All Saints, Bletchley

Introduction

The church was built to seat 300 at a cost of £31,400, with contractors Jesse Mead Ltd of Chesham.

History

All Saints was built with a temporary 'east' wall to allow for later enlargement, but this never took place. In 2007 an extension was built off the north aisle of All Saints, housing new facilities.

Architecture and furnishings

The building is faced in grey-brown brick, with concrete or reconstituted stone dressings and a 'brownstone' pantiled roof. The west front of All Saints displays a mixture of Classical and Gothic elements, with three round arched openings to a porch in antis separated by full-height stepped buttresses. The interior has white painted brickwork with slightly pointed concrete trusses marking the bay divisions. Above the reredos hangs an original tester, with the Dove of the Holy Spirit in a sunburst on the soffit, designed by Comper.

The chandeliers and benches in All Saints are original, designed by Comper. In the gallery is a small modern pipe organ by August Spath, replacing an original electronic organ. J.S. Comper designed All Saints in a loosely Classical Basilican style, with a narthex, continuous nave and sanctuary, side aisles, polygonal baptistery and flat-roofed sacristy. The church is orientated north-south, but described in conventional liturgical orientation as if the altar faced east.

The west front has three round-arched windows over the entrance lighting the gallery, square corner piers and a pedimented gable. The side elevations have round arched clerestory and aisle windows to each of the six bays, with pilaster strips marking the bay divisions. The recessed porch area has iron entrance gates designed by the architect and a patterned brick floor finish similar to that in Comper's church at Bedford. The nave arcade entablature is carried on quadripartite chamfered reconstituted stone piers of more Gothic than Classical character.

The western gallery is carried on octagonal piers and is approached via a stair in the north aisle. The former baptistery contains a shrine to Our Lady, and the original font has been moved to the east end of the south aisle. A piscina is set into the east wall on the south side of the sanctuary, and there are metal railings enclosing the eastern bay. The sanctuary furnishings include a modern timber altar, its front carved with Eucharistic symbols.

Parish life

The parish has a Society of St Vincent de Paul conference that meets fortnightly at All Saints Meeting Room, visits and offers aid locally, and recycles furniture and goods. The parish has a Finance Committee that meets three times a year, with members appointed by the Parish Priest. The parish has a Fundraising Committee that meets every couple of months to arrange fundraising and social events. The parish has a Knights of St Columba group for Catholic men who support the parish.

The parish has an ecumenical representative who attends meetings of Churches Together in Bletchley and co-ordinates participation in ecumenical events. The parish has a visit co-ordinator who co-ordinates visiting of parishioners.

The parish has a SEPO society supporting the Comboni Missionary Sisters in Mongu, Zambia, with recent appeals raising money for women's empowerment and literacy programmes. St Paul's Catholic School in Leadenhall provides Catholic secondary education for Catholic children in Milton Keynes.