The Church of the Holy Trinity at Cold Ashton is a graceful Perpendicular Gothic building, but its most celebrated interior feature belongs to a later age. The church's famous stone pulpit, set in a niche in the north wall and dating from Thomas Key's 1508-1540 rebuild, is intricately carved with the strapwork and geometric patterns typical of the period. Jacobean pulpits were a deliberate statement of post-Reformation Protestant theology: the preaching of the Word had replaced the Catholic Mass as the focal point of worship, and the pulpit was placed prominently to reflect this. The church also contains a fine rood screen and monuments to the successive families of the manor. It sits at the edge of the village overlooking a valley that saw fierce fighting during the 1643 Battle of Lansdown.
“Jacobean pulpits were a deliberate statement of post-Reformation Protestant theology: the preaching of the Word had replaced the Catholic Mass as the focal point of worship, and the pulpit was placed prominently to reflect this.”
