Exploring All Saints Church, Leicester by Angela Collins

Exploring All Saints Church, Leicester

by Angela Collins

It might not be obvious today, but in Medieval times, All Saints Church was a very prominent place. It stood on the city’s main street, which we now know as Highcross Street. Nowadays the church is separated from the commercial part of the city by the ring road and doesn’t stand out like it would have done then.

All Saints reveals clues about the Medieval period

One of the most interesting things about All Saints is how it has altered over time. Doorways and windows give us clues about architectural styles that would have come in and out of fashion. The structure has also been enlarged, showing us how the building might have been adapted to fit in more parishioners or cater for different types of worship.

How All Saints Church has changed

Some parts of All Saints are so old that there are no written records of them at all (1). The North Tower is one of them and I wonder if the lower parts of it might be acting as buttressing to support a tower that may once have been freestanding.

The tall narrow arch, which leads from the tower into the north aisle, might have been the tower’s original entrance. It’s a very different style from the rest of the door and window openings in the aisle and thought to date from the 13th century.

The nave dates from a similar period, although the roof has been totally altered. The nave is where the congregation sits, in the west end of the church. A clerestory was added in the 15th century and along with that, some alterations to the roof of the north and south aisles, originally built a century earlier. A clerestory is an interior wall built above part of the roof with high windows to let in light.

Around this time it’s likely that the tower was also heightened and years later, the Victorians did further work to the various roofs.

In more recent history a painting by local artist John Flower, dated at 1822, shows the old stone chancel with a gothic-style, three lancet window at the east end. There is a row of three windows on the southside with a door underneath them but this old stone chancel

Pictured: View from the nave of the chancel and altar in All Saints

was replaced by a new brick building in 1829. The chancel sits at the east end of a church and may have seating for a choir as well as some small offices. These are dominated by a large east window above and behind the altar.

Important people in the restoration of All Saints

In 1843, local architect Henry Goddard was employed to carry out work at All Saints and later restored the roofs between 18551856. Alfred Paget, along with Henry’s son, Joseph Goddard, did much more extensive work in 1874-76 when they replaced windows, took out the gallery and put on a new nave roof (2) .

At some point, plaster was stripped from the walls and that makes it possible for us to see some of the changes made to the church over the centuries. The building eventually closed for worship in 1982 and was taken over by the Churches Conservation Trust in 1986.

References 1. Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Volume 26 1950: All Saints, Leicester A Short History of the Church and Parish by Philip Hepworth M.A., F.R.S.A., F.L.A. 2. The Buildings of England Leicestershire and Rutland by Nikolaus Pevsner 1960 edition p.141

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/listentry/1074012 accessed 02/04/20

Angela Collins

Angela Collins studied History and Architectural History and has been involved in heritage projects both locally and nationally.