All Saints is a closed Anglican church in

Corn Street Corn Street, together with Broad Street, Wine Street and High Street, is one of the four cross streets which met at the Bristol High Cross, the heart of Bristol, England when it was a walled medieval town. From this crossroads Corn Street an ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. For many years it was used as a Diocesan Education Centre but this closed in 2015. The building has been designated as a grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The west end of the nave survives from the original 12th-century church, and the east

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

s were built in the 15th century.

Alice Chestre Alice Chestre (sometimes written "Chester" or "Chestour") (died 1485) was a merchant and a benefactor of the city of Bristol, England. She married Henry Chestre (or Chester), a draper who traded in Spain, Lisbon, Bordeaux and Brittany, exportin ...

made major donations to the church. The north-east tower was added in 1716 by William Paul, and completed by George Townesend. The lantern was rebuilt by Luke Henwood in 1807, and the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

rebuilt in the mid-19th century. The Kalendars, a brotherhood of clergy and laity attached to All Saints, built a library over the north aisle of the church in the fifteenth century; by a deed of 1464 they gave free access to all who wished to study. This was the first 'public' library in the kingdom. In 1466 fire destroyed many of the manuscript books. The church is surrounded on three sides by pedestrian passageways and built into surrounding buildings. Over the south nave is a priests' room and over the north a Georgian coffee room. The most notable monument marks the grave of

Edward Colston Edward Colston (2 November 1636 – 11 October 1721) was an English merchant, slave trader, philanthropist, and Tory Member of Parliament. Colston followed his father in the family business becoming a sea merchant, initially trading in wine ...

, the

slave trader The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and Slavery and religion, religions from Ancient history, ancient times to the present day. Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. The socia ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. It was designed by

James Gibbs James Gibbs (23 December 1682 – 5 August 1754) was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Aberdeen, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England. He is an important figure whose work spanned the transi ...

and carved by

John Michael Rysbrack Johannes Michel or John Michael Rysbrack, original name Jan Michiel Rijsbrack, often referred to simply as Michael Rysbrack (24 June 1694 – 8 January 1770), was an 18th-century Flemish sculptor, who spent most of his career in England where h ...

References

External links

All Saint Church @ Church Crawler
( ( 2009-10-25) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bristol, All Saints All Saints All Saints 12th-century church buildings in England

History

Archives

See also

References

External links