All Saints, Margaret Street

All Saints stands on Margaret Street in the City of Westminster. It is an Anglo-Catholic church built in the High Victorian Gothic style by William Butterfield in the 1850s. The church replaced an earlier chapel founded in 1752 and rebuilt after a fire in 1825. It became a centre for the Oxford Movement, which sought to restore Catholic traditions within the Church of England. The movement’s leaders included John Henry Newman and Edward Bouverie Pusey, whose ideas shaped the church’s liturgy and design. The Society of All Saints Sisters of the Poor, founded nearby, was closely linked to the parish. The church is recognised as Butterfield’s masterpiece and a key example of High Victorian Gothic architecture. Its interior features bold Gothic decoration, intricate brickwork, and striking polychrome patterns. The building’s design reflects the liturgical ideals of the Oxford Movement, with careful attention to sacred space and ceremony. The musical tradition dates back to the 1840s, when Frederick Oakeley introduced high liturgy and choral worship. The church’s foundation stone was laid by Pusey in 1850, and it was consecrated in 1859 by Bishop Archibald Campbell Tait. Inside, visitors find a richly decorated nave with striped brickwork and vivid tile patterns. The north wall holds a memorial to William Upton Richards, designed by Butterfield and painted by Alexander Gibbs. The choir school, established in 1860, remains part of the parish. The church’s liturgical furnishings and stained glass reflect its Anglo-Catholic heritage. The surrounding streets retain the quiet character of 19th-century Westminster, with the building standing as a landmark of religious and architectural history.