Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints, Stroud

The Church of All Saints is a Gothic Revival church designed by Temple Moore, one of the greatest architects of the late Gothic Revival. The nave, chancel and aisles were built between 1907 and 1910. Following Moore's death in 1920, the church was completed to his original design by Leslie Moore, his son-in-law and surviving partner. The north chapel was finished in 1926, and the west tower and porches were completed between 1929 and 1932.

The church is constructed in coursed squared local limestone with dressings of Minchinhampton stone. The roofs are of stone and blue slate, with a tiled broach spire. The interior features bare ashlar with timber roofs.

The church is built high on a constricted sloping site, dominating the surrounding gardens and Victorian houses. The plan comprises a two-bay nave and two-bay chancel under one roof, a north aisle with transverse organ loft, a south aisle and chapel, and a west tower with flanking porches. A schoolroom and vestries are located in a crypt to the south, where the ground drops away.

The style is Gothic freely interpreted, combining Transitional, Early English and Decorated features with Flamboyant tracery, most notably in the large six-light west window. The sturdy tower is stepped twice towards the top and has clasping buttresses, with the southern buttress being taller and serving as a stair turret. Square traceried bell-openings occupy the middle stage. A triple arcade forms the tower base, with the main entrance at its centre, flanked by lean-to porches. The short tiled broach spire is uncommon for Gloucestershire. The south aisle is articulated by two transverse gables, each with two large four-light windows separated by a coped buttress. Below these windows is a row of simple rectangular lights serving the schoolroom. The south chapel is lower, allowing two chancel lights to appear above its roof. The east wall features three windows with Flamboyant tracery (two, four and two lights respectively). Below this is a lean-to projection articulated by four buttresses with three two-light windows between them, the centre one stepped up at the base to accommodate the high altar. The north aisle has three-light windows set under segmental heads.

The interior is spacious, light and serene, an effect achieved through clear glazing and harmonious local stone. The tower base forms a high vestibule lit by the large west window, with the tower arch rising to roof height and resting on short wall shafts. The nave and chancel have an unstained timber tunnel vault with cross-ribs, as do the two bays of the south aisle. The south chapel and north aisle have heavy beamed ceilings in dark stained timber. The east wall composition dominates the interior, with two tiers of three windows, the lower ones deeply recessed behind the altar. Elegant nave arcades feature multi-shafted piers, with shafts facing into the nave continuing as wall shafts to support the roof ribs. The nave arches are exceptionally broad, while the two arches on each side of the chancel narrow progressively eastward, creating a subtle sense of accelerated pace towards the east end. The hoodmoulds of these arches join the piers by small cusps, an original detail. The wide south aisle is roofed in two transverse tunnel vaults separated by a transverse segmental arch at the position of the external buttress. A transverse wall with a smaller arch separates the south chapel. The north aisle is narrow with a lean-to roof divided by one transverse arch that dies into the outer wall. The organ gallery is suspended over the north aisle without intermediate supports, allowing access to a small chapel to the east. The north aisle windows are set into heavy semicircular recesses, suggesting organic growth. The overall inventiveness of planning is highly impressive and representative of Temple Moore's originality.

The fixtures are largely original and of excellent craftsmanship. These include an oak sanctuary rail with pierced frieze, elegant oak choir stalls designed by Leslie Moore and made by Peter Waals in 1929, and a Litany Desk in the north chapel also made by Waals in 1935. The nave contains chairs, probably original. The font has an octagonal stone bowl, completely plain beneath but moulded on the underside, resting on a foot of four clustered marble shafts. The oak pulpit features a coved cornice and one long panel of Flamboyant tracery on each face.

Temple Lushington Moore (1856–1920) was articled to G.G. Scott Junior between 1875 and 1878, and worked independently from the 1880s. His greatest achievements were between the mid-1890s and the start of the First World War, characterised by what a contemporary critic called "good proportion and sweetness of line". His work on approximately 40 churches, besides restorations, forms a key bridge between Victorian and twentieth-century church architecture. All Saints represents a fine example of his highly individual interpretation of Gothic. After Moore's death in 1920, Leslie Moore continued and completed much of his work, demonstrating adeptness at understanding and fulfilling the original intentions. The cabinet-maker Peter Waals (1870–1937), who was responsible for many of the fittings, had worked with Ernest Gimson and was an important figure in the Cotswolds Arts and Crafts movement. The church is regarded as one of the most characteristic of all Moore's churches. It is spacious and light, well-crafted, inventively asymmetrical, and makes full use of an awkward site. The slightly austere but harmonious interior may be generally influenced by Hexham Abbey, where Temple Moore had worked a few years earlier.