All Saints Church, West Dulwich

All Saints Church stands in West Dulwich, a leafy corner of South London. The red-brick building was designed by George Fellowes Prynne in the late 19th century and is listed at the highest grade. Its Gothic Revival style rises on a steep slope between Lovelace Road and Rosendale Road. The church uses crypt spaces beneath most of the floor for community events. A four-storey block at the northeast corner houses extra rooms reached by an enclosed stair. Only the base of the intended flèche remains, while a small bell turret by JBS Comper was added later. The church has witnessed two major blows: a flying bomb in 1944 and a fire in 2000. After each disaster the congregation kept worshipping in the crypt until repairs were finished. The 1944 blast shattered stained glass and tore the roof, yet services resumed below. The 2000 fire gutted the interior, but a modern entrance was built at the west end after restoration. A 1969 organ from St Paul’s School in Barnes replaced the lost instrument in 2011. Today the church hosts the Lambeth Orchestra and the Dulwich Symphony Orchestra. Inside, the nave is four bays long with aisles on either side. The north aisle shelters the Lady Chapel and the south aisle holds All Souls’ Chapel. An apsidal chancel is ringed by a narrow ambulatory. The Lady Chapel has its own arcaded sanctuary with an ambulatory beyond. The organ chamber and vestries lie south of the chancel. The crypt, used by local groups, extends under almost the whole footprint. From the east end the view down the slope shows how the building rises above Rosendale Road.