All Saints Church, Loughborough

All Saints Church, officially All Saints with Holy Trinity is the Church of England parish church of the town of Loughborough, Leicestershire within the Diocese of Leicester.

History

The church dates from the 14th century; the tower from the 15th century. It is located on a slight rise within the old town and is probably the site of a pre-Christian place of worship. All Saints is one of the largest parish churches in England, which is an indication of the importance of Loughborough in the mediaeval wool trade. Loughborough Grammar School was likely founded by a priest at the church c. 1496, paid for in the will of local wool merchant Thomas Burton, and the school was housed within the church grounds until it moved away to its purpose-built campus in 1850. The hymn composer G. W. Briggs (himself an Old Loughburian) was rector of All Saints from 1918 to 1927.

Next door is the Old Rectory, originally a mediaeval manor house, the earliest record of which is 1228, later ruined and then partly restored and now contains a museum which is open on summer Saturdays.

The postcode for the church is LE11 1PL, and its official address is on Rectory Road. However, the main entrance leads onto Steeple Row and Church Gate, the latter a mediaeval street that connects the old town and the church to the modern town centre (Market Place), though now unfortunately devoid of mediaeval buildings is of mediaeval width and now partially pedestrianised.

Organisation

All Saints is the official seat of the Archdeacon of Loughborough, The Venerable Paul Hackwood, who nevertheless normally resides at St Peter's, Glenfield in Leicester. The Archdeacon oversees the 6 deaneries in Western Leicestershire which are named after ancient hundreds; Akeley East (Loughborough), Akeley South (Coalville), Akeley West (Ashby-de-la-Zouch), Guthlaxton, Sparkenhoe West (Hinckley and Market Bosworth) and Sparkenhoe East.

All Saints is the more traditional one of the two main Anglican churches in Loughborough, the other being Emmanuel Church (1835), which is Evangelical and frequented by many Loughborough University students. Emmanuel has St Mary's, Nanpantan as a sister-church. In Loughborough, there is also The Good Shepherd Church in Shelthorpe and All Saints Thorpe Acre with Dishley.

The Akeley East deanery is headed by a rural dean, The Reverend Cynthia Hebden, who however works out of nearby St Botolph's, Shepshed.

Bells

The tower contains a ring of bells for campanology consisting of 10 bells 30-2-0 in Db. The present peal were cast between 1897 and 1899 at the John Taylor Bellfoundry in Loughborough. The back four bells were lost wax castings and have intricate patterns cast on to the waist of the bells.

External links

* [http://www.aswht.org/ All Saints Church]
* [http://www.leicester.anglican.org/ Diocese of Leicester]
* [http://www.cofe.anglican.org Church of England]