A tour of All Saints'
As you walk into the main body of the church, your first impression is of the splendid pillars and fine stained glass windows.
The original Victorian church contained pews, as shown in the photograph below but these were replaced by modern comfortable chairs and an improved lighting system in 2005.
To help you as you walk round All Saints’ church, call into the office where you will be given a printed booklet containing the notes below.
As you walk up the main aisle of the nave, you notice on each wall above the pillars two ciphers:
One cipher is made up of two Greek letters, one looking like "X" (= "CH") and one looking like "P" (= "R"). Together they form the ancient abbreviation of the word "CHRISTOS" (= "Christ" or "Anointed One"). The background of the cipher suggests the shining sun, signifying Christ's divine glory and recalling Malachi's designation of Messiah as "The Sun of Righteousness" (Malachi 4:2).
The other cipher has a similar background and bears the letters "IHS" which are the initial (latinised) letters of the Greek words "lesous Huios Soter" (= Jesus Son Saviour), a cryptic confession of faith in Jesus as the Son of God and Saviour of sinful people.
Notice that there are two faces on either side of the large east arch at the springers. One represents a Bishop and the other a King, to symbolise the link between Church and State as the pillars of a stable society. Over the top of the arch there is the inscription: "The Lord is in His Holy Temple". Those who are familiar with Scripture will be able to complete the quotation from Habakkuk: "Let all the earth keep silence before Him" (Habakkuk 2:20), a call to humble worship.
To the left of the east arch is the place where the Pulpit used to be positioned and to the right the Lectern, the Word preached and read. Central, of course, is the Communion Table in the Chancel, speaking of the Word Incarnate as Redeemer and Lord. Hence the cross and crown emblem in mosaic on the Reredos (the wall behind the Communion Table). Along the top of the Pulpit are the words: "He that hath My Word let him speak My Word faithfully" (Jeremiah 23:28). The inscription on the stone base reads: "To the glory of God and in memory of her husband, James Dixon, who died January 9th 1972, aged 49. This Pulpit is presented by Esther Alice Dixon."
Across the low wall at the entrance to the Chancel is engraved (suitably) the collect for All Saints' Day.
 The old Victorian pews
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As you step up into the elevated area you enter the Chancel, a word derived from the Latin "cancelli" ("lattice") and reminiscent of the Latin word "to sing" ("cantare"). The separation of the Chancel from the Nave comes from pro-Reformation times when members of the congregation were barred from the area in front of the Communion Table. The Georgian Church, which this present building has replaced, had no such wall. The ceiling of the Chancel is starred, reminding us of Psalm 19:1: "The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims His handiwork." |
The four wooden supports of the Communion Rail bear the words "Mercy, Pity, Love and Life", each engraved on the shape of a human heart.
The Prayer Desk on the north side was given in memory of Canon FS Spackman, Vicar of the Parish from 1929 to 1952.
The brass bookstands on the Communion Table are engraved with the four symbols of the Gospel writers, following the traditional "cherubic" symbolism (Matthew = Man; Mark = Lion; Luke = Ox; John = Eagle; see Ezekiel 1:10). High on the walls of the Chancel and Sanctuary are the same four faces.
The walls of the Chancel have murals of angel figures praising God with a variety of instruments. The Latin subscriptions are quotations from the Latin form of the Te Deum and read: "We praise Thee, 0 God: we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord"; "All the earth doth worship Thee: the Father everlasting"; "To Thee all angels: to Thee the powers of the heaven and world"; "To Thee cherubim and seraphim: continually do cry."
The Reredos behind the Communion Table pictures six of the Apostles in mosaic:
St John is holding a goblet containing a snake, to illustrate Mark 16:18, "They will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them".
St James is holding a shell, signifying the pouring of the waters of baptism, and a sturdy staff with which to shepherd.
St Paul holds a sword, seeing that he handled so mightily "the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God" (Ephesians 6:17).
St Peter, inevitably, has a key in his hands, a reminder that our Lord once said to him, "I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 16:19).
St Andrew carries a Bible to symbolise his evangelistic zeal and has beside him his martyr's cross.
St Philip bears a cross-staff as a symbol of his pastoral authority and his martyrdom.
Above the Apostles you notice the different ciphers. The three intersecting circles are a symbol of the Trinity; the Alpha-Omega cipher is the Greek equivalent of our A-Z and speaks of the Christ who is sometimes called "The First and the Last" in Scripture. Over the top of the Reredos are the words of St Paul from 1 Corinthians 11:26 - "Shew the Lord's death until He come", inscribed over a grapevine, reminding us that Jesus once called Himself "The True Vine" (John 15:1). Above this again, in the centre of the east window, is the original stained glass from the Georgian Church. The clear glass of the new enlarged design lets in a great deal more light than was the case in the older church. On the left-hand side of this window, but hardly visible looking into the light, are the Ten Commandments, continued on the right-hand side.
On the left of the Reredos you see the Lord's Prayer and, on the right, the Apostles' Creed.
Notice again the central cross (see above) and the inscription which tells us that the Reredos was erected in memory of Ellen Wilford and Sgt Richard Spackman, September 28th 1924, by MH Wilford and his family.
Returning to the Nave of the church, notice the fine chandelier from the Georgian Church and perhaps the finest feature of this present building, the large Rose Window on the upper west wall. The cipher mentioned above appears in the centre, and words around the window read: "All Thy works praise Thee, 0 Lord, and Thy Saints shall bless Thee" (Psalm 145:10).
To the left at the front is the Baptismal Font from the Georgian Church, near an entrance into the Church. This reminds us that we enter the fellowship of Christ's Church by way of baptism on the basis of His redeeming work at Calvary.
On the wall beside the Font are memorials to Canon Adams, the first vicar, and his family.
On the right-hand side, past the Pulpit, are some memorial tablets to the Bradshaw-lsherwood family, including Mary Ellen who was very active in the building of this Church.
By the memorial which indicates that the electric lighting was installed in memory of the men of the Parish who gave their lives in the Second World War, is a tablet in memory of John Bowden "who was long connected as churchwarden with this church, and deeply interested in its erection".
As you walk down the church, notice the New Testament scenes portrayed as visual aids in the stained glass windows.
In the rear wall of the Lounge at the west end you can see stained glass windows in memory of the four Gospel writers.
The large window in the side meeting room shows Jesus turning the water into wine (John 2), while the small window shows our Lord with the children. Notice the angels in the lower part of each.
See also
