All Saints Church, Evesham facts for kids

Quick facts for kids All Saints Church, Evesham
Location	Market Place, Evesham, Worcestershire, WR11 4RW
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
History
Status	Active
Architecture
Functional status	Parish church
Heritage designation	Grade I listed
Designated	7 May 1952
Administration
Parish	All Saints Evesham with St. Lawrence Evesham
Deanery	Evesham Deanery
Archdeaconry	Archdeaconry of Worcester
Diocese	Diocese of Worcester

All Saints Church is an active Anglican church. It is located in the centre of Evesham, Worcestershire, England. All Saints and its neighbour St Lawrence's Church are very old. They were built by Benedictine monks in the 12th century. The monks built them to serve the people of Evesham. Today, All Saints is the main parish church for the town. St Lawrence's Church was declared no longer needed for services in the 1970s. All Saints Church is a special Grade I listed building. This means it is a very important historic place.

A Look Back: The History of All Saints Church

It's interesting that both churches share the same churchyard. After Evesham Abbey closed down, All Saints Church changed its style of worship. It became more Puritan, which was common for many English churches then. This style lasted until a big renovation between 1872 and 1876. This work was done by Frederick Preedy. After this, All Saints moved to a more traditional style of worship.

The nave of the church, looking towards the altar.

In the 1970s, it became clear that keeping up two old churches was too much work. It was also too expensive for the church members. Many meetings were held to decide what to do. The Revd Canon A. Webb led these discussions. They decided to keep only All Saints Church open. The parish of St Lawrence, Evesham, was officially closed on December 8, 1977.

The next year, St Lawrence's Church was given to the Redundant Churches Fund. This group is now called the Churches Conservation Trust. On January 1, 1978, the two church areas, All Saints and St Lawrence, joined together. After this, the worship style at All Saints became more balanced.

The Church Organ

The first church organ at All Saints has a cool story. It was first built for a place called the Rotunda in Ranelagh Gardens, Chelsea. Some people think that Mozart might have even played it there! In 1805, the Rotunda was taken apart. The organ was then moved to Evesham.

This old organ was replaced during the church's big renovation. In 1875, a new organ was put in. It was built by Nicholson. This new organ had three keyboards and a special air-powered system. It was placed in the new organ loft.

In 1904, the organ was made even better. This was done to remember the founding of Evesham Abbey (in 701) and Queen Victoria's reign (1837-1901). A third keyboard was added, along with more sounds. In 1967, Nicholson made the organ much bigger. Then, in 1991, Nicholson rebuilt the organ again. This time, it got electronic controls and a movable console.