, image = All Saints' Church, Taiping.jpg , imagesize = 240px , landscape = , caption = All Saints' Church in Taiping, Perak, the oldest Christian church in Malaysia. , location = 17-A, Jalan Taming Sari, 34000

Taiping __NOTOC__ Taiping, Tai-p’ing, or Tai Ping most often refers to: Chinese history * Princess Taiping (died 713), Tang dynasty princess * Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864), civil war in southern China ** Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851–1864), the re ...

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

, country =

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, coordinates = , denomination =

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

, churchmanship =

Evangelical Anglicanism Evangelical Anglicanism or evangelical Episcopalianism is a tradition or church party within Anglicanism that shares affinity with broader evangelicalism. Evangelical Anglicans share with other evangelicals the attributes of "conversionism, a ...

, membership = , attendance = , website = , former name = , bull date = , founded date = 1886 , founder = , dedication = , dedicated date = , consecrated date = 1887 , cult = , relics = , events = , past bishop = , people = , status = , functional status = Active , heritage designation = , designated date = , architect = D. Lefroy , architectural type =

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

, style = , groundbreaking = , completed date = , construction cost = , closed date = , demolished date = , capacity = , length = , width = , width nave = , height = , diameter = , other dimensions = , floor count = , floor area = , dome quantity = , dome height outer = , dome height inner = , dome dia outer = , dome dia inner = , spire quantity = , spire height = , materials = , parish = , deanery = , archdeaconry = Lower North Archdeaconry , diocese =

Diocese of West Malaysia The Diocese of West Malaysia is an Anglican diocese which covers the entire West Malaysia. The Diocese of West Malaysia (DWM) was founded on 8 April 1970, as DWM together with Diocese of Singapore split from Diocese of Singapore and Malaya. As ...

, province = Province of South East Asia , presbytery = , synod =

, circuit = , district = , division = , subdivision = , archbishop = , bishop = , dean = , logo = , logosize = The All Saints' Church is a church in

Larut, Matang and Selama District The Larut, Matang and Selama District is a district of Perak, Malaysia. Taiping is the capital town of this district. Larut, Matang and Selama used to be three small different districts and they merged into one larger district later. Larut, M ...

. It was the first church in the

Federated Malay States )Under God's Protection , capital = Kuala Lumpur1 , religion = Islam , legislature = Federal Legislative Council , type_house1 = State level , common_languages = , title_leader = Monarch , leader1 ...

, founded in 1886 (

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

in 1887). Located on Taming Sari main road, the church sits in the outskirts of Taiping. The church features a timber facade and gothic architectural design, with a small adjacent cemetery. Its cemetery is laden with beautifully crafted tombstones of European settlers and young servicemen who did not make it home. It is considered one of

's precious heritage sites.

History

The history of the church can be traced from 1883 when Col. R.S.F. Walker presided over a meeting to arrange for funds to be collected to pay for the stipend of a clergyman. Designed by Australian architect G. A. Lefroy and built on a site donated by W.V. Drummond, a planter from Shanghai, the wooden church structure is made of meranti panels with hardwood frames, and a louvred tower with four tubular bells. All Saints' Church remains largely unchanged from the early days of its existence. Perhaps the most striking feature of the church is the

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

window installed in 1911, which survived World War II intact. All Saints' is among only a handful of churches in Malaysia that still use the

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

. It is only used on special occasions and the servicing alone costs about RM10,000 annually.

Developments

Over the years, the church has undergone some repair work with the most recent restoration effort including the replacement of its leaky roof with Berlian Shingle wood from

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

. The new roof is a replica of the original structure. A new multi-purpose hall was scheduled to be completed in 2008, with toilet facilities, administrative office, choir rooms, library, vicarage quarters and main hall that can accommodate about 350 people. The church is currently in the midst of setting up a network to locate relatives of those buried at the All Saints' cemetery.

References

{{Malaysian historical architectures and sites Churches completed in 1887 19th-century Anglican church buildings in Malaysia Tourist attractions in Perak Churches in Taiping, Perak 1886 establishments in British Malaya

History

Developments

See also

References