Sacred Trinity

Sacred Trinity was the first parish church to be built in Salford. It was founded in 1635 by Humphrey Booth, a prominent local merchant. The church was granted the full dignity of a parish church in 1650, and during the following century was the scene of much activity. In 1733 the Evangelist, John Wesley, preached inside Sacred Trinity but was forbidden access to its precincts on his return in 1747.

The main body of the church was rebuilt in 1751 in the contemporary Georgian style. The Sanctuary and East Wall were remodelled in the early 20th century when the south east porch/vestry was added. In 1980 there was considerable remodelling to install toilets, offices and make the building much more flexible.

The church was threatened with demolition to make way for railway lines serving the new Victoria Station, which opened in 1844. The railway was forced to re-plan its route to avoid the church, resulting in some tortuous curves in the lines entering the Station In 1891, the Trinity School was demolished to make way for more lines and in 1904 Sacred Trinity church was again threatened with the same fate.

The altar, chairs and lectern are all from 1690, making them the oldest collection of church furniture in Greater Manchester and the Jacobean pulpit dating from 1700 used to be pulled out on a runner into the centre of the church so that people in the Gallery could see. On the 20th June 1974, a Pastoral Order was obtained to effect a change of name to 'The Benefice and Parish of Sacred Trinity, Salford, in the Diocese of Manchester'. It is the only church so named in the British Isles.