"All Saints Church does not need this"-Florence Gersten, Save Our City Campaign

All Saints Church does not need this

Letters to the Editor
Nov 24 2010

Liverpool Daily Post
 THE Save Our City Campaign wishes to express its total agreement with the people who have recently written to the local press expressing their strong objections to the proposals for Childwall Parish Church of All Saints.
This lovely church includes a medieval section which is older than any other in the Merseyside boroughs. In a sense, it is considerably older. There was a church on the site before the Norman Conquest.

All Saints has, as other correspondents have mentioned, been altered many times, the last major extension being in 1906. However, the whole complex is remarkable for its unity.
Every component, no matter its date, is built of the local red sandstone and designed in harmony with the oldest part of the church. No doubt this is one of the reasons why it is listed Grade I: the highest category of listed buildings. It is the key component in a unique corner of Liverpool.
The proposed circular building is completely out of keeping with the church and its surroundings. It will also destroy part of the graveyard: one of the very few intact churchyards in Liverpool, and, of course, the oldest.
The desire for toilet facilities inside the church is perfectly understandable, but this could certainly be achieved without any significant damage to that building. It does not need a major extension. A major purpose of the proposed extension is as accommodation for meetings. As a recent letter-writer pointed out, these can easily be held in the church hall.

We hope that the application for this extension will be withdrawn, without the necessity of a public inquiry.


Florence E Gersten, The Save Our City Campaign


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