John Carpenter (bishop) - The Church at Westbury On Trym

The Church At Westbury On Trym

Bishop Carpenter was buried at Holy Trinity Church, Westbury on Trym in 1476. He had been baptised at the same church, which at that time was dedicated to St Peter and St Paul. Soon after Carpenter became bishop he sought to raise the status of St Peter's to that of a joint cathedral with Worcester, and styled himself "Bishop of Worcester and Westbury". He had the building rededicated to the Holy Trinity. Carpenter added a chancel, and a chapel dedicated to St Oswald, to the fabric. He also refounded and rebuilt Westbury College.

Carpenter was buried in the crypt underneath the altar. His memorial was originally a cadaver tomb, with the bishop in full episcopal attire above an enclosure containing a sculpture of a cadaver or skeleton. This tomb was broken up in 1646, during the Civil War, by soldiers from the Bristol garrison. In 1851 the stone cadaver was found in the crypt of the chapel. This was incorporated in 1853 into a new canopied memorial of Purbeck marble, marked on top with a bishop's crozier. Over the porch entrance doorway is a statue of Bishop Carpenter, of unknown date. At some time headless, the statue was restored in the early 20th century.