Our Building and its History
Parish BoundariesThe parish consists of the northern part of Stretford and includes Trafford Park. It lies to the south of the Trafford Retail Centre and within the M60 Manchester Ring Road. A District was first assigned to All Saints from St. Matthew's, Stretford, on 29 January 1904. By Order in Council, on 6 May 1955 part of the parish was exchanged with St. Mathew's and some was added to St. Peter's Stretford. In July 1967 there was some further alteration of the parish boundaries with St. Mary, Davyhulme; most recently, in 1982 All Saints, was united with most of St. Cuthbert's Old Trafford, All Saints becoming the parish church of the united benefice. The Original BuildingThe original All Saints church stood on Cyprus Street, Stretford, its foundation stone being laid on 1 November 1884 and the completed church consecrated the following year.
This church building was struck by an incendiary bomb during an air-raid on 23 December 1940 and totally destroyed in the ensuing blaze.
The congregation continued to meet for services in the adjacent hall in School Road until 1947, when they merged with members of the nearby Manor Hall at Sevenways. In time the War Damage Commission released payment, allowing work to begin on the replacement church. The Existing Building
The new All Saints was situated on Barton Road, about a mile away from Cyprus Street, because of the original site's proximity to St Matthew's Stretford. The foundation stone was laid on 22 October 1955. with the new building being completed and consecrated on 16 March 1957. This church was a large, modern, brick-built structure, with tall. clear windows which allowed the natural light to flood in. In the 1970's, with a reducing congregation and growing need for a congenial meeting space for communal and social activities, it was decided to sell the old, crumbling hall and to re-design the interior of the church building. The space was divided by the erection of a full folding screen which can be opened when required to accommodate a large congregation (for example, for weddings and carol services). With the screen closed, the church now seats 80-100 people comfortably in a fairly traditional style. The re-ordering was achieved by turning the worship area around so that the Trinity Window (pictured), originally the back wall of the church, now forms an impressive backdrop to the Chancel (Altar) space.
Rectors & Priests-in-charge of All Saints1904 - 19 Arthur McLaren 1919 - 27 Martin Wray 1927 - 46 Tom Godfrey Coxon 1947 - 49 John Reginald Smith 1949 - 52 Albert Jones 1952 - 58 Charles Herbert Roots 1958 - 60 William Walter Smith 1961 - 66 Robin Henry Baker 1966 - 73 James Bentley 1973 - 79 Peter Garlick 1980 - 88 Jonathan Tinker 1988 - 96 Peter Townley 1997 - 2003 Tony Durrans 2004-08 Robert Thewsey 2009 - 14 Moira Slack 2015 - Luke Maguire More pictures can be seen in the Gallery - Church History |
