The Church of All Saints is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

in Clifton,

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. The church is a

grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

. It is located in the Parish of All Saints with St. John Clifton in the

Diocese of Bristol The Diocese of Bristol is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Church of England in the Province of Canterbury, England. It is based in the city of Bristol and covers South Gloucestershire and parts of north Wiltshire, as far east ...

History

In 1862, a committee was set up to provide a large church for the Clifton area of

. It would be in the

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...

tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

, and would be a free church with no rented pews. The original church was built between 1868 and 1872 by

George Edmund Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccl ...

. The

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

was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

on 8 June 1868. A

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

was added in 1909 by George Frederick Bodley, and a

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

was added in 1928 by Frederick Charles Eden. The narthex houses the Chapel of Saint Richard of Chichester, built as memorial to Richard Randall, the first Vicar of All Saints, who became Dean of Chichester. On 2 December 1940, an

incendiary bomb Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires. They may destroy structures or sensitive equipment using fire, and sometimes operate as anti-personnel weaponry. Incendiarie ...

set fire to the building, destroying the chancel and nave of the church. Only the tower, narthex, and sacristy remained standing. W. H. Randoll Blacking was the architect chosen to reconstruct the church, but, after much delay, he died before work could begin. In the 1960s, it was once more decided that the rebuilding of the church should go ahead and Robert Potter, Blacking's partner, was selected as the architect. He reorientated the church so that the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

now faces East. The altar itself is free standing and is set under a ciborium, a four-columned indoor roof. Behind the

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

is a series of stained glass windows made from fibre glass and designed by John Piper. The new nave and altar were consecrated on 1 July 1967. The same year, a stained glass window designed by Christopher Webb (another former partner of Blacking) was installed in the east window of the narthex; it was Webb's last window (Webb having died the previous year). On 8 January 1959, the church was designated a

Present day

In 1978, the parish of All Saints Clifton was joined with that of St John's Clifton to form the Parish of All Saints with St. John Clifton. St John's Church was declared redundant in 1980. In March 2013, the

parochial church council A parochial church council (PCC) is the executive committee of a Church of England parish and consists of clergy and churchwardens of the parish, together with representatives of the laity. It has its origins in the vestry committee, which looke ...

voted to rescind Resolutions A and B, and to rescind the petition for

alternative episcopal oversight A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction "are unable to receive the ministry of w ...

. With these actions, the parish signalled that it accepts the

ordination of women The ordination of women to Minister of religion, ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination ...

. It remains within the

of the Church of England.

Notable people

* Cedric Bucknall, organist

Clergy

* Henry Bromby, former vicar, previously

Dean of Hobart The Cathedral Church of St David is the Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican cathedral Church (building), church located in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. The cathedral is the mother-church for the Anglican Diocese of Tasmania, Diocese of Tasman ...

* Fabian Jackson, former vicar, later Bishop of Trinidad *

Diarmaid MacCulloch Diarmaid Ninian John MacCulloch (; born 31 October 1951) is an English academic and historian, specialising in ecclesiastical history and the history of Christianity. Since 1995, he has been a fellow of St Cross College, Oxford; he was former ...

, non-stipendiary

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

from 1987 to 1988, later Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford * Richard Randall, first vicar from 1868 and 1892, later Dean of Chichester

Gallery

File:All Saints Bristol 01.jpg , Church tower with spire File:All Saints Bristol 04.jpg , Stained glass window by John Piper File:All Saints Bristol 07.jpg , Altar with ciborium File:All Saints Bristol 03.jpg , High Altar and

Baldachino A baldachin, or baldaquin (from ), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over high altars in c ...

File:All Saints Bristol 09.jpg , Nave with large windows File:All Saints Bristol 07b altar ciborium.jpg , The Chancel with a

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...

set into the wall File:Church of All Saints Clifton organ.jpg , Organ File:Church of All Saints Clifton Chapel of St Richard of Chichester Christoper Webb stained glass window.jpg , Stained glass window by Christopher Webb File:0558 Window and cross - All Saints, Clifton (2796444139).jpg , Stained glass window in the narthex File:All Saints Bristol 08.jpg ,

Crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

References

External links

Parish websiteA Church Near You entry
{{Culture in Bristol All Saints, Clifton All Saints, Clifton All Saints, Clifton All Saints