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Hereford Three Choirs Festival Fringe

All Saints Church, Hereford

Hereford is fortunate to still possess this church, the city’s tallest building.  In 1854 the then mayor, Charles Anthony, considered that the exterior of All Saints Church was the ‘greatest deformity in the city’ and wanted it demolished because it was an obstruction to traffic. This fate had already befallen St Nicholas, one of the three medieval churches in Hereford to survive the 1645 siege of the city.

The earliest surviving fragments in All Saints suggest that there was an elaborate building of the early 13^th century on the site.  For some reason this was rebuilt in a much plainer style in the later 13^th and early 14^th centuries.

The original church was Norman and stood in the large market place created by Earl William fitz Osbern between 1067 and 1071.  It was built immediately outside the old Saxon north gate of the city (the length of what is now Broad Street opposite the church was still called the North Gate in the 19^th century).

All Saints possessed the second largest chained library in England, second only to that of Hereford Cathedral.  Both collections are now housed in the new building constructed for the medieval map, the Mappa Mundi.

The actor David Garrick was born in the Angel Inn in Widemarsh Street and christened in All Saint’s church on 28th February 1716.

The award-winning restaurant, Café @ All Saints, is in the western part of the nave. This is a serious restaurant of high quality and is suitable for vegetarians. It serves daily specials hot main meal and quiches and salads.

The area outside the 13th century south aisle with customers enjoying lunch.

All Saints from the north

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