The British began visiting Nice in the late eighteenth century as they went on the Grand Tour to Italy. In the early 19th century after the Napoleonic Wars, they began to settle and build villas to winter in the Mediterranean climate. The presence of the British led to a need for Anglican services. The parish of Holy Trinity, Nice was established in 1820 under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London and the first church and graveyard were built on the present site.
One of the first chaplains, the Revd Lewis Way, responded to the plight of the local unemployed by raising funds to pay for the construction of a path along seashore, known originally as the Chemin des Anglais, to recognise the benefactors. Lengthened and broadened, we know it today as the Promenade des Anglais.
In 1842 Holy Trinity came under the jurisdiction of the newly‐established Diocese of Gibraltar; five years later, the Rev. Henry Francis Lyte, author of the world‐famous hymns Abide with Me and Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven, fell ill, died in Nice and was buried in the churchyard.
Nice reverted to France under the terms of a plebiscite in 1860. The foundation stone of the present church was laid on January 2nd, 1860, in the presence of various local dignitaries. Permission to build had come from Turin in 1859.
In neo‐gothic style, the new church was then still in the countryside, although the arrival of the railway in Nice at the same time meant that it soon became a quartier, where the English built villas and bought apartments; it was called, for some decades, Newborough.
The apse of the church was not completed until 1913 and the east windows were installed after the First World War in 1929. Made in Chartres, they are a fine example of early 20th century French ecclesiastical art.
The exterior of the church, its stained glass windows and the adjacent cemetery were renovated in 2011‐2012 and were re‐hallowed by the Bishop of Gibraltar, the Rt. Rev. Geoffrey Rowell on the occasion of the 150th anniversary on June 3rd, 2012. The restored church bell now rings out again before the Eucharist on Sundays. For almost 200 years, Holy Trinity has contributed to the spiritual, cultural and social life of the city of Nice and looks forward to continuing to do so.