All Saints Pastoral Centre

Last updated

The Comper Chapel Broad Colney, All Saints Pastoral Centre - geograph.org.uk - 684177.jpg
The Comper Chapel
All Saints Pastoral Centre All Saints Pastoral Centre 2014-03-15 19-25.jpg
All Saints Pastoral Centre

All Saints Pastoral Centre was a conference and retreat centre at London Colney on the southern outskirts of St Albans, Hertfordshire, England.

Contents

The All Saints building was designed by Leonard Stokes in 1899 and built in 1901 as a convent for the Anglican Society of All Saints Sisters of the Poor. The building was acquired by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster in 1973 [1] [2] and converted for use as a pastoral centre. It was sold to a property developer in 2011 [3] with the sale finalised in 2014. [4]

The property remains undeveloped, and in 2019 it was included in the Twentieth Century Society's (C20) Top 10 Buildings at Risk List 2019. [5]

Design

The main structure is built around a garden and has an inner cloister leading to the meeting rooms. The building has adapted to modern requirements but has retained its original beauty. The centre today caters to both residential and non-residential conferences, meetings and retreats mainly from the religious sector, and has good transport access to the diocese via the M25 motorway and Radlett railway station, both close by.

Comper Chapel

Attached to All Saints is an example of design by architect Ninian Comper. The first half of the chapel was completed in 1927. Due to demands for space it was expanded by Sir Ninian's son Sebastian in 1963. In the west end of the chapel below the rose window is a Harrison & Harrison organ. [6] [7]

From the roof of the Comper Chapel, accessed via the bell tower, a panorama stretching from Radlett around to St Albans is visible. From the roof the join between the more recent Sebastian and original Ninian chapels can be seen with the use of a cross brace securing the north and south walls. [6] [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

St Albans is a city located in Hertfordshire, England. It was originally founded as Verlamion a settlement belonging to the Catuvellauni .It was subsequently transformed into the Roman settlement of Verulamium from where it grew into a municipium around AD 50. The city became known as St Albans around the 4th century AD with the martyrdom of St Alban who was buried close to the present day cathedral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hertfordshire</span> County of England

Hertfordshire is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For government statistical purposes, it forms part of the East of England region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Albans</span> City in southern Hertfordshire, England

St Albans is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, 20 miles (32 km) north-west of London, 8 miles (13 km) south-west of Welwyn Garden City and 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman road of Watling Street for travellers heading north and became the city of Verulamium. It is within the London commuter belt and the Greater London Built-up Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Albans City and District</span> Local authority district in England

The City and District of St Albans is a local authority district in Hertfordshire in the East of England region. The main urban settlements are St Albans and Harpenden. The council offices are in St Albans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Stephen's House, Oxford</span> Anglican Theological College

St Stephen's House is an Anglican theological college and one of five Permanent Private Halls of the University of Oxford, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Colne, Hertfordshire</span> River in south England

The Colne is a river and a tributary of the River Thames in England. Just over half its course is in south Hertfordshire. Downstream, it forms the boundary between the South Bucks district of Buckinghamshire and the London Borough of Hillingdon. The confluence with the River Thames is on the Staines reach at Staines-upon-Thames.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hertsmere (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983 onwards

Hertsmere is a constituency in Hertfordshire, England, represented in the House of Commons since 2015 by Oliver Dowden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Stephen's Church, St Albans</span> Church in Hertfordshire, England

St Stephen's Church is a Church of England parish church in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It is located to the south of the town centre, at the top of St Stephen's Hill. It is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ninian Comper</span> Scottish architect

Sir John Ninian Comper was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focussed on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the design of ecclesiastical furnishings, stained glass and vestments. He is celebrated for his use of colour, iconography and emphasis on churches as a setting for liturgy. In his later works, he developed the subtle integration of Classical and Gothic styles, an approach he described as 'unity by inclusion'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chantry Island, Hertfordshire</span>

Chantry Island is currently a small (5,300sq.m.) deciduously wooded area with a narrow, and now dry, moat, giving the impression that it is an island. It is located in the grounds of the former All Saints Pastoral Centre in London Colney, Hertfordshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Matthew's Church, Westminster</span> Church in London, United Kingdom

St Matthew's Church, Westminster, is an Anglican church in Westminster, London. Located in the heart of the capital, close to the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Church House, St Matthew's has been closely associated with the recovery of the Catholic heritage of the Church of England from its early days. One of the foremost leaders of that movement, Frank Weston, Bishop of Zanzibar, served at St Matthew's from 1916–1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St John's Church, Watford</span> Church in Hertfordshire, England

The Church of St John the Apostle and Evangelist is a Church of England parish church located in Sutton Road, close to the centre of the busy market town of Watford in Hertfordshire. It is within the Diocese of St Albans and has throughout its history been one of the leading Anglo-Catholic churches in the southeast of England. Today it is part of the Richborough Episcopal Area, and lies in the pastoral and sacramental care of the Provincial Episcopal Visitor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Saints Church, West Dulwich</span> Church in London , England

All Saints' Church is a Church of England parish church in West Dulwich, South London. It is a red brick building designed in a Gothic Revival style by George Fellowes Prynne and built 1888–91. It is Grade I listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Cyprian's, Clarence Gate</span> Church in London, England

St Cyprian's Church is a parish church of the Church of England in the Marylebone district of London. The church was consecrated in 1903, but the parish was founded in 1866. It is dedicated to Cyprian, a third-century martyr and bishop of Carthage and is near the Clarence Gate Gardens entrance to Regent's Park, off Baker Street. The present church was designed by Ninian Comper and is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Verulam House, St Albans</span> Building in St Albans Hertfordshire, England

Verulam House is located in Verulam Road, St Albans on the northwestern side between Church Crescent and Britton Avenue opposite College Street. It has previously been referred to as Diocesan House and also known as the Bishop's Palace. It is of early nineteenth-century origin and is a Grade II Listed Building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grosvenor Chapel</span> Church in London, England

Grosvenor Chapel is an Anglican church in what is now the City of Westminster, in England, built in the 1730s. It inspired many churches in New England. It is situated on South Audley Street in Mayfair.

The Society of All Saints Sisters of the Poor is a religious order of sisters in the Anglican Communion. It was founded in 1851 and is active in England and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Napsbury Park</span> Human settlement in England

Napsbury Park is a residential development in Hertfordshire, England. It is located to the north of London, at Junction 22 of the M25 motorway and Junction 6 of the M1 motorway. It is protected by a Conservation Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Skeat</span> English stained glass artist (1909–2000)

Francis Walter Skeat was an English glass painter who created over 400 stained glass windows in churches and cathedrals, both in England and overseas. Skeat was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fellow of the British Society of Master Glass Painters, and a member of the Art Workers Guild.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frogmore, Hertfordshire</span> Human settlement in England

Frogmore is a village 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Radlett in Hertfordshire, and 2 miles (3.2 km) south of St Albans. It is located in St Stephen civil parish, in St Albans District, in the county of Hertfordshire.

References

  1. John Julius Norwich (2002). Treasures of Britain: the architectural, cultural, historical and natural heritage of Britain (illustrated ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. p. 443. ISBN   978-0-393-05740-9.
  2. "About us". allsaintspc.org.uk. Archived from the original on 25 April 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
  3. White, D. (29 December 2011). "Church sells London Colney pastoral centre" . Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  4. White, D. (2 February 2013). "London Colney's All Saints Pastoral Centre sale confirmed" . Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  5. "Historic London Colney building in top ten 'at risk' buildings list in country". Herts Advertiser. 1 November 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  6. 1 2 Tony Aldous (1989). A prospect of Westminster: the continuing development of this historic city. Westminster City Council in Association with Westminster Property Owners Association. p. 127. ISBN   978-0-901602-03-9.
  7. 1 2 "The Comper Chapel". allsaintspc.org.uk. Archived from the original on 18 July 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2009.

Coordinates: 51°42′42″N0°18′04″W / 51.71179°N 0.30100°W / 51.71179; -0.30100