Church of All Souls, Bolton
Encyclopedia
The Church of All Souls, Bolton, is a redundant
Anglican
church in Astley Street, Bolton
, Greater Manchester
, England . It has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust
. As of 2010, the church is being converted in to a community centre.
mill-owner. The local population had grown during the second half of the 19th century, and the church was intended to serve the people working in the nearby mills. It was designed by the Lancaster
architects Paley and Austin. The church was planned to seat a congregation of about 800, giving them all a good view of the proceedings, and an opportunity to hear the sermon
. The contractors were Cordingley and Stopford of Manchester
, and the church, without fittings, cost £16,500 (£ as of ). It was consecrated
in 1881 by Dr J. Fraser
, Bishop of Manchester
. Few changes have been made to the church since then. A war memorial was added to commemorate the parishioners who had died serving in the First World War.
sandstone
. The interior is dressed with Stourton stone. The roofs are of slate
. Its plan consists of a five-bay
nave
, a two-bay chancel
with a canted
apse
, an organ chamber to the north, and a chapel and vestry
to the south, and a west tower with a protruding north porch and stair turret
. There are no aisle
s. The tower has four stages. It is 118 feet (36 m) high. In the lowest stage is a west door over which is a frieze
and a three-light traceried
window. The north porch is gable
d. The second stage contains a round window. In the third stage are two small windows and a three-light bell opening containing Perpendicular tracery. Around the top of the tower is a traceried parapet
with crocket
ed pinnacle
s at the corners. The nave is divided into bays by buttress
es and at the corners of the east end are octagonal pinnacles with crocketted caps. In the bays are two tiers of three-light windows with Perpendicular tracery. The windows in the chapels are flat-headed. In the chancel the windows are in two tiers, with one of four lights and two of two lights. A parapet decorated with a quatrefoil frieze runs round the top of the chancel.
ing. The vaulting is carried on octagonal shafts between the windows. On the sides of the chancel are two-bay arcades
. The reredos
is in stone, and consists of traceried panels, the outer ones of which are inscribed with prayers and other text. The reredos and the font
were designed by John Roddis of Birmingham
. The choir stalls, pews, organ case, altar, communion rails, credence table, and pulpit
are in oak and were all designed by the architects. The stained glass in the apse depicts scenes from the New Testament
. It was designed by the architects and made by Clayton and Bell
. The windows are dedicated to the memory of Thomas Greenhalgh's brother, Nathaniel. The stained glass in the east chancel windows is dated 1887 and depicts Faith and Hope; it was made by Burlison and Grylls
. The two-manual
organ was built in 1881 by Isaac Abbott of Leeds
. The ring
consists of eight bells, all cast in 1881 by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough
.
was combined with that of St James in Waterloo Road. In 1970 the stained glass windows in the tower were removed. They had depicted the Creation and were made by Shrigley and Hunt
, but had been damaged by vandalism. The church closed in 1986 and was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust. As of 2010, All Souls is being converted into a community centre due to open in the spring of 2012. The conversion has been assisted by a grant of £3.3 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund
. Additional money has been provided by the Churches Conservation Trust, Bolton Council, and the waste management company Biffa
, although the Northwest Regional Development Agency
has withdrawn its promise to provide a grant of £600,000.
Redundant church
A redundant church is a church building that is no longer required for regular public worship. The phrase is particularly used to refer to former Anglican buildings in the United Kingdom, but may refer to any disused church building around the world...
Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
church in Astley Street, Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
, England . It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust
Churches Conservation Trust
The Churches Conservation Trust, which was initially known as the Redundant Churches Fund, is a charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk, those that have been made redundant by the Church of England. The Trust was established by the Pastoral Measure of 1968...
. As of 2010, the church is being converted in to a community centre.
Early history
The church was built between 1878 and 1881 and paid for by Thomas Greenhalgh, an EvangelicalEvangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
mill-owner. The local population had grown during the second half of the 19th century, and the church was intended to serve the people working in the nearby mills. It was designed by the Lancaster
Lancaster, Lancashire
Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...
architects Paley and Austin. The church was planned to seat a congregation of about 800, giving them all a good view of the proceedings, and an opportunity to hear the sermon
Sermon
A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...
. The contractors were Cordingley and Stopford of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, and the church, without fittings, cost £16,500 (£ as of ). It was consecrated
Consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...
in 1881 by Dr J. Fraser
James Fraser (bishop)
James Fraser was a reforming Anglican bishop of Manchester, England. An able Church administrator and policy leader, he was active in developing the Church's approach to education and in practical politics and industrial relations...
, Bishop of Manchester
Bishop of Manchester
The Bishop of Manchester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Manchester in the Province of York.The current bishop is the Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, the 11th Lord Bishop of Manchester, who signs Nigel Manchester. The bishop's official residence is Bishopscourt, Bury New Road,...
. Few changes have been made to the church since then. A war memorial was added to commemorate the parishioners who had died serving in the First World War.
Exterior
All Souls is constructed in brick with dressings of LongridgeLongridge
Longridge is a small town and civil parish in the borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is situated north-east of the city of Preston, at the western end of Longridge Fell, a long ridge above the River Ribble. Its nearest neighbours are Grimsargh and the Roman town of Ribchester , ...
sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. The interior is dressed with Stourton stone. The roofs are of slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
. Its plan consists of a five-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
, a two-bay chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
with a canted
Cant (architecture)
Cant is the architectural term describing part, or segment, of a facade which is at an angle to another part of the same facade. The angle breaking the facade is less than a right angle thus enabling a canted facade to be viewed as, and remain, one composition.Canted facades are a typical of, but...
apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
, an organ chamber to the north, and a chapel and vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
to the south, and a west tower with a protruding north porch and stair turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
. There are no aisle
Aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
s. The tower has four stages. It is 118 feet (36 m) high. In the lowest stage is a west door over which is a frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
and a three-light traceried
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
window. The north porch is gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d. The second stage contains a round window. In the third stage are two small windows and a three-light bell opening containing Perpendicular tracery. Around the top of the tower is a traceried parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
with crocket
Crocket
A crocket is a hook-shaped decorative element common in Gothic architecture. It is in the form of a stylised carving of curled leaves, buds or flowers which is used at regular intervals to decorate the sloping edges of spires, finials, pinnacles, and wimpergs....
ed pinnacle
Pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire...
s at the corners. The nave is divided into bays by buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es and at the corners of the east end are octagonal pinnacles with crocketted caps. In the bays are two tiers of three-light windows with Perpendicular tracery. The windows in the chapels are flat-headed. In the chancel the windows are in two tiers, with one of four lights and two of two lights. A parapet decorated with a quatrefoil frieze runs round the top of the chancel.
Interior
The interior is constructed without any pillars, making it a single, undivided space, with a span of 52 feet (16 m), one of the widest for a parish church in England. It was built in this way to give the congregation an excellent view of the chancel from the nave, and the ability to hear the sermon clearly. At the west end is a small gallery. In order to provide the wide interior, the timber roof has a complex structure with rib vaultRib vault
The intersection of two or three barrel vaults produces a rib vault or ribbed vault when they are edged with an armature of piped masonry often carved in decorative patterns; compare groin vault, an older form of vault construction...
ing. The vaulting is carried on octagonal shafts between the windows. On the sides of the chancel are two-bay arcades
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
. The reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
is in stone, and consists of traceried panels, the outer ones of which are inscribed with prayers and other text. The reredos and the font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
were designed by John Roddis of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. The choir stalls, pews, organ case, altar, communion rails, credence table, and pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
are in oak and were all designed by the architects. The stained glass in the apse depicts scenes from the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. It was designed by the architects and made by Clayton and Bell
Clayton and Bell
Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient workshops of English stained glass during the latter half of the 19th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton and Alfred Bell . The company was founded in 1855 and continued until 1993...
. The windows are dedicated to the memory of Thomas Greenhalgh's brother, Nathaniel. The stained glass in the east chancel windows is dated 1887 and depicts Faith and Hope; it was made by Burlison and Grylls
Burlison and Grylls
Burlison and Grylls is the name of an English company who produced stained glass windows from 1868 onwards.The company of Burlison and Grylls was founded in 1868 at the instigation of the architects George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner. Both John Burlison and Thomas Grylls had trained in the...
. The two-manual
Manual (music)
A manual is a keyboard designed to be played with the hands on a pipe organ, harpsichord, clavichord, electronic organ, or synthesizer. The term "manual" is used with regard to any hand keyboard on these instruments to distinguish it from the pedalboard, which is a keyboard that the organist plays...
organ was built in 1881 by Isaac Abbott of Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
. The ring
Ring of bells
"Ring of bells" is a term most often applied to a set of bells hung in the English style, typically for change ringing...
consists of eight bells, all cast in 1881 by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough
Loughborough
Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
.
Recent history and present day
During the 20th century the size of the local population was declining, and in 1962 the parishParish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
was combined with that of St James in Waterloo Road. In 1970 the stained glass windows in the tower were removed. They had depicted the Creation and were made by Shrigley and Hunt
Shrigley and Hunt
Shrigley and Hunt was the name of an English firm which produced stained glass windows and art tiles.The business began in the 1750s when Shrigley's was a painting, carving and gilding firm in Lancaster, Lancashire....
, but had been damaged by vandalism. The church closed in 1986 and was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust. As of 2010, All Souls is being converted into a community centre due to open in the spring of 2012. The conversion has been assisted by a grant of £3.3 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
. Additional money has been provided by the Churches Conservation Trust, Bolton Council, and the waste management company Biffa
Biffa
Biffa Waste Services is one of the UK's largest integrated waste management businesses, providing collection, landfill, recycling and special waste services to local authorities and industrial and commercial clients.-History:...
, although the Northwest Regional Development Agency
Northwest Regional Development Agency
The Northwest Regional Development Agency is the regional development agency for the North West England region and is a non-departmental public body.....
has withdrawn its promise to provide a grant of £600,000.
See also
- List of churches in Greater Manchester
- Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester
- List of ecclesiastical works by Paley and Austin
- List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in Northern England