All Saints, Margaret Street - History

History

All Saints had its origins in the Margaret Street Chapel which had "proceeded upwards through the various gradations of Dissent and Low-Churchism" until 1829, when the Tractarian William Dodsworth became its incumbent. Dodsworth later converted to Roman Catholicism, as did one of his successors, Frederick Oakeley. Before his resignation from the post, Oakeley, who was later to describe the chapel as "a complete paragon of ugliness" had conceived the idea of rebuilding the chapel in what he considered a correct ecclesiastical style, and had collected a sum of almost £30,000 for the purpose. He was succeeded at the chapel by his assistant William Upton Richards, who decided to carry on with the scheme.

In 1845, Alexander Beresford Hope realised that this scheme could be combined with the project of the Cambridge Camden Society to found a model church. His proposal met with the approval of Upton Richards, George Chandler, rector of All Souls, and Charles Blomfield, the Bishop of London. It was decided that the architectural and ecclesiological aspects of the project would be put entirely under the control of the Cambridge Camden Society, who appointed Sir Stephen Glynne and Beresford Hope to oversee the work. In the event, Glynne was unable to take an active part, and Beresford Hope took sole charge.

William Butterfield was selected as the architect, and a piece of land was bought in Margaret Street for £14,500. Construction began in 1849, the foundation stone having been laid by Edward Pusey. The total cost of the church, including the site and endowments was around £70,000; several large individual donations helped to fund it.