All Saints Church, Loughborough

All Saints Church, officially All Saints with Holy Trinity is the Church of England parish church of the town of Loughborough, Leicestershire within the Diocese of Leicester. History The church dates from the 14th century; the tower from the 15th century. It is located on a slight rise within the old town and is probably the site of a pre-Christian place of worship. All Saints is one of the largest parish churches in England, which is an indication of the importance of Loughborough in the mediaeval wool trade. Loughborough Grammar School was likely founded by a priest at the church c. 1496, paid for in the will of local wool merchant Thomas Burton, and the school was housed within the church grounds until it moved away to its purpose-built campus in 1850. The hymn composer G. W. Briggs (himself an Old Loughburian) was rector of All Saints from 1918 to 1934. Next door is the Old Rectory, originally a mediaeval manor house, the earliest record of which is 1228. It was mostly demolished before it was recognised that large parts of the mediaeval house remained. It now contains a museum which is open on summer Saturdays. The postcode for the church is LE11 1UX, and its official address is on Rectory Road. However, the main entrance leads onto Steeple Row and Church Gate, the latter a mediaeval street that connects the old town and the church to the modern town centre (Market Place), though now devoid of mediaeval buildings is of mediaeval width and now partially pedestrianised. In December 2022, the church garnered controversy after they used a revised set of lyrics to the hymn God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen with references to “queer and questioning” individuals and “women, who by men have been erased.” List of rectors Organisation All Saints is the official seat of the Archdeacon of Loughborough, previously The Venerable Paul Hackwood, who nevertheless normally resides at St Peter's, Glenfield in Leicester. The Archdeacon oversees the 6 deaneries in Western Leicestershire which are named after ancient hundreds; Akeley East (Loughborough), Akeley South (Coalville), Akeley West (Ashby-de-la-Zouch), Guthlaxton, Sparkenhoe West (Hinckley and Market Bosworth) and Sparkenhoe East. All Saints is the more traditional one of the two main Anglican churches in Loughborough, the other being Emmanuel Church (1835), which is Evangelical and frequented by many Loughborough University students. Emmanuel has St Mary's, Nanpantan as a sister-church. In Loughborough, there is also The Good Shepherd Church in Shelthorpe and All Saints Thorpe Acre with Dishley. The Akeley East deanery is headed by a rural dean. The Reverend Wendy Dalrymple, rector of this parish until 2023, served in this role for three years during her tenure. Bells The tower contains a ring of ten bells hung for change ringing with a tenor weighing 30 long cwt 2 qr (3,420 lb or 1,550 kg) in Db. The present peal were cast between 1897 and 1899 at the John Taylor Bellfoundry in Loughborough., whose foundry was less than a mile away. The largest four bells are lost wax castings and have intricate patterns cast on to the waist of the bells. Music Director of Mission through Music Emma Trounson, B.A. University of Bristol, M.A. Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff : 2019–2022 Director of Music Simon Headley: 2023-present Musical ensembles The church has a rich musical tradition with a range of music groups being active over time. Recent years have seen the below groups, as of 2026 only the Adult Choir is active. Adult choir Children's choir All-Age Music Group Contemporary Collective Taize Musicians Organ The church contains a 2-manual pipe organ. It was installed in 1966 by Henry Willis. It uses much pipework from a redundant organ from Bridgway Hall in Nottingham. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register. Organists John Baptist Cramer 1838–1877 Dr. Charles Hage Briggs 1878 - 1902 R. T. Bedford 1903–1917 C. Milton-Bill 1917–1919 (afterwards organist of Holy Trinity Church, Swansea). Miss Rigg 1920– ???? Albert Ernest Barton Hart 1924–1960s David Briers 1970s Dr. Peter J. Underwood, M.A. [Downing, Cambridge], M.Mus. [London], Ph.D. [Birmingham], FRCO (CHM), FTCL, LRAM, ARCM, ADCM: 1985–2017 David Cowen, M.A. [St Peter's, Oxford], FRCO, LRSM, DipNSC: 2017–2018 (Acting) Simon Headley, B.A. [University of Central England], ARCO: (principal organist) 2019–Present Loughborough Parish Library The surviving parish library is largely the creation of the Reverend James Bickham, who arrived at the rectory of Loughborough in 1761 bringing with him a large personal library. At his death in 1785, he bequeathed 641 titles to the parish (and two volumes of Milton’s prose to the Bishop of Worcester). Of those 641 titles, 420 have survived. References External links All Saints Church Diocese of Leicester Church of England Photographs of the interior of the church Manuscripts and Special Collections Digital Gallery of images from Loughborough Parish Library