In 2021 the Church Buildings Council published guidance on ‘Contested Heritage in Cathedrals and Churches’. Historic England has defined contested heritage as objects or places that can be seen as ‘symbols of injustice and a source of great pain for many people’. The CBC guidance focuses particularly on the issue of tangible memorials of people or events connected with racism and slavery.

Here at All Saints we believe our mission includes ensuring our church is a place of real welcome and solace for all people. Anyone who enters the building will notice a considerable number of memorials, grand or graceful, marble or brass or glass, fulsome or very simple in wording. Each life remembered will have touched others in some ways.

In 2023 we therefore established a small working party, mainly of people who had worked on All Saints’ NADFAS church record and were familiar with the historical background to our memorials, to consider them in the light of the CBC guidance.

We soon decided that direct profits from the work of enslaved people were not the only issue we had to face. Many of our memorials echo or reflect in miniature the expansion of Britain overseas, including involvement in trades that we now recognise to be exploitative. Though it is not for us to judge others yet it is our duty to be honest as far as we can.

So we have produced a short 16-page booklet outlining some stories that lie behind some of our memorials. Further and deeper study is needed, but we were anxious to keep our account accessible and straightforward. We called our booklet ‘Forgive us our Trespasses’: A fresh look at All Saints’ memorials, and printed copies are available in the church. A digital (PDF) copy with a list of sources is included on the ‘Notice sheets’ page here.