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All Saints Church
Margaret Street
Tucked into the streets of Fitzrovia, just beyond the movement of Oxford Street, All Saints Margaret Street rose in deliberate contrast to its surroundings. Designed in 1850 by William Butterfield, the church stood as one of the most accomplished expressions of High Victorian Gothic in Britain. Its red brick exterior signalled confidence and conviction; its interior unfolded as a richly layered world of pattern, colour, and devotion.
Though celebrated as an architectural landmark, All Saints was never conceived as a museum. It remained a living house of prayer, used daily, cherished deeply, and shaped by continuous care.
Dates
May 2017
—
April 2018
Location
London
Grade listing
Grade I
Architects
Molyneux Kerr Architects
Returning to Butterfield’s Interior Vision
Time had inevitably softened the intensity of Butterfield’s original scheme. Layers of dirt, overpainting, and wear dulled surfaces that were once alive with precision and symbolism. Conservation here required not reinvention, but rediscovery.
The contract focused on the careful cleaning and redecoration of Butterfield’s ornate interior. Non-ionic detergents were employed to gently lift surface dirt, while thixotropic gels allowed controlled cleaning of sensitive areas. Where later paint layers obscured original finishes, poultice-based paint removal was used, slow, deliberate, and responsive to what lay beneath.
Each surface revealed its story gradually, guiding the work rather than resisting it.
Creating Access Without Intrusion
To enable this detailed work, designed access scaffolding was introduced throughout the interior. Carefully planned and sensitively installed, it allowed conservators to reach the highest and most intricate areas without compromising the building’s fabric or daily use.
Alongside cleaning, timber and plaster repairs were carried out where age and movement had taken their toll. These repairs stabilised the interior fabric, ensuring that decoration rested on sound structure rather than fragile ground.
Light, Glass, and Ornament
The church’s stained glass, central to its atmosphere was also conserved. Each panel was treated as both artwork and architectural element, its condition assessed and addressed with techniques appropriate to historic glass and lead.
Fine art decoration followed, guided by careful research. The decorative scheme of the 1890s was faithfully reproduced, including the intricate grisaille panels that gave rhythm and restraint to the surrounding colour. This was not imitation for its own sake, but restoration grounded in evidence and understanding.
A Living Interior, Reawakened
When the work was complete, the transformation was subtle yet profound. Butterfield’s interior did not feel new, it felt legible again. Colour regained its clarity, pattern its intention, and light its proper role within the space.
At All Saints Margaret Street, conservation did not pause worship or history. Instead, it reconnected the present congregation with the richness of the church’s past, allowing one of Britain’s great Victorian interiors to continue doing what it had always done: inspire, shelter, and endure.
