Trinity Church, at 206 Clarendon Street, was built from 1873 to 1876 by Henry Hobson Richardson. The Episcopal parish, founded in 1733, originally worshiped on Summer Street until it was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1872. Under the direction of Rector Phillips Brooks, Hobson was commissioned to design a replacement in Copley Square. Trinity Church helped establish Richardson's reputation, becoming the birthplace and archetype of the Richardsonian Romanesque style, characterized by a clay roof, polychromy, rough stone, heavy arches, and a massive tower.
The building's plan is a modified Greek Cross with four arms extending outwards from the central tower, which stands 211 ft tall. Situated in Copley Square, which was originally a mud flat, Trinity rests on some 4500 wooden piles, each driven through 30 feet of gravel fill, silt, and clay, and constantly wetted by a pump so they do not rot if exposed to air.
Its interior murals, which cover over 21,500 square feet were completed entirely by American artists. Richardson and Brooks decided that a richly colored interior was essential and turned to an at the time unknown John La Farge. The Church's windows were originally clear glass at consecration but later adorned. Four windows were designed by Edward Burne-Jones and executed by William Morris. Another four windows were done by La Farge, who used a revolutionary style of layering opalescent glass.
In 2007, Trinity Church was ranked #25 on the AIA 150 America's Favorite Architecture list.
Trinity Church National Register #70000733 (1970)
