Selsley Church, King's Stanley

All Saints Church stands in the village of Selsley, Gloucestershire, a short walk from King’s Stanley. Built in 1861–62, it is an early work by the architect George Frederick Bodley, who designed every detail from the poppy-headed pews to the inlaid marble pulpit. The church’s most striking feature is its saddleback tower, inspired by French Gothic forms Bodley saw in South Tyrol. Local craftsmen carried out the stone carvings, woodwork and iron fittings, with Joshua Wall, William English and T. J. Chew each contributing their skills. The church is famous for its stained glass, the first ecclesiastical commission given to Morris & Co by Bodley. William Morris’s firm created windows with designs by Philip Webb, Edward Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ford Madox Brown and Campfield. The Creation window at the west end, led by Webb, remains a highlight. Simon Jenkins rates the church among England’s Thousand Best Churches, awarding it three stars. Inside, visitors find Bodley’s carefully designed fittings and the 1862 pipe organ by Nicholson. The churchyard holds war graves for a soldier from the First World War and another from the Second. A bench mark on the churchyard wall records the height as 106 metres above sea level.