All Saints’ Inside and Out
The Church has many beautiful windows dedicated to over fifty Saints of the Church of which the West window is a particularly fine example.
The East window has a very unusual subject and has been the subject of much intrigue and discussion over the years. It is general practice for the East window to show the birth of Christ or the crucifixion. At All Saints’ the window depicts Christ receiving a child into the company of the Saints and conveys the idea “of such is the Kingdom of Heaven”. The window was donated by William Cochrane in memory of one of his sons, Herbert Bertram, who had tragically died in 1870 after falling down the stairs in Oakfield House just a month before his sixth birthday. Many of the other windows in the Church are dedicated to members of the Cochrane family and the Cochrane name is inscribed in no fewer than eleven places throughout the Church.
The Church has some excellent Victorian wood carvings which are the work of Ralph Hedley and they have lasted for the lifetime of the Church. The Rev. Frederick Bindley could hardly contain his excitement about the design of the chancel screen and said it was ‘simply the loveliest thing he had ever seen with the colours of the East window shining through it’.
The screen of varied design suggests the ever beautiful and sacred form of the fleur-de-lis enriched by three carved flowers. Above is the rich cornice with a frieze of carved leaves and fruits of the vine and below, from the Tree of Life, hangs a delicate frieze of twisted stems and leaves. Hidden amongst these are the lower forms of life, such as snails, toads and mice, which all give Glory to their Maker.
Even the bosses of the arch are each decorated with a tiny seahorse. It was Mr. Cochrane who donated the chancel screen which was finally put up in 1895 and five years later, in 1900, he donated the choir stalls and the altar rails.
The choir stalls are covered with grapes and pineapples and the priest and officiant’s seats are supported by the living creatures of the Apocalypse, the lion (St. Mark, nobility), the ox (St.Luke, strength), the man (St Matthew, wisdom) and the eagle (St. John, speed).
The carvings on the pulpit, the font and in the baptistery (designed by Mr. Crawford- Hick) were another gift from William Cochrane in memory of his son Lyulf who died on HMS Britannia, aged 15, following an early morning swim in the sea whilst suffering from measles. Introduction of the richly carved and pinnacled reredos, also given by Mr. Cochrane, caused some commotion in the Church Committees. Mr. Cochrane himself had stipulated that the East window should never be obscured. The situation was overcome by pretending the gift was from an anonymous donor and Mr. Cochrane changing his own ruling. The reredos depicts the Annunciation with Mary standing on one side and the Angel Gabriel on the other. As all the work neared completion, Ralph Hedley added his own personal tribute to William Cochrane by carving the intertwined initials W.C. into the pictorus on the ceiling above the arch and the window in the baptistery.
William Cochrane had great musical talents and ensured that the Church received an outstanding organ built in 1889 by Harrison and Harrison in Durham. This has contributed to a very high musical tradition at All Saints’ and the introduction of a Chamber Choir and Orchestra in 1992.
The North porch has the names of the fallen in the First World War but sadly no arrangement was made for the introduction of a Memorial for those who had died in the Second World War but the South altar was formed and consecrated in 1959 and renamed the Chapel of All Souls.
The South porch houses a spectacular millennium embroidery contributed to by over 200 people and displaying a huge variety of different techniques.
The steps in the South porch lead to a large bell tower which houses 10 bells. Lieutenant Robert Falconer was one of the original members of the Bell Ringing Guild but was killed in action on 1st July 1916. He bequeathed a sum of money to the Church to provide two extra bells. His parents and sister also gave the tower a set of 15 hand bells which had belonged to Robert. The Church has a keen team of ringers who are often joined by other teams because of the extra bells.
Outside the church there is a small Garden of Remembrance which was consecrated on 18th October 1964. There is a very large church hall adjacent to the church and there are two church houses and a beautiful church green.
