Church Of All Hallows

CHURCH OF ALL HALLOWS

Anglican church designed by Sir George Oatley and completed in 1901 in the Decorated Gothic Revival style.

MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION The main body is constructed of coursed Pennant rubble stone with Bath or Doulting stone ashlar dressings. The narthex at the west end is brick with tile-hung gable, and the roofs are covered in plain clay tiles. Floors are wood block with terracotta tiles to the choir and sanctuary.

PLAN AND LAYOUT The church comprises a three-bay nave with north and south aisles, north and south transepts, chancel, and semi-hexagonal sanctuary. A single-storey narthex extends to the west end, with a single-storey church hall to the north.

EXTERIOR The west end features three two-light lancet windows beneath a tile-hung gable, flanked by angled buttresses with roll-top coping to the parapet. A red brick single-storey narthex with stone dressings contains three rectangular windows. Ashlar stone porches at each end have raised parapets and Tudor-arched doorways with ridged two-leaf doors. The east end comprises a semi-hexagonal apse with a single-storey ambulatory featuring single lancet windows and angle buttresses that rise through the sloping roof. The apse has two two-light two-centred arched stained glass windows with late Decorated Gothic-style tracery and roll-top coping to the parapet. A single-bay vestry extends to the north. The short, full-height north transept is flush with the north aisle, with paired gables and angle buttresses, and a sill band below two two-light windows with Decorated tracery. The north elevation displays a three-bay nave with a parapeted aisle featuring two-centred arched windows and paired clerestory windows above. The south elevation is similar, with a two-centred arched doorway to the left side of the transept.

INTERIOR Exposed coursed Pennant rubble stone with stone dressings throughout. Arches to the aisle and sanctuary include head motif label stops to the hood moulds. The nave roof is a collar rafter roof with supporting angle braces. The chancel has an ambulatory to the sanctuary with tri-cluster shafts supporting two-centre arches, separated by half shafts to a braced timber vault; similar shafts support tall apse and chancel arches. The two-bay choir has a raised floor surrounded by low walls with paired arches to the transepts. Similar piers to the steep nave arcade feature hood moulds with head motif label stops and half shafts to a collar rafter roof. Four segmental arches open to the narthex.

FITTINGS AND FURNISHINGS The carved oak altar was designed by George Oatley and decorated by London artist Aveling Green. A suspended rood was designed by The Birmingham Guild Ltd. A war memorial plaque occupies the east end. An octagonal timber pulpit to the left of the chancel arch contains statues in canopied niches by H. H. Martyn & Co. The narthex contains a Romanesque-style octagonal stone font with waterleaf capitals. Plain choir stalls remain in place, along with a fine brass lantern.

HISTORY AND CONSTRUCTION Sir George Oatley won the competition to design the Church of All Hallows in 1898. The foundation stone was laid by The Master of Merchant Venturers, Mr Avery Jones, on 17 March 1900. The church was consecrated on 2 November 1901 by the Bishop of Bristol. The builders were Messrs R. Wilkins and Sons. The west end was completed in 1938 by builders Hayward & Wooster.