All Saints Church, Selsley

All Saints' Church, Selsley
51°43′58″N 2°14′56″W / 51.7327°N 2.2488°W / 51.7327; -2.2488Coordinates: 51°43′58″N 2°14′56″W / 51.7327°N 2.2488°W / 51.7327; -2.2488
Denomination Church of England
Churchmanship Broad Church
Website allsaintsselsley.org.uk
History
Dedication All Saints
Administration
Parish Selsley
Diocese Gloucester
Province Canterbury
Clergy
Vicar(s) Revd Kathryn Fleming (Priest in charge)

All Saints Church is the parish church for Selsley in Gloucestershire.

Background

It is a celebrated early work by the important church architect G F Bodley, incorporating notable stained glass by William Morris and his company Morris & Co.

Bodley was given the commission by Samuel Marling, patriarch of the mill-owning family, who lived in the adjacent Stanley Park House.

The church has a distinctive 'saddleback' tower, derived from French Gothic architecture, which was a significant influence on Bodley's early style. Construction took place in 186162. Local labour and contractors were used: Harrison of King's Stanley were the main contractors; stone carvings were undertaken by Joshua Wall; woodwork by William English and ironwork by T.J Chew. Another source of inspiration for the tower can be found in the parish church of Marling, South Tyrol near the spa city Meran, where Samuel Marling stayed in the 1860s.[1]

Bodley designed the pews and choir-stalls using poppy-heads and fleur de lys as key motifs, and the font, the inlaid marble pulpit, communion rails and door iron work all show the attention to design that Bodley paid to all aspects of the church.

Equally spectacular is the stained glass. Bodley was a friend of William Morris and at Selsley he gave Morris & Co their first commission for ecclesiastical stained glass. Philip Webb provided the scheme for the whole church and the detail of the Creation window at the west end. Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Ford Madox Brown and Campfield were all involved.

Organ

The church has a pipe organ by Nicholson dating from 1862. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

Churchyard

The churchyard contains war graves of a soldier of World War I and another of World War II.[2]

References

  1. Gunther Langes: Burggrafenamt und Meran, Athesia Bozen 1990, p.199, ISBN 88-7014-021-0.
  2. CWGC Cemetery Report, breakdown obtained from casualty record.

External links


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