Description

CHELTENHAM

SO9522NE ALL SAINTS' ROAD
630-1/11/132 (East side)
12/03/55 Church of All Saints

GV I

Parish church. 1865-68 with later alterations including
interior furbishing of 1877; vestry of 1883; organ installed
1887; chancel screen of 1894; apse added to Lady Chapel in
1898; stained glass of 1880s-1890s; further refurbishing of
c1907. Architect, John Middleton; builder, Thomas Darby;
carved tympanum by A Burrall; Lady Chapel apse and interior
fittings by HA Prothero (including chancel screen and font
canopy) and by Boultons of Cheltenham; organ of 1887 with case
designed by P Millington and Prothero and painted by Miss L
Beasley and JM Smith; refurbishing of c1907 by Temple Moore.
Stained glass: rose window at west end by Sir William Blake
Richmond; rose window in south transept designed by E
Burne-Jones and made by Morris and Co; all windows in north
transept by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. Rough-faced, Cleeve Hill
stone with Bath stone ashlar and bands of blue Forest stone
dressings and tiled roofs. Gothic Revival in French Gothic
style.
PLAN: 5-bay aisled nave with clerestory and transepts, apsed
chancel, north and south porches and south-west tower.
EXTERIOR: west facade has several groups of sculpture
representing the Church Militant and Church Triumphant; carved
west tympanum with Christ enthroned; entrance has 6 orders of
arches on granite shafts, angels carrying coats of arms of
benefactors and of the architect. Around the entrance are
statues of SS Augustine, Lawrence, Stephen, Paul, Agnes,
Christopher, Sebastian and Martin. Two 2-light windows and
large rose window.
INTERIOR: a great deal of colour has been introduced including
polished red granite arcade; polychromy in stonework; painted
murals to west end; painted ceiling and embellished apse; tile
floors; tower also has painted decoration. Ship's keel roof;
apostles in niches to the arcade spandrels; roundels to upper
part of nave have figures representing the Twelve Tribes of
Israel. Carved and embellished pulpit; screen by Prothero.
Stained glass: complete scheme of windows showing Old
Testament figures and pious Christians.
HISTORICAL NOTE: specifically built for High Church Tractarian
worship, this is the most spectacular of Middleton's churches.
He designed several churches in Cheltenham including St Mark,
Church Road (qv); St Philip and St James, Gratton Road (qv);

St Stephen, St Stephen's Road (qv); and Holy Apostles, London
Road, Charlton Kings (qv). All Saints is considered to be
Middleton's best church, even if the intended spire was not
built. Sladen considers this to be 'a fine building with an
absolutely stunning collection of fittings'.
(Sampson A and Blake S: A Cheltenham Companion: Cheltenham:
1993-: 1-2; Blake S: Cheltenham's Churches and Chapels AD
773-1883: Cheltenham: 1979-: 27-8; Sladen T: Notes: 1995-;
Howell P and Sutton I: Faber Guide to Victorian Churches:
London: 1989-: 24-5; Ambler L: All Saints' Church Cheltenham,
Guide: 1994-).

Listing NGR: SO9570222630

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• All Saints' Church, Cheltenham at Wikipedia
• All Saints' Church, Cheltenham official website
• Wikidata Q15179395

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)