All Saints, Margaret Street
Encyclopedia
All Saints, Margaret Street is an Anglican church in London
built in the High Victorian Gothic style by the architect William Butterfield
and completed in 1859.
The church is situated on the north side of Margaret Street in Fitzrovia
, near Oxford Street
, within a small courtyard. Two other buildings face onto this courtyard: one is the vicarage and the other (formerly a choir school) now houses the parish room and flats for assistant priests.
All Saints is famous for its architecture, its style of worship and its musical tradition.
"savage masterpiece", while Ian Nairn
said "To describe a church as an orgasm is bound to offend someone; yet this building can only be understood in terms of compelling, overwhelming passion."
Butterfield used red brick for the church, a material long out of use in London, with the walls banded and patterned in black brick, and the spire banded with stone, making it the first example of 'permanent polychrome ' in the city. The interior is richly patterned, with inlays of marble and tile.
The east wall of the chancel is covered by a series of painting on gilded boards, the work of Ninian Comper
and a restoration of earlier work by William Dyce
. The Lady Chapel is also by Comper. The church is a Grade I listed building.
, "the Catholic faith as taught by the Church of England", offering members and visitors a traditional style of liturgy, as advocated by the Oxford Movement
of the mid-nineteenth century, including ritual, choir and organ music, vestments and incense. Fr Cyril Tomkinson (Vicar 1943-51), rebuking a visiting priest who asked for the use of the Roman Missal
, said "the rule here is music by Mozart, choreography by Fortescue, decor by Comper
, but libretto by Cranmer". Masses are now generally according to the liturgy of Common Worship (with the High Mass on Sunday according to Order 1 in traditional language), whilst the offices are still prayed according to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.
The vicar is Fr Alan Moses, assisted by Fr John Pritchard, Fr Gerald Beauchamp and Fr Julian Browning.
When the choir school (which counted Laurence Olivier
as an alumnus) closed in 1968, a professional adult choir was introduced. The repertoire for choir and organ stretches from the Renaissance to the 21st century and includes several pieces commissioned for the church, most famously Walter Vale's arrangement of Rachmaninoff's Liturgy of St John Chrysostom and All-Night Vigil for a western Mass and Evensong respectively. Rachmaninoff heard Vale's adaptations during his two visits to the church and pronounced his approval of them.
Previous Directors of Music include:
The current Director of Music is Paul Brough
.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
built in the High Victorian Gothic style by the architect William Butterfield
William Butterfield
William Butterfield was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement . He is noted for his use of polychromy-Biography:...
and completed in 1859.
The church is situated on the north side of Margaret Street in Fitzrovia
Fitzrovia
Fitzrovia is a neighbourhood in central London, near London's West End lying partly in the London Borough of Camden and partly in the City of Westminster ; and situated between Marylebone and Bloomsbury and north of Soho. It is characterised by its mixed-use of residential, business, retail,...
, near Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
, within a small courtyard. Two other buildings face onto this courtyard: one is the vicarage and the other (formerly a choir school) now houses the parish room and flats for assistant priests.
All Saints is famous for its architecture, its style of worship and its musical tradition.
Architecture
Architecturally, it is an expression of the Gothic Revival. It was designed by William Butterfield, a favourite architect of the Ecclesiological Society, who sponsored the church. It is described by K Theodore Hoppen, in his volume of the New Oxford History of England, as Butterfield'sWilliam Butterfield
William Butterfield was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement . He is noted for his use of polychromy-Biography:...
"savage masterpiece", while Ian Nairn
Ian Nairn
Ian Nairn was a British architectural critic and topographer.He had no formal architecture qualifications; he was a mathematics graduate and a Royal Air Force pilot...
said "To describe a church as an orgasm is bound to offend someone; yet this building can only be understood in terms of compelling, overwhelming passion."
Butterfield used red brick for the church, a material long out of use in London, with the walls banded and patterned in black brick, and the spire banded with stone, making it the first example of 'permanent polychrome ' in the city. The interior is richly patterned, with inlays of marble and tile.
The east wall of the chancel is covered by a series of painting on gilded boards, the work of Ninian Comper
Ninian Comper
Sir John Ninian Comper was a Scottish-born architect. He was one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects, noted for his churches and their furnishings...
and a restoration of earlier work by William Dyce
William Dyce
William Dyce was a distinguished Scottish artist, who played a significant part in the formation of public art education in the UK, as perhaps the true parent of the South Kensington Schools system.Dyce began his career at the Royal Academy schools, and then traveled to Rome for the first time in...
. The Lady Chapel is also by Comper. The church is a Grade I listed building.
Anglo-Catholicism
The church's style of worship is Anglo-CatholicAnglo-Catholicism
The terms Anglo-Catholic and Anglo-Catholicism describe people, beliefs and practices within Anglicanism that affirm the Catholic, rather than Protestant, heritage and identity of the Anglican churches....
, "the Catholic faith as taught by the Church of England", offering members and visitors a traditional style of liturgy, as advocated by the Oxford Movement
Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...
of the mid-nineteenth century, including ritual, choir and organ music, vestments and incense. Fr Cyril Tomkinson (Vicar 1943-51), rebuking a visiting priest who asked for the use of the Roman Missal
Roman Missal
The Roman Missal is the liturgical book that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.-Situation before the Council of Trent:...
, said "the rule here is music by Mozart, choreography by Fortescue, decor by Comper
Ninian Comper
Sir John Ninian Comper was a Scottish-born architect. He was one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects, noted for his churches and their furnishings...
, but libretto by Cranmer". Masses are now generally according to the liturgy of Common Worship (with the High Mass on Sunday according to Order 1 in traditional language), whilst the offices are still prayed according to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.
The vicar is Fr Alan Moses, assisted by Fr John Pritchard, Fr Gerald Beauchamp and Fr Julian Browning.
Incumbents
- 1859-73 William Upton Richards
- 1873-86 Bermore Compton
- 1886-1905 William Allen Whitworth
- 1905-8 George Frederick Holden
- 1908-34 Henry Falconar Barclay Mackay
- 1934-42 Dom Bernard Clements OSBOrder of St. Benedict (Anglican)There are a number of Benedictine Anglican religious orders, some of them using the name Order of St. Benedict . Just like their Roman Catholic counterparts, each abbey / priory / convent is independent of each other...
- 1943-51 Cyril Edric Tomkinson
- 1951-69 Kenneth Needham Ross
- 1969-75 Michael Eric MarshallMichael Marshall (bishop)Michael Eric Marshall was the eighth Bishop of Woolwich in the Church of England .Marshall was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge and was ordained in 1961. His first ministry position was as a curate at St Peter's Spring Hill, Birmingham after which he was temporarily a tutor at Ely...
- 1976-81 David Alan Sparrow
- 1982-5 David Michael Hope
- 1986-95 David Handley Hutt
- 1995- Leslie Alan Moses
Services
- Sunday
- Solemn MassSolemn MassSolemn Mass , sometimes also referred to as Solemn High Mass or simply High Mass, is, when used not merely as a description, the full ceremonial form of the Tridentine Mass, celebrated by a priest with a deacon and a subdeacon, requiring most of the parts of the Mass to be sung, and the use of...
at 11.00 am - Morning Prayer at 10.20 am
- Low MassLow MassLow Mass is a Tridentine Mass defined officially in the Code of Rubrics included in the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal as Mass in which the priest does not chant the parts that the rubrics assign to him...
at 8.00 am and 5.15 pm - Choral EvensongEvening Prayer (Anglican)Evening Prayer is a liturgy in use in the Anglican Communion and celebrated in the late afternoon or evening...
and BenedictionBenedictionA benediction is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service.-Judaism:...
at 6.00 pm
- Solemn Mass
- Monday to Friday
- Morning Prayer at 7.30 am
- Low Mass at 8.00 am, 1.10 pm and 6.30 pm
- ConfessionConfessionThis article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...
s from 12.30 to 1.00 pm and 5.30 pm - Evening PrayerEvening Prayer (Anglican)Evening Prayer is a liturgy in use in the Anglican Communion and celebrated in the late afternoon or evening...
at 6.00 pm
- Saturday
- Morning Prayer at 7.30 am
- Low Mass at 8.00 am and 6.30 pm
- Confessions at 5.30 pm
- Evening Prayer at 6.00 pm
Music
All Saints is also noted for its musical tradition. The organ, built in 1910, is a four-manual Harrison and Harrison instrument with 65 speaking stops. Until 1968, the music was provided by a choir of men and boys, which was called upon to sing at the coronations of Edward VII, George V and VI, and Elizabeth II.When the choir school (which counted Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
as an alumnus) closed in 1968, a professional adult choir was introduced. The repertoire for choir and organ stretches from the Renaissance to the 21st century and includes several pieces commissioned for the church, most famously Walter Vale's arrangement of Rachmaninoff's Liturgy of St John Chrysostom and All-Night Vigil for a western Mass and Evensong respectively. Rachmaninoff heard Vale's adaptations during his two visits to the church and pronounced his approval of them.
Previous Directors of Music include:
- Richard Redhead 1839 - 1864
- Christopher Edwin Willing 1860 - 1868
- William Stevenson Hoyte
- Walter S Vale 1907 - 1939
- William Lloyd WebberWilliam Lloyd WebberWilliam Southcombe Lloyd Webber was an English organist and composer.-Life and career:Lloyd Webber was born in London...
1939 - 1948 - John Williams 1949 - 1951
- John BirchJohn Birch (musician)John Birch is an internationally renowned Recitalist, Concert Organist and Organ Scholar. He was educated at Trent College, Derbyshire and left in July 1947 to study at the Royal College of Music, London....
1953 - 1958 - Michael Fleming 1958 - 1968
- (James) Eric Arnold 1968 - 1988
- Harry BrammaHarry BrammaHarry Wakefield Bramma FRCO born is a British organist, who was Director of Music, at All Saints, Margaret Street, 1989–2004; Director of the Royal School of Church Music 1989–1998.- References :...
1988 - 2004
The current Director of Music is Paul Brough
Paul Brough
Paul Brough is an English conductor, and a teacher of conducting. He began 2011 as the new Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Singers....
.
External links
- All Saints Margaret Street
- Most recent Mystery Worshipper Report at the Ship of Fools websiteShip of Fools (website)Ship of Fools is a UK-based Christian website. It was first launched as a magazine in 1977. The magazine folded in 1983 and was resurrected as a website on April Fool's Day, 1998. Subtitled "the magazine of Christian unrest", Ship of Fools pokes fun and asks critical questions about the Christian...