All Saints, Margaret Street, is a Grade I listed Anglo-Catholic church in London. The church was designed by the architect William Butterfield and built between 1850 and 1859. It has been hailed as Butterfield's masterpiece and a pioneering building of the High Victorian Gothic style that would characterize British architecture from around 1850 to 1870. The church is situated on the north side of Margaret Street in Fitzrovia, near Oxford Street, within a small courtyard. Two other buildings face onto this courtyard: one is the vicarage and the other (formerly a choir school) now houses the parish room and flats for assistant priests. All Saints is noted for its architecture, style of worship, and musical tradition.

History

All Saints had its origins in the Margaret Street Chapel which had stood on the site since the 1760s. The chapel had "proceeded upwards through the various gradations of Dissent and Low-Churchism" until 1829, when the Tractarian

William Dodsworth William Dodsworth (1798–1861) was an English cleric of the Church of England, a Tractarian who became a Roman Catholic lay writer. Life Dodsworth received his education at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was admitted in October 1815. He gra ...

became its incumbent. Dodsworth later converted to Roman Catholicism, as did one of his successors,

Frederick Oakeley Frederick Oakeley (5 September 1802 – 30 January 1880) was an English Roman Catholic convert, priest, and author. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1828 and in 1845 converted to the Church of Rome, becoming Canon of the Westminster ...

. Before his resignation from the post, Oakeley, who was later to describe the chapel as "a complete paragon of ugliness" had conceived the idea of rebuilding the chapel in what he considered a correct ecclesiastical style, and had collected a sum of almost £3,000 for the purpose. He was succeeded at the chapel by his assistant William Upton Richards. In 1845, Alexander Beresford Hope realised that the chapel rebuilding scheme could be combined with the project of the Cambridge Camden Society to found a model church. His proposal met with the approval of Upton Richards,

George Chandler George Chandler (June 30, 1898 – June 10, 1985) was an American actor who starred in over 140 feature films, usually in smaller supporting roles, and he is perhaps best known for playing the character of Uncle Petrie Martin on the televi ...

, rector of All Souls, and Charles James Blomfield, the Bishop of London. It was decided that the architectural and ecclesiological aspects of the project would be put entirely under the control of the Cambridge Camden Society, who appointed Sir Stephen Glynne and Beresford Hope to oversee the work. In the event, Glynne was unable to take an active part, and Beresford Hope took sole charge. William Butterfield was selected as the architect and the site in Margaret Street purchased for £14,500. The last service at the old chapel was held on Easter Monday, 1850, and the foundation stone of the new building was laid on All Saints' Day of that year by Edward Bouverie Pusey. Services were held in a temporary chapel in Titchfield Street for the next nine years, until the new church was finally consecrated on 28 May 1859. The total cost of the church, including the site and endowments was around £70,000; several large individual donations helped to fund it.

Architecture

All Saints Margaret Street Interior 1, London, UK - Diliff

All Saints marked a new stage in the development of the

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 ...

in English architecture. The author and columnist

Simon Jenkins Sir Simon David Jenkins (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1976 to 1978 and of ''The Times'' from 1990 to 1992. Jenkins chaired the National Trust from 20 ...

called All Saints "architecturally England's most celebrated Victorian church", and the architectural historian Simon Thurley listed All Saints among the ten most important buildings in the country. The design of the church showed Butterfield (in

Sir John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...

's words) "going on from where the Middle Ages left off" as a neo-Gothic architect. Previous architecture of the 19th-century Gothic Revival had copied medieval buildings. But Butterfield departed considerably from medieval Gothic practice, especially by using new materials like brick.

Charles Locke Eastlake Charles Locke Eastlake (11 March 1836 – 20 November 1906) was a British architect and furniture designer. His uncle, Sir Charles Lock Eastlake PRA (born in 1793), was a Keeper of the National Gallery, from 1843 to 1847, and from 1855 its fi ...

, the 19th-century architect and writer, wrote that Butterfield's design was "a bold and magnificent endeavour to shake off the trammels of antiquarian precedent, which had long fettered the progress of the Revival, to create not a new style, but a development of previous styles". The Victorian critic John Ruskin wrote after seeing All Saints: "Having done this, we may do anything; ... and I believe it to be possible for us, not only to equal, but far to surpass, in some respects, any Gothic yet seen in Northern countries." Butterfield's use of building materials was innovative. All Saints is built of brick, in contrast to Gothic Revival churches of the 1840s, typically built of grey Kentish ragstone. At All Saints, Butterfield felt a mission to "give dignity to brick", and the quality of the brick he chose made it more expensive than stone. The exterior of All Saints employs red brick, heavily banded and patterned with black brick, with bands of stone and carved elements in the gate, the church wall and spire. Decoration is therefore built into the structure, making All Saints the first example of ' structural polychromy' in London. All Saints is particularly celebrated for its interior decoration. Every surface is richly patterned or decorated; the floor in

diaper A diaper /ˈdaɪpə(r)/ (American and Canadian English) or a nappy ( Australian English, British English, and Hiberno-English) is a type of underwear that allows the wearer to urinate or defecate Defecation (or defaecation) follows dig ...

patterned tiles, wall surfaces in geometrical patterned brick, tile, and marble, as well as tiles with painted decoration, large friezes executed in painted tiles, a painted ceiling, and painted and gilded timberwork behind the altar. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner described the interior as "dazzling, though in an eminently High Victorian ostentatiousness or obtrusiveness. ... No part of the walls is left undecorated. From everywhere the praise of the Lord is drummed into you." The rear of the chancel features a series of paintings on gilded boards, within a delicately carved brightly patterned gothic screen, the work of

Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the des ...

and a restoration of earlier work by William Dyce. The decoration of the Lady Chapel is also by Comper. The north wall is dominated by a large ceramic tile frieze designed by Butterfield, painted by

Alexander Gibbs Alexander Gibbs & Co. was a British stained glass studio founded in 1858 by Alexander Gibbs when he split off from the family firm founded by his father Isaac Alexander Gibbs in 1848. The studio continued until 1915. It was first located at 38 ...

, and fired by Henry Poole and Sons, installed in 1873. It depicts a variety of scenes from the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

, a central Nativity scene and depictions of Early Church Fathers. The

stained-glass windows 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 ...

are limited in All Saints due to the density of buildings around the church. The original windows were designed by Alfred Gérente but his work was not held in high regard and was subsequently replaced. The large west window, which was originally fitted with glass by Gerente in 1853–58, was replaced in 1877 with a design by Alexander Gibbs based on the Tree of Jesse window in Wells Cathedral. The glass in the

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

dates from 1853 and is the work of Michael O'Connor, who also designed the east window of the south chancel aisle which depicts Christ in Majesty with St Edward Martyr and St Augustine. The baptistery in the south-west corner of the church is noted for its marble tiling which features an image of the ''

Pelican in her Piety Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...

'' in the ceiling tiles, a symbol of the fall and redemption of man. File:All Saints Church, Margaret Street, W1 - tiled panel (3b) - geograph.org.uk - 1529169.jpg, The Nativity Scene in the tiled frieze File:All Saints Church, Margaret Street, W1 - baptistry tiling - geograph.org.uk - 1529101.jpg, Baptistery tiling The

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

, by Butterfield, was moved to St Catherine's Church, Wickford, at some time during the 20th century.

Anglo-Catholicism

The church's style of worship is Anglo-Catholic, "the Catholic faith as taught by the Church of England", offering members and visitors a traditional style of liturgy, as advocated by the

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...

of the mid-nineteenth century, including ritual, choir and organ music, vestments and incense. As a traditional Anglo-Catholic parish, All Saints passed a resolution under th
House of Bishops' Declaration
on 26 November 2016 (affirmed on 13 July 2020) to ask that episcopal and priestly sacramental ministry in the parish be exercised by male bishops at whose consecration a male bishop presided and who stand in the historic, apostolic succession of bishops so ordained, and by male priests ordained by such bishops. It receives alternative episcopal oversight from the

Bishop of Fulham The Bishop of Fulham is a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of London in the Church of England. The bishopric is named after Fulham, an area of south-west London; the see was erected under the Suffragans Nomination Act 1888 by Order in Council dated ...

(currently Jonathan Baker).

Incumbents

*1859–1873 William Upton Richards *1873–1886

Berdmore Compton Berdmore Compton (1820–1908) was an English Anglican priest most distinguished as vicar of All Saints, Margaret Street, from 1873 to 1886. Following education at Merton College, Oxford, he served as Rector of Barford, near Warwick, until beginni ...

*1886–1905 William Allen Whitworth *1905–1908 George Frederick Holden *1908–1934 Henry Falconar Barclay Mackay *1934–1942 Dom Bernard Clements OSB *1943–1951 Cyril Edric Tomkinson *1951–1969 Kenneth Needham Ross *1969–1975 Michael Eric Marshall *1976–1981 David Alan Sparrow *1982–1985 David Michael Hope *1986–1995 David Handley Hutt *1995–2019 Leslie Alan Moses *2021–present Peter Anthony

Services

*Sunday ** High Mass at 11.00 am **

Morning Prayer Morning Prayer may refer to: Religion *Prayers in various traditions said during the morning * Morning Prayer (Anglican), one of the two main Daily Offices in the churches of the Anglican Communion * In Roman Catholicism: ** Morning offering of C ...

at 10.20 am ** Low Mass at 8.00 am and 5.15 pm **Solemn Evensong and Benediction at 6.00 pm *Monday to Friday **Morning Prayer at 7.30 am **Low Mass at 8.00 am, 1.10 pm and 6.30 pm ** Confessions from 12.30 to 1.00 pm and 5.30 pm **

Evening Prayer Evening Prayer refers to: : Evening Prayer (Anglican), an Anglican liturgical service which takes place after midday, generally late afternoon or evening. When significant components of the liturgy are sung, the service is referred to as "Evensong ...

at 6.00 pm *Saturday **Morning Prayer at 7.30 am **Low Mass at 8.00 am and 6.30 pm (first Mass of Sunday) **Confessions at 5.30 pm **Evening Prayer at 6.00 pm *Weekday Solemnities (please see notices) ** High Mass at 6.30pm

Music

A choir school was established at the church in 1843, which provided music for daily choral services. The choir was widely recognised for its excellence and choristers sang at the Coronations of Edward VII (1902), George V (1911), George VI (1937) and Elizabeth II (1953) as well as at Victoria's Jubilees (1887 and 1897). Amongst its alumni is

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...

. The school closed in 1968, at which point the boys' voices were replaced by adult sopranos. The survival of the choir school had been discussed many years earlier. Writing to parishioners in 1894, the vicar lamented that the changing demography of the area meant that there were now few children left in the parish, and that the number of wealthy patrons in the congregation had decreased as they moved further west. The present-day choir maintains the exacting standards of its predecessors. The repertoire for choir and organ stretches from before the Renaissance to the 21st century and includes several pieces commissioned for the church, most famously Walter Vale's arrangement of Rachmaninoff's Liturgy of St John Chrysostom and All-Night Vigil for Western-Rite Mass and Evensong respectively. Rachmaninoff heard Vale's adaptations during his two visits to the church, in 1915 and 1923, and pronounced his approval of them. They are still sung on Palm Sunday. All Saints' organ is a superb four-manual

Harrison and Harrison Harrison & Harrison Ltd is a British company that makes and restores pipe organs, based in Durham and established in Rochdale in 1861. It is well known for its work on instruments such as King's College, Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, and the R ...

instrument with 65 speaking stops, built in 1910 to a specification drawn up by Walter Vale. It retains the best of the pipework of its predecessor, the original and considerably smaller Hill organ. Though as big as those found in most cathedrals, it is perfectly tailored to All Saints' smaller dimensions – powerful, but not excessively so, sounding intimate when played quietly, and monumental when loud. Harrison rebuilt it in 1957, replacing the tubular pneumatic action with electro-pneumatic. Electrical blowers replaced the hydraulic blowing plant. The tonal changes made to 10 stops in 1957 – like those made to many other organs at that time – altered the tone of the instrument, to a very limited extent, to a more 'classical' sound. Therefore, when the organ next required major restoration work, the decision was taken to try to restore the sound nearer to that of 1910: to return it to an 'Edwardian Romantic' organ. The completed restoration was celebrated with two inauguration concerts in March 2003. Organists have included Richard Redhead, the first organist and remembered today as the composer of Rock of Ages and Bright the Vision, Walter Vale (1907–1939), William Lloyd Webber (1939–1948), John Birch (1953–58), Michael Fleming (1958–68) and

Harry Bramma Harry Wakefield Bramma (born 11 November 1936, Shipley, West Yorkshire) is a British organist and composer of Anglican church music. He served as director of the Royal School of Church Music from 1989 to 1998 and as director of music at All Sain ...

(1989–2004), many of whom wrote music for use at All Saints and beyond. ;Directors of Music (selected) *1839–1864 Richard Redhead *1860–1868 Christopher Edwin Willing *1868–1907 William Stevenson Hoyte *1907–1939 Walter S. Vale *1939–1948 William Lloyd Webber *1949–1951 John WilliamsJohn Williams: obituary
''The Independent'' *1952–1953 Garth Benson *1953–1958 John Birch *1958–1968 Michael Fleming *1968–1988 (James) Eric Arnold *1988–1989 Murray Stewart *1989–2004

*2004–2013 Paul Brough *2013–2018

Timothy Byram-Wigfield Timothy Byram-Wigfield is an English organist and conductor. Timothy Byram-Wigfield was a chorister at King's College, Cambridge under David Willcocks and Philip Ledger. Following study at the Royal College of Music as organist, pianist and viol ...

*2020–present

Stephen Farr Stephen Farr (born 1967 in London) is a British organist who is currently the Chief Examiner at the Royal College of Organists and the Director of Music at All Saints, Margaret Street. Early life Farr was born in 1967 in London and grew up in ...

References

External links

*
All Saints Margaret Street
at the Ship of Fools website {{Authority control Churches completed in 1859 19th-century Church of England church buildings Church of England church buildings in the City of Westminster Grade I listed churches in the City of Westminster Diocese of London Gothic Revival church buildings in London William Butterfield buildings Fitzrovia Margaret Street Anglo-Catholic churches in England receiving AEO