the east arch (by the steps to the altar) facing into the church; and one Victoria is placed about midway down the north gallery facing the congregation seated there and an Albert is similarly placed in the south gallery.
The Duke of Clarence Memorial Window is situated in the north gallery transept. It is a three light window dedicated to the memory of Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence KG, eldest son of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. The top half of the centre light depicts the Resurrection, below it the Raising of Lazarus (pictured) and the lights either side show the Raising of the Widow’s son and the Raising of Jarius’ daughter.The window was designed by Mr F W Winter of London and was made by Messrs Sharp Bros of the Windsor Stained Glass Works, Sheet Street. Between the lights a dedication was painted on ribbon scrolls: In Memoriam Albert Victor Christian Edward of Wales KT KP Duke of Clarence and Avondale Born 8 January 1864 Died 14 January 1892 “Thy will be done”. Sadly someone in the intervening years thought it a good idea to paint over the dedication and other decorative paintwork in the church (it is hoped that the dedication can be reinstated sometime in the future).It was unveiled by King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, on 12 August 1892 (just eight months after the Duke’s death) in a private service attended by the rector, curate, wardens, organist and presumably the HRH’s equerry (with whom he’d just arrived from London by train). Afterwards the Prince of Wales visited the Albert Memorial Chapel where his son is buried. The window was the first memorial to the Duke of Clarence and was erected from funds collected by the Revd Arthur Robins (Rector 1873-99) who was at the time Chaplain in Ordinary to Queen Victoria and Chaplain to the Prince of Wales. The window’s swift installation was perhaps due to the good relationship between Mr Robins and HRH, who would also have been a familiar sight to many parishioners as Holy Trinity was his preferred place of worship when in Windsor.
The font was presented by the NCOs and men of the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards in 1876 (there would have been a font before then but we can assume it wasn’t so nice!). The Grenadier Guards also gave the three central stained glass windows above the altar. The font was designed by Stephen Wyborn (by profession an architect and also at one time a warden of Holy Trinity). The present carved wooden cover was added after the Second World War—it has the names of those from the parish that didn’t return inscribed on it.The font was originally located, centrally across the width of the church, at the back between the back of the pews and the main door—most fonts in Church of England churches are located near the main door symbolising the start of a Christian's journey and reminding the congregation of this as they enter. In 1901 the baptistry was created at the back corner of the church on the south side. Ideally baptisms would take place within an ordinary Sunday service but this was not the case at that time at Holy Trinity—there were four or five services on a Sunday and the church was probably full for all of these. So twice a month local children would be baptised on a Sunday afternoon and once a month soldiers’ children. Presumably these more intimate services influenced the decision to put the font to one side and put in a screen to denote the separate area. A picture from the early 1900s shows an enormous arrangement of flowers on top of the font with a number of decorative crosses painted on the wall at intervals (the walls are now, sadly, just white) but what appears to be the original decorative ceiling remains.The bapistry was created in memory of the Revd Arthur Robins who was rector from 1873 to 1899. He died on Christmas Eve having caught a chill seeing the Composite Regiment of the Household Cavalry off to war in the chilly, early hours of one November morning. He was loved and respected by many. He used his position (and his pulpit) to voice his concerns about the living conditions of the poor and of the soldiers based in Windsor—he started a parish magazine to more widely broadcast his disgust and call for change. There was a report in a local paper of him berating his congregation for not putting enough money into the collection plate a previous Sunday (congregations ranged from the very poor to the very well off so this must have been entirely aimed at the latter end of the scale) - at that time the church generally did much to support and educate the poor. He was so popular amongst the soldiers that he was affectionately known as the Soldiers’ Bishop and some who were based in London would make the journey to have their children baptised by Mr Robins, rather than at the Guard’s Chapel in London. For obvious reasons he was not popular with the slum landlords or the Corporation (town council). He was also Chaplain to Queen Victoria and the then Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). Mr Robins was on very good terms with the Prince of Wales who continued to be a generous benefactor to the church after the death of Mr Robins. In Christmas 1884 the Prince of Wales give Mr Robins a beautiful, decorative, backed book signed by his family (more of that another time) which now contains about two hundred and fifty signatures of well known people collected over the years.The bapistry has a had a couple of makeovers since its creation— the last was in the early 1960s in memory of Lady Mary Crichton. Four years ago discussions started about replacing the drab carpet in the baptistry so a corner was pulled back ...as you can just see from the picture a beautiful tiled floor was discovered which may well be from 1842. Members of the Parochial Church Council, the clergy and parishioners spent many hours scraping the glue off and washing the floor!Throughout his ministry Mr Robins baptised over six hundred babies—he had fifty four named after him (including seven girls) and was Godfather to thirty six.If you would like discuss you or your child being baptised in Holy Trinity please contact Revd Sally or complete the contact form under the Get in touch header.
The window dedicated to Sir Henry Mangles Denham is situated on the north side of the church. It depicts Jesus in the boat with three disciples calming the storm (Matthew chapter 8, verse 26). The dedication at the bottom of the window reads “To the Glory of God and in affectionate memory of Admiral Sir H Mangles Denham FRS who died July 3rd 1887 aged 86 and of Isabella his wife who died Sep 22 1865 aged 63. This window is dedicated by their daughter Emily E Mangles.” Sir Henry is best known for his work as a hydrographer charting the waters of Shark Bay in Australia in 1858 in HMS Herald. The town of Denham in Australia, twinned with Denham in Buckinghamshire, derives its name from Captain Henry Mangles Denham. Captain Denham was knighted at Windsor Castle on 26 March 1867 and retired from the Royal Navy in August 1877. He lived in London.The window beside it is dedicated to another of Sir Henry’s daughters (Alicia Eliza Parker) and a window in the sanctuary, above the altar, is dedicated to Captain William H Mangles—Emily’s husband. Captain Mangles (of the 50th Queens Own Regiment) who died at Clewer in 1868 aged 37 having succumbed to injuries received in the trenches before Sebastopol. Sir Henry is also the father of Annesley Turner Denham to whom a window on the south wall of All Saints, Frances Road, is dedicated by his widow. Emily lived in Windsor and according to census records Annesley and his wife lived in Queens Terrace, Kings Road. Emily must have been a parishioner as she also gifted altar kneeling mats and alms bags, which she had worked.
