All Saints' Church is a Church of England church located in Huntingdon,

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to th ...

, England. There have been multiple churches on the site of this one. The earliest mention of a church dates to 973 AD with the original dedication having been to either St Mary, or The Blessed Virgin and All Martyrs. 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 ...

Early English Period English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...

, but the main structure is in the Late

Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...

style, dating from about the reign of Henry VII, and rebuilt in 1620. It was restored under the direction of

Sir George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

when new oak roofs were added, and the old carving, retained wherever possible, or faithfully reproduced. It consists of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and a western tower of Perpendicular era, containing four bells. There are several stained windows, a pulpit of carved

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...

around which runs an elaborate railing of metal work, in which a combination of copper, brass and tin has been used, the whole resting on a stone base. The font is of carved stone supported on columns of jasper, Irish and foreign marbles. There is a large organ with three rows of keys and containing between thirty and forty stops. The stalls are of carved oak, interspersed with walnut and cedar. A reredos of carved oak, enriched with figures, niches and canopies, was erected in the 1800s. The vestry was enlarged and ornamented with caning. The church has seating for about 500 persons. The registers of the parish of St John Baptist, brought here at the demolition of the church of that name, date from 1585; those of All Saints are from 1558. The celebrated entry of the baptism of Oliver Cromwell occurs in the register of St John's under the date of 1599, and there is a mention, about twenty years later, of his having done penance for some improper conduct. The name of Cromwell frequently occurs: Robert Cromwell father of the Protector, was buried in the church, 24 June 1617. There is also mention made of the resting within its walls of the body of Mary Queen of Scots on its way from

Peterborough Cathedral Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Pa ...

to Westminster Abbey, to which latter place it was removed by order of her son,

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

References

* ''This article includes text incorporated from E.R. Kelly's "Kelly's directory of Bedfordshire, Hunts and Northamptonshire." (1885), a publication now in the public domain.''

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huntingdon, All Saints 973 establishments Church of England church buildings in Cambridgeshire 10th-century church buildings in England Huntingdon Religious buildings and structures completed in 1620 Churches in Huntingdonshire 1620 establishments in England

See also

References

External links