Huddleup At All Souls

The Church of All Souls is a redundant Anglican church in Astley Street, Astley Bridge, Bolton, Lancashire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. As of 2010, the church is being converted into a community centre. The church was built between 1878 and 1881 and paid for by Thomas Greenhalgh, an Evangelical mill-owner. Thomas inherited the money from his brother Nathaniel, who had died in 1877, aged 60. It was one of two churches in the area financed from this inheritance, the other being St Saviour's. The total cost of the church, including fittings, the stained glass, the organ, and the boundary walls, was £23,000 (equivalent to £2,340,000 in 2019). The local population had grown during the second half of the 19th century, and the church was intended to serve the people working in the nearby mills. It was designed by the Lancaster architects Paley and Austin. The church was planned to seat a congregation of about 800, giving them all a good view of the proceedings, and an opportunity to hear the sermon. The contractors were Cordingley and Stopford of Manchester. The church was consecrated in 1881 by Dr J. Fraser, Bishop of Manchester. Few changes have been made to the church since then. A war memorial was added to commemorate the parishioners who had died serving in the First World War. During the 20th century the size of the local population was declining, and in 1962 the parish was combined with that of St James in Waterloo Road. In 1970 the stained glass windows in the tower were removed. They had depicted the Creation and were made by Shrigley and Hunt, but had been damaged by vandalism. The church closed in 1986 and was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust. The building has since been redeveloped and in December 2014 opened as a business and community centre, managed by a small charity set up for this purpose, known as All Souls Bolton.