All Saints Church, Taiping

Considered one of Malaysia's precious heritage sites, the All Saints Church, Taiping with its humble timber facade and modest adjacent cemetery and churchyard speak little of its glorious past and significance.

Besides claiming the honour of being the Federated Malay States' first Anglican church way back in 1886 (although it was consecrated in 1887), its cemetery is laden with beautifully crafted tombstones of European settlers and young servicemen who did not make it home.

Standing proudly along the lush tree-lined Taming Sari main road, the church sits in a nostalgic part of the Taiping town. A picture perfect scene brings to mind the scenic old England countryside, capturing the imagination of tourists and visitors with the innate beauty of its gothic architectural design.

History

Designed by Australian architect D Lefroy and built on a site donated by W.V. Drummond, a planter from Shanghai, the wooden church structure is made of meranti panels with hardwood frames, and a quaint louvered tower with four tubular bells.

The 120-year-old All Saints Church in Taiping today remains largely unchanged from the early days of its existence. Perhaps the most striking feature of the church is the stained glass window installed in 1911. Amazingly, the work of art remains intact, “surviving” the war.

All Saints is among only a handful of churches that still use the pipe organ - a priceless antique. It is only used on special occasions and the servicing along costs about RM10,000 annually.

Developments

Over the years, the church has undergone some repair work with the most recent restoration effort completed in January, where the leaky roof was replaced with Berlian Shingle wood from Sarawak. The new roof, which costs RM100,000, was donated by a generous worshipper, and is a replica of the original structure.

Another RM500,000 is needed to build a new multi-purpose hall with toilet facilities (the existing building does not even have a lavatory), administration office, choir rooms, library, vicarage quarters and main hall that can accommodate about 350 people.

Targeted date of completion is 2008 and the new building is said to complement the existing heritage building, cemetery and garden which are in dire need of maintenance.

The church is currently in the midst of setting up a network to locate relatives of those buried at the All Saints cemetery.