The church in Cloudesley Square is built on an area of land called Stonyfield donated by Richard Cloudesley in 1517 to atone for his sins (sadly, we don't know what they were)!  In 1811 a carpenter, John Emmett, acquired leases to this land and started developing the area.

Holy Trinity Church was designed by Sir Charles Barry, who was also responsible for the Houses of Parliament.  The church was built between 1826 and 1829 and is said to be modelled on Kings College Chapel, Cambridge.  It is a handsome building in Tudor Gothic style and is Grade II* listed.  The stained glass east window, by Thomas Willement, shows Richard Cloudesley kneeling.

After years of neglect, in the 1970s the church was made redundant and in the 1980s it was leased to the Celestial Church of Christ, a Nigerian Pentecostal community familiar to the residents of the Square for their white robes and hearty singing.  In 2018 the Celestials moved out and the church has been taken back into ownership by the London Diocese of the Anglican Church.

Today, the church is in a sorry state.  Although an English Heritage grant was used for essential maintenance work about 15 years ago, the money ran out and as a result the West towers have been sheathed in an unattractive plastic sheeting ever since.  In 2015 scaffolding was added as a health and safety measure; more scaffolding has been erected inside the church.  Recently the London Diocese have started work on repairing and improving the church and hopefully this will ultimately lead to a full restoration project if funding can be secured, most likely from the Heritage Lottery Fund.  

Historic England description of the church

Islington Tribune article on SAVE report about the church