All Saints Church, Leicester facts for kids
Quick facts for kids All Saints' Church, Leicester |
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All Saints' Church, Leicester
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| 52°38′17″N 1°08′25″W / 52.6381°N 1.1404°W | |
| OS grid reference | SK 582 048 |
| Location | Leicester |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Previous denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | Churches Conservation Trust |
| History | |
| Dedication | All Saints |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Redundant |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 5 January 1950 |
| Architect(s) | Henry Goddard, Joseph Goddard and Alfred Paget, William Basset-Smith |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Norman, Gothic |
| Closed | 1986 |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Stone and brick, slate roofs |
All Saints' Church is a very old and important building in Leicester, England. It's located on High Cross Street. This church is no longer used for regular church services, which is why it's called a "redundant church." It belongs to the Anglican faith.
The church is a "Grade I listed building," which means it's a very special historic place in England. It's protected and cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust. This trust helps to look after old churches that are no longer in use.
Contents
History of All Saints' Church
All Saints' Church might seem a bit out of the way today. But when it was first built, it was right in the middle of Leicester! The Domesday Book, a famous survey from 1086, mentions six churches in Leicester. People believe All Saints' was one of them.
Early Years and Changes
In 1143, the church was given to Leicester Abbey, a large monastery. Around 1300, the church got bigger with the addition of "aisles." These are the side sections of the church. Later, in the 14th century, the tower and the main part of the church, called the "nave," were made taller. New roofs were also added to the aisles.
The church wasn't just for religious services. It was also used for other important events. For example, in 1418, a woman named Margery Kempe was questioned there. She was a follower of John Wycliffe, whose ideas were different from the main church teachings at the time. In 1583, during outbreaks of the plague, legal hearings called "assizes" were held in the church.
Over time, many people and businesses moved to other parts of Leicester. Because of this, All Saints' Church's local area, or "parish," joined with other nearby parishes.
Restoration and Closure
By the early 1800s, the church building was starting to fall apart. In 1829, the "chancel," which is the part of the church where the altar is, was taken down and rebuilt.
Later, architects worked to fix up the church. Henry Goddard added new seats and extended a balcony in 1843. He also fixed the roofs in 1855–56. This was part of a "Victorian restoration," a time when many old churches were repaired and updated.
From 1874 to 1876, Joseph Goddard and Alfred Paget continued the restoration. They put in new windows, built a new roof for the nave, and removed the balcony. The tower was repaired by William Basset-Smith in 1894–95.
In the 1960s, new roads were built in Leicester. This made the church feel cut off from the rest of the city. The chancel was separated to create a meeting room, but fewer and fewer people attended services. The church officially closed in 1982 and was then used as a storage space. In 2020, there was a fire at the church.
All Saints' Church was officially declared "redundant" on January 1, 1983. It was then given to the Churches Conservation Trust on July 8, 1986, to be preserved.
Architecture of All Saints' Church
All Saints' Church is built with different materials. The chancel is made of brick, while the rest of the church is stone. All the roofs are made of slate.
Outside the Church
The church has a main part called the "nave" with six sections, and side parts called "aisles" on the north and south. Above the nave is a row of windows called a "clerestory." There's also a tower on the northeast side. The church has three parallel roofs, with the nave's roof being the tallest.
The main entrance on the west side has a "Norman" style doorway. This means it has round arches, which was common in the 11th and 12th centuries. The rest of the church shows "geometrical" and "Decorated Gothic" styles, which are from later medieval periods.
The west front has a round-arched doorway with zigzag patterns. There's a large window with five sections above it. The ends of the aisles have windows with four sections. Along the walls of the aisles, you can see "buttresses," which are supports that help hold up the walls. The tops of the walls have flat edges called "parapets."
The aisles and clerestories have windows with three sections. There are also doorways in the westernmost parts of both the south and north aisles. Above the south doorway, there's a clock and a wooden "bellcote" from the early 1600s. A bellcote is a small structure that holds bells. This one has two moving figures and an image of Father Time with the words "Tempus edax rerum," which means "Time, devourer of all things." Above the north doorway, there's a round window with a four-leaf shape called a "quatrefoil rose window." The east window has three sections and is in the "Perpendicular" style, which is a later Gothic style.
The tower has three levels. The lowest level has 12th-century corner supports called "pilasters" that are unusual because they are semicircular. The west doorway of the tower has a pointed arch from the 13th century. The upper levels have diagonal buttresses. The very top level has two-section "bell openings" with "louvres" (slanted slats) that let the sound of the bells out. The top of the tower has a "battlemented parapet," which looks like the top of a castle wall.
Inside the Church
Inside the nave, there are six-section "arcades." These are rows of arches supported by eight-sided columns called "piers." The arch leading to the chancel is now blocked off.
The floor of the nave is a mix of old medieval tiles, stone slabs from graves, wooden "parquet" flooring under the seats, and concrete from the 20th century in other areas. In the south aisle, there's a special space for a tomb and two "piscinae." A piscina is a stone basin used for washing sacred vessels.
The "font," which is used for baptisms, is from the 13th century and has beautiful carvings. The "pulpit," where sermons are given, is from the 15th century and has many sides. It sits on a base from the 19th century. The clock above the south doorway is from around 1620 and has faces both inside and outside the church.
Around the church, you can see monuments on the walls. The west window in the tower has stained glass from the medieval period. Other stained glass windows are from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some of these were made by famous companies like Heaton, Butler and Bayne and Clayton and Bell. There's also a special window that remembers soldiers from a war, made by Morris & Co..
Exterior Features
Outside the church, in the churchyard, there is a special table-shaped tomb. It belongs to Gabriel Newton, who was an important local politician. He also started the local Bluecoat School, which helped educate children. Gabriel Newton passed away in 1762.
See also
