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Aidan McRae Thomson
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Apostles, Mother & Child
Apostles, Mother & Child

South-facing window in the south transept aisle by Holt of Warwick, c1885..

All Saints is Leamington Spa's cathedral-like main church, begun in 1843 over the site of a much more modest building. The bulk of the church was completed in the following years by J.C.Jackson, though the west end of the nave and the soaring south west tower were added in 1898-1902 by Sir Arthur Blomfield. It seems a crossing tower was originally intended but only the stump was built, owing to insufficient foundations or funds. Nevertheless a small clock tower with a spire was added off the north transept giving the church a distinctive outline.

The apse and transepts are largely French Gothic in style (an odd choice for a Regency town) with elaborately traceried rose windows based on authentic examples in Rouen (alas without stained glass). The apse windows are amongst the tallest of their kind in an English parish church.

The interior is hugely spacious (if a little gloomy) and can not fail to impress with its cathedral-like ambition and grandeur. The eye is drawn down the nave towards the apse with its three tapering windows while the crossing encloses yet more space in the form of a generous transept with its enormous clear-glazed rose windows and chapels on the east side (an imposing memorial chapel on the south side, and a much more intimate Lady Chapel beneath the organ to the north). The west end of the nave was partitioned off around 1990 in order to form parish rooms with a gallery above.

The church has much glass of the Victorian period, the rich apse windows of 1851 being the work of Chance Bros of Birmingham and in part shown at the great exhibition. They were much improved by restoration in the late 1990s (a project over several years in which I was involved).

All Saints is normally open during the day most days of the week (except Monday) with a small cafe operating at the west end.

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Taken on: March 6, 2024
Tags: Everybody's photos tagged with Leamington Spa Leamington Spa Everybody's photos tagged with church church Everybody's photos tagged with Warwickshire Warwickshire more » Everybody's photos tagged with stained glass stained glass Everybody's photos tagged with window window Everybody's photos tagged with Victorian Victorian Everybody's photos tagged with Holt of Warwick Holt of Warwick « less
Sets appears in:   • Leamington Spa - All Saints    • Victorian & Edwardian Stained glass    more » • Faces in Glass     • Leamington Spa Churches    « less
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ70, f/6.0, 1/80 sec, 77.3mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ70
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ISO: 80
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Apostles, Mother & Child

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