All Saints' Church, Nottingham, is an

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 ...

church in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The church is

Grade II listed 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 ...

by the

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as it is a building of special architectural or historic interest.

Background

It was formerly the

Parish Church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of All Saints', Nottingham, and then became one of the two churches of the parish of Nottingham, St. Peter & All Saints', on their merger in December 2002. Following a further merger in September 2007, it became one of three parish churches within the parish of All Saints', St. Mary's and St. Peter's, Nottingham. The building itself is a large example of

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

church architecture. A map of the parish is available on Google Maps.

History

The church was built in 1863–64, mainly in sandstone. Along with the church, a large parsonage and a church school were built at the sole cost (some £10,000) (equivalent to £ in ), of William Windley JP, a local philanthropist. With all of the ancillary building, the total cost was £25,000 (equivalent to £ in ). The church was built in

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style to seat 500, and has a fine

broach spire A broach spire is a type of spire (tall pyramidal structure), which usually sits atop a tower or turret of a church. It starts on a square base and is carried up to a tapering octagonal spire by means of triangular faces. File:Leicester Cathedral ...

reaching tall (8th tallest building in Nottingham) and housing a ring of ten bells (the heaviest weighing 16 cwt). The architect was

Thomas Chambers Hine Thomas Chambers Hine (31 May 1813 – 6 February 1899) was an architect based in Nottingham. Background He was born in Covent Garden into a prosperous middle-class family, the eldest son of Jonathan Hine (1780–1862), a hosiery manufacturer an ...

, of Nottingham. The church was consecrated on 3 November 1864. 1200 crammed into the 800 seats and there was a large attendance of clergy. The choir of St. Mary's Church were accompanied by Miss Fanny Brookes on the harmonium. The Rt. Revd. John Jackson,

Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...

, performed the consecration service in the presence of the new pastor,

Joshua William Brooks Joshua William Brooks, M.A. was born in 1790 and died 15 February 1882: he was a priest in the Church of England. Family Joshua William Brooks married Frances Summerscales on 1 January 1829 in Sandal Magna, West Riding of Yorkshire. Career Brooks ...

. At the time of its construction, All Saints' Parish was a new wealthy suburb outside the old city boundary of Nottingham on an area previously known as Sandfield. The expansion had been as a result of the 1830s

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemic. With the continued expansion of the

City of Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robin ...

, the parish became an inner-city area of Nottingham which suffered significant decline after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. By the 1980s it was designated an Urban Priority Area and the congregation declined to around 30–40 at the turn of the millennium. The old school building, which had fallen out of use in the 1920s, was converted into small workspaces, and half of the original huge vicarage was converted into residences of young single people in the early 1980s. More recently in 2006, following protracted negotiations, the New Deal for Radford bought the old School to refurbish it for use by local organisations. The church and many of the other buildings are now Grade II listed. It continues to be in use for regular Sunday morning services. Given the small congregation, discussions are underway as to whether there may be other joint uses of the space available.

List of incumbents

*Edwin Gyles 1864-1880 * Alfred Pearson 1880-1888 (afterwards vicar of St. Margaret's Church, Brighton) *Hubert Arnold Gem 1888-1902 (afterwards vicar of

St Mary's Church, Wirksworth St Mary the Virgin is a parish church in the Church of England in Wirksworth, Derbyshire. It is a Grade I listed building. The existing building dates mostly from the 13th–15th centuries, but notable survivals from the Anglo-Saxon period indic ...

) *Thomas Wilson Windley 1902-1912 * Herbert Lovell Clarke 1912-1923 (afterwards vicar of

St Bartholomew's Church, Armley St Bartholomew's Church, Armley is a parish church in the Church of England in Armley, West Yorkshire. The church is one of two Church of England churches in Armley; the other being Christ Church. Worship at St Bartholomew's is firmly rooted ...

) *W.H.M. Lonsdale 1923-1929 *C.H. Weller 1929-1937 *Edward Frederick H Dunnicliffe 1937-1946 (afterwards vicar of St. Helen's Church, Selston) *T.W. Richardson 1946-1950 *Charles W. Harrington 1950-1955 *John N.D. Perkins 1955-1979 *Paul George Watts 1980-1984 *Nigel Peyton 1985-1991 *David White 1992-1998 *Gilly Myers (priest-in-charge) 2000-2002

Bells

The six bells were cast by

John Taylor & Co John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is located in Loughborough, ...

of Loughborough on an oak bell frame. At installation in 1864 this was extended to accommodate two extra bells. The bells were tuned in the key of E, the heaviest weighing 17cwt. In 1999 the bells were tuned and hung in a new steel frame with room for 10 bells. At the same time the redundant All Saints’ School bell was installed as a Sanctus bell. The

Nottingham University Society of Change Ringers The Nottingham University Society of Change Ringers (NUSCR) is one of the oldest societies affiliated to the University of Nottingham Students' Union (where it is known as Bellringing Society), being founded in 1958. Its principal aim is to allo ...

use the church for practice and also ring the bells for church services. On 19 May 2019 the bells stopped ringing due to health and safety concerns. Damage to the spire had allowed for pigeons to enter the bell tower and nest. The damage was mainly to the floor above the bells, which had become rotten due to the large volumes of guano. The project to restore the tower was taken on by the

, with the support of the Church. It consisted of a complete clean of the tower, removing approximately 2.2 tons of bird waste. It also saw the dismantling of the old floor, and construction of a new floor above the bells. This new floor serves as a load bearing platform in case of any future work which may be needed on the spire, and acts as a form of control for the bells. Finally it involved a total renovation of the ringing chamber. On 8 February 2020 the bells were first heard again, during a test ring, then the bells were officially handed back to the

for ringing on 11 February 2020.

Organ

The first organ was built by Lloyd and Dudgeon from Nottingham and was opened on 6 July 1865. The current organ is by

Norman and Beard Norman and Beard were a pipe organ manufacturer based in Norwich from 1887 to 1916. History The origins of the company are from a business founded in Diss in 1870 by Ernest William Norman (1851–1927). In 1876 he moved to Norwich where he wen ...

and dates from 1906.

List of organists

*George Essex 1865 - 1883 *G. H. Woodhouse 1883 - 1899 (formerly organist of

St Paul's Church, George Street, Nottingham St. Paul's Church, George Street, was a Church of England church built as a chapel of ease to St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. It was opened in 1822 and closed in 1924. Background It was consecrated by Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt the Archbis ...

) *Arthur Richards 1899 - 1915 *Frederick William Hughes 1915 - 1918 (formerly organist of Horncastle Parish Church) *Frederick George Ainsworth Wyatt 1918 - 1947Nottingham Evening Post - Thursday 14 August 1947, p.4. Organist Dies (formerly of

St. Thomas' Church, Nottingham St. Thomas' Church, Nottingham was a Church of England church on Park Row in Nottingham between 1873 and 1926. History The building was erected by Wesleyan Methodists led by Richard Mercer, bookseller. The foundation stone was laid on Park Ro ...

) *Eric Rayner 1947 - 1972 *Peter C Price 1973 - 1977 *Malcolm Batchelor *Jean Bruce *Peter Moule *Nowadays, there is no regular organist; a team of organists are shared between St Peter's and All Saints, headed by the Director of Music, Peter Siepmann.

References

External links

Parish websiteSee All Saints' Church on Google Street View
{{DEFAULTSORT:All Saints Church, Nottingham Churches completed in 1864 19th-century Church of England church buildings Churches in Nottingham

Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Nottinghamshire Thomas Chambers Hine buildings