Society walk

LAST week, the Loughborough Archaeological and

Historical Society hosted a walk and talk on the history of the church of All Saints with Holy Trinity.

Our guide, Roger Willson, took us on a brisk walk around the outside of the building, looking for clues as to its age, changes to its structure, types of building material used, and other interesting features, like gargoyles, downpipes and tombstones.

Once inside the building, Roger explained the development of the church through the four ages: the medieval period; the Anglican prayer book worship period; the period of substantial Victorian renovation, and the renovation and re-ordering of the 1960s.

Evidence of all these periods could be seen within the church: the Victorian work of Sir George Gilbert Scott (a leading English architect of the Gothic revival style, and designer of Loughborough’s Union Workhouse) is, of course, the most prevalent and obvious in the church today.

Evidence of the medieval church is harder to find (like the little stained-glass window in what is now the Burton Chapel), but is most certainly there, as is that from the Reformation and prayer book period, for example, the dominating pulpit.

There is evidence of some 1960s re-ordering by George Pace and more recently, the Reverend Dr Stephen Cherry made yet more changes to the inside of the church, bringing it up-to-date and suitable for a twenty-first century congregation.

As if a walk around the outside and an extensive look around the inside of the church were not enough, Mr Willson also brought along some documentary evidence, which in some cases confirmed that what we were seeing really was what we thought it was, and in some cases provided the only evidence of how the church had once looked, for example, written evidence of the siting and renting out of box pews.

Our guide, observed that the church has been in a state of almost constant change, adapting to the changes in religious beliefs, changes in services, and changes of congregation, and will continue so to do for many years to come.

The LAHS would like to thank Mr Willson for the informative evening he gave us, and also the members of the church who opened their doors to us, and provided us with refreshments during the event.

Look out for more LAHS events and meetings in the autumn of 2017.