All Saints Church, Portland Explained

All Saints Church is a Church of England church in Easton, on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. It was consecrated in 1917 and has been a listed grade II building since September 1978. The church succeeded to the rights, privileges, registers and silver of the St George's Church.[1] It has been described as the finest ecclesiastical building on Portland – though somewhat hidden at its position. The church remains active to date, as part of the Portland Parish – a host of three churches; St. John's Church (St John the Baptist), All Saints Church and the Avalanche Memorial Church (St Andrew's Church).[2]

History

By the 20th-century, the bishop of the time expressed the wish for a new church to be constructed on Portland, to succeed St George's as the parish church.[3] The church was known for being uncomfortable and draughty, while the original freehold selling of the box pews proved to be a burden over the life of the church. This was because the pew owners had become untraceable as they had been split between hundreds of members of Portland families over time.[4] These issues led to plans being put forward for a new parish church, and these were approved in 1913.[5]

By March 1914, enough funding had been raised to commence the building of the church. The chosen site for the church was within the Easton area known as Straits.[6] The building of the church commenced in 1914, and was completed and consecrated in 1917.[7] It had been designed by architect George Crickmay, and built by Crickmay and Sons, with total costs amounting to £13,000.[8] The original plans had intended for a tower to be added to the church, however this was never built.

External links

50.5455°N -2.4347°W

Notes and References

  1. Book: Legg, Rodney. Portland Encyclopaedia. 1999. Dorset Publishing Company. 7.
  2. Web site: Find Us.
  3. Web site: Reforne . 12 June 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161021155723/http://dorsethistoricchurchestrust.co.uk/reforne.htm . 21 October 2016 . dead . dmy-all .
  4. Book: Legg, Rodney. Portland Encyclopaedia. 1999. Dorset Publishing Company. 132.
  5. Book: Legg, Rodney. Portland Encyclopaedia. 1999. Dorset Publishing Company. 7.
  6. Book: Mackenzie, Roy. Portland: A Topographical and Historical Gazetteer. 1999. 8.
  7. Web site: Portland, (All Saints, Easton). 27 September 1999.
  8. Book: Legg, Rodney. Portland Encyclopaedia. 1999. Dorset Publishing Company. 7.