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All Saints Church,
Childwall |
There was probably a now
demolished chapel on the site of this beautiful
sandstone church in Childwall Village in the 11th
century, and some of the building materials have
Norman or even Saxon origins. It is Liverpool's
oldest parish church and the only one with
mediaeval origins. The oldest part of the present
structure is the 14th century north wall of the
chancel with its window (lower left - the glass
is 19th century). This is an outer wall of the
tiny original church. |
The porch is 15th
century and has a Saxon stone in the west wall,
probably a coffin lid, a ceiling carved with the
stone heads of the four apostles and a 500 year
old oak door. The nave (upper right), with its
north and south aisles, was also added in the
15th century and the sloping floor, which follows
the gradient of the land, once continued into the
chancel before it was levelled in 1851
(regrettably it now seems). |
The west tower with its
spire was added around the same time as the nave.
Thus the building stood until the early 18th
century, when a major programme of extension and
rebuilding began, which has continued to the
present day. The tower and spire were demolised
and rebuilt in 1810 following the disaster at St.
Nicholas's church in Liverpool that year, when 25
people died following the collapse of the tower
there. It is thought to have been relocated
slightly further to the west. |
The churchyard is a
profoundly peaceful and atmospheric place. It was
first mentioned in a document of 1386. One of the
oldest epitaphs reads: 'Sacred to the memory of
John Jones, who departed this life in his 95th
year, June 1st, 1517. My sledge and hammer both
decline, my bellows they have lost their wind, my
fire is extinct, my forge decayed, and the dust
in my vice is laid. My coals are spent, my iron
is gone, my nails are driven, my work is done.' |
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