Description

CHELTENHAM

SO9522NE ALL SAINTS' ROAD 630-1/11/132 (East side) 12/03/55 Church of All Saints

GV I

Parish church. 1865-68 with later alterations including interior furbishing of 1877; vestry of 1883; organ installed 1887; chancel screen of 1894; apse added to Lady Chapel in 1898; stained glass of 1880s-1890s; further refurbishing of c1907. Architect, John Middleton; builder, Thomas Darby; carved tympanum by A Burrall; Lady Chapel apse and interior fittings by HA Prothero (including chancel screen and font canopy) and by Boultons of Cheltenham; organ of 1887 with case designed by P Millington and Prothero and painted by Miss L Beasley and JM Smith; refurbishing of c1907 by Temple Moore. Stained glass: rose window at west end by Sir William Blake Richmond; rose window in south transept designed by E Burne-Jones and made by Morris and Co; all windows in north transept by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. Rough-faced, Cleeve Hill stone with Bath stone ashlar and bands of blue Forest stone dressings and tiled roofs. Gothic Revival in French Gothic style. PLAN: 5-bay aisled nave with clerestory and transepts, apsed chancel, north and south porches and south-west tower. EXTERIOR: west facade has several groups of sculpture representing the Church Militant and Church Triumphant; carved west tympanum with Christ enthroned; entrance has 6 orders of arches on granite shafts, angels carrying coats of arms of benefactors and of the architect. Around the entrance are statues of SS Augustine, Lawrence, Stephen, Paul, Agnes, Christopher, Sebastian and Martin. Two 2-light windows and large rose window. INTERIOR: a great deal of colour has been introduced including polished red granite arcade; polychromy in stonework; painted murals to west end; painted ceiling and embellished apse; tile floors; tower also has painted decoration. Ship's keel roof; apostles in niches to the arcade spandrels; roundels to upper part of nave have figures representing the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Carved and embellished pulpit; screen by Prothero. Stained glass: complete scheme of windows showing Old Testament figures and pious Christians. HISTORICAL NOTE: specifically built for High Church Tractarian worship, this is the most spectacular of Middleton's churches. He designed several churches in Cheltenham including St Mark, Church Road (qv); St Philip and St James, Gratton Road (qv);

St Stephen, St Stephen's Road (qv); and Holy Apostles, London Road, Charlton Kings (qv). All Saints is considered to be Middleton's best church, even if the intended spire was not built. Sladen considers this to be 'a fine building with an absolutely stunning collection of fittings'. (Sampson A and Blake S: A Cheltenham Companion: Cheltenham: 1993-: 1-2; Blake S: Cheltenham's Churches and Chapels AD 773-1883: Cheltenham: 1979-: 27-8; Sladen T: Notes: 1995-; Howell P and Sutton I: Faber Guide to Victorian Churches: London: 1989-: 24-5; Ambler L: All Saints' Church Cheltenham, Guide: 1994-).

Listing NGR: SO9570222630

External Links

• All Saints' Church, Cheltenham at Wikipedia
• All Saints' Church, Cheltenham official website
• Wikidata Q15179395

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)