All Saints, A Unique Building
Unlike churches in several of the neighbouring villages that date back to the Domesday Book, Selsley's church All Saints, is only 160 years old. It was commissioned by Samuel Marling (mill owner, philanthropist and later a Liberal MP) and designed by architect GF Bodley. It has a saddleback tower, (an example of the influence of French gothic architecture) a fine inlaid marble pulpit and pipe organ by Nicholson & Co of Worcester.
Bodley's original design for All Saints Selsley
The marble pulpit carved by Robert Earp
All Saints is perhaps best known for its stained glass. Bodley was a friend of William Morris, he gave Morris &Co their first commission for ecclesiastical glass. Selsley is the only church in the UK to have all its stained glass designed by Morris and Co. As well as Morris himself, Edward Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ford Maddox Brown and Phillip Webb were all involved in designing elements of the glass with the design of the overall scheme credited to Webb. He based it on the 13th century Windows in Merton College, Oxford.
