Quentin Letts on All Saints 5th February 2012

Late in 2011 eagle-eyed members of the congregation spotted a familiar visitor, and in the Winter edition of the Hereford Diocesan newspaper, his report on our activities was published under a column about the St Paul’s Cathedral “affair” and the Prayer Book Society’s Cranmer awards. Mr Letts writes: “Going to church as an “away supporter” can be interesting. The other weekend I had to work in Northampton and went to a stonkingly high-church communion (they called it mass, complete with bells, smells and a bobbing altar boy) at the town’s beautiful All Saints church. The incense set off my wheezy chest a bit, yet I was entranced by the traditional liturgy, the lofty music and the verger’s Northants burr. After taking communion one returned to the pews via an unspoilt 17th century Lady Chapel. The incense there was as thick as an old pea-souper. My eyes swam not just with smoke, but with a sudden, weird flashback to at least the 1800s, as though I had been there before. Maybe they just served a superior wine. But I feel it was something more spiritual, more significant.” We are of course delighted with Mr Letts’ kind comments – of course in a town of Northampton’s proportions, there should surely be room for Churches of all traditions; from low to high, traditional to innovative, and old to new. We believe that our combination of the orthodox and catholic traditions of the Church of England has something special to offer, and despite a very long interregnum, our numbers are UP! However, we must note that the Lady Chapel was erected after the First World War and is both a Memorial Chapel to the Fallen and to Our Lady, and that the Northants burr came from our Churchwarden, Mr David White, who was dressed verger-like as the morning’s MC.