All Saints Church, Hereford. View from south.
All Saints Church, Hereford. View from south.
All Saints, Hereford
All Saints Church has been a focus of Hereford life for over 800 years. Its dramatic twisted spire dominates the skyline, and the medieval interior is an inspired meeting of the sacred and the secular: we aim to serve the human need for physical and social as well as spiritual nourishment.
The original All Saints, probably dating from 1200AD, did not last long and it may well have been damaged by an earthquake. Rebuilding was soon started, but took a long time and it was not until about 1330AD that the new church was completed, very much as we see it today.
It seems that the tower and spire had always leant over (until the straightening of the 1990s), because the builders did not realise until it was too late that they were laying the foundations of one side very close to one and possibly more rubbish pits. In later years the spire was given a further twist at the top, as metal fixing for the stones rusted badly and pushed the stones out of place. There is a ring of eight bells, which regularly peal out over the city.
A massive project of repairs and restoration took place in the 1990s. All Saints re-opened in July 1997 and since then has gone from strength to strength with an average of over three thousand visitors a week. The building is a church, a community centre and a cafe. It is a place where people of all faiths and beliefs are welcome to pray, worship, talk, eat a delicious meal or use the space for all kinds of performances and meetings.
The Nave has been used for many different events from Shakespeare to Flamenco. The South Chapel has been used for dinners, displays, sales, meetings and office lunches.
www.westherefordteam.org.uk/allsaints/
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Church of All Saints, High Street, Hereford
Grade II* Listed
List Entry Number: 1025105
Details
HEREFORD
SO5040SE HIGH STREET 683-1/6/181 (North side) 10/06/52 Church of All Saints
GV II*
Parish church. C13 and C14. Coursed rubble; ashlar sandstone; slate and tile roof; ashlar tower and spire. Nave; chancel; south aisles; tower with spire; north and south chapels.
EXTERIOR: North front: 5 Perpendicular windows with stained and coloured glass; stepped buttresses; moulded parapet; gargoyles. East front: 4-light stained glass window with cinquefoil head, under pointed arch. West front: C20 restored window; 4-light window to South aisle. South front: porch with wrought-iron gates and plank doors, under enriched pointed arch with moulded and decorated spandrels, and castellated parapet; doorway to North under moulded pointed arch with enriched spandrels, moulded jambs, and hood-moulding; various 2-and 3-light mullions; enriched buttress finials. Castellated tower with corner buttresses and louvred lancets; ribbed spire with finials to louvred lancets, and weathercock.
INTERIOR: pulpit, c1621. C14 stalls with misericordes, and chest. C16 font (from which David Garrick was baptised in 1717); C17 reredos; C15 tiles and wall painting; Chained Library of some 300 books, the second largest in England (The largest being held at Hereford Cathedral (qv)). (Duncumb J: History of the County of Hereford: 1804-: 592-597).
Listing NGR: SO5089240043
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1025105
All Saints Church, Hereford. View from south.
All Saints Church, Hereford. View from south.
All Saints, Hereford
All Saints Church has been a focus of Hereford life for over 800 years. Its dramatic twisted spire dominates the skyline, and the medieval interior is an inspired meeting of the sacred and the secular: we aim to serve the human need for physical and social as well as spiritual nourishment.
The original All Saints, probably dating from 1200AD, did not last long and it may well have been damaged by an earthquake. Rebuilding was soon started, but took a long time and it was not until about 1330AD that the new church was completed, very much as we see it today.
It seems that the tower and spire had always leant over (until the straightening of the 1990s), because the builders did not realise until it was too late that they were laying the foundations of one side very close to one and possibly more rubbish pits. In later years the spire was given a further twist at the top, as metal fixing for the stones rusted badly and pushed the stones out of place. There is a ring of eight bells, which regularly peal out over the city.
A massive project of repairs and restoration took place in the 1990s. All Saints re-opened in July 1997 and since then has gone from strength to strength with an average of over three thousand visitors a week. The building is a church, a community centre and a cafe. It is a place where people of all faiths and beliefs are welcome to pray, worship, talk, eat a delicious meal or use the space for all kinds of performances and meetings.
The Nave has been used for many different events from Shakespeare to Flamenco. The South Chapel has been used for dinners, displays, sales, meetings and office lunches.
www.westherefordteam.org.uk/allsaints/
—————————————————————————————————————
Church of All Saints, High Street, Hereford
Grade II* Listed
List Entry Number: 1025105
Details
HEREFORD
SO5040SE HIGH STREET 683-1/6/181 (North side) 10/06/52 Church of All Saints
GV II*
Parish church. C13 and C14. Coursed rubble; ashlar sandstone; slate and tile roof; ashlar tower and spire. Nave; chancel; south aisles; tower with spire; north and south chapels.
EXTERIOR: North front: 5 Perpendicular windows with stained and coloured glass; stepped buttresses; moulded parapet; gargoyles. East front: 4-light stained glass window with cinquefoil head, under pointed arch. West front: C20 restored window; 4-light window to South aisle. South front: porch with wrought-iron gates and plank doors, under enriched pointed arch with moulded and decorated spandrels, and castellated parapet; doorway to North under moulded pointed arch with enriched spandrels, moulded jambs, and hood-moulding; various 2-and 3-light mullions; enriched buttress finials. Castellated tower with corner buttresses and louvred lancets; ribbed spire with finials to louvred lancets, and weathercock.
INTERIOR: pulpit, c1621. C14 stalls with misericordes, and chest. C16 font (from which David Garrick was baptised in 1717); C17 reredos; C15 tiles and wall painting; Chained Library of some 300 books, the second largest in England (The largest being held at Hereford Cathedral (qv)). (Duncumb J: History of the County of Hereford: 1804-: 592-597).
Listing NGR: SO5089240043
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1025105