All Saints Church is the parish church for Selsley in Gloucestershire.

Background

It is a celebrated early work by the important church architect G F Bodley, incorporating notable

stained glass 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 ...

by William Morris and his company Morris & Co. Bodley was given the commission by Samuel Marling, patriarch of the mill-owning family, who lived in the adjacent Stanley Park House. The church has a distinctive 'saddleback' tower, derived from French Gothic architecture, which was a significant influence on Bodley's early style. Construction took place in 1861–62. Local labour and contractors were used: Harrison of

King's Stanley King's Stanley is a village in Gloucestershire, England, situated southwest of the town of Stroud. The village is part of what is known locally as 'The Stanleys', along with its neighbours Leonard Stanley and Stanley Downton. Marling Close, whic ...

were the main contractors; stone carvings were undertaken by Joshua Wall; woodwork by William English and ironwork by T.J. Chew. Another source of inspiration for the tower can be found in the parish church of

Marling, South Tyrol Marling (; it, Marlengo ) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about northwest of Bolzano. Geography As of the year 2017, it had a population of 2,710 and an area of .All demographics and other statistic ...

near the spa city Meran, where Samuel Marling stayed in the 1860s. Bodley designed the

pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thi ...

s and choir-stalls using poppy-heads and fleur de lys as key motifs, and the font, the inlaid marble pulpit, communion rails and door iron work all show the attention to design that Bodley paid to all aspects of the church. Equally spectacular is the stained glass. Bodley was a friend of William Morris and at Selsley he gave Morris & Co their first commission for ecclesiastical stained glass. Philip Webb provided the scheme for the whole church and the detail of the

Creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing *Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it *Creationism, the belief that ...

window at the west end. Edward Burne-Jones,

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...

, Ford Madox Brown and Campfield were all involved. The church is rated with 3 stars in

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 ...

' ''England's Thousand Best Churches''.

Organ

The church has a pipe organ by Nicholson dating from 1862. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.National Pipe Organ Register
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Churchyard

The churchyard contains

war graves War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

of a soldier of World War I and another of World War II.
CWGC Cemetery Report, breakdown obtained from casualty record.

References

External links

*
A History of Selsley Church

OS Bench Mark on near corner (106 Metres ASL)
Church of England church buildings in Gloucestershire, Selsley Selsley Selsley George Frederick Bodley church buildings {{England-church-stub