Follow the brown signs

A Victorian masterpiece returned to the community

All Souls’ is a brick masterpiece by Paley and Austin, dating from 1880-81, which in its early years enjoyed the benefactions of the local mill owner Thomas Greenhalgh, the ‘founder’ of the parish.

With its bold west tower, it rises majestically above rows of 19th-century terraced houses and the lofty cathedral-like interior is equally impressive, an aisleless hall with a central vault and a small eastern apse, lit by large windows set high.

All Souls’ is soon due to be transformed into a vibrant new centre for community life through a major project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund that will see the installation of an innovative pod design – ‘a building within a building’ – which will leave the historic fabric largely untouched.

The innovative pods will house training, learning and performance spaces and the church will also host a cutting-edge multi-media exhibition that tells the stories of Boltonians both today and throughout the town’s history.

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