All Saints Church, East St.Kilda, Chapel Streeet, East St. Kilda
All Saints Church is said to be the largest suburban Anglican church in Australia. A generous set back from the street allows the triple gable style of this bluestone building erected in 1858 to be fully appreciated.
Mulholland Restorations was engaged to undertake the interior redecorating to coincide with the celebration to mark the 150 years on All Saints Day (1 November) 2008.
The interior had for some years looked very tired with deep water stains showing on the limestone arches, paint failure in various degrees throughout and an awkward visual dislocation of the body of the church and the Sanctuary, which carried a highly decorative stencilled scheme, in poor condition.
The project required ceiling cleaning, washing all the limestone clean, the removal of problematic paint coatings from the walls and the introduction of a decorative scheme to bring the interior into balance. When stripping the paint from the walls one remaining indication of a stencil band was located and this allowed the development of a complete design for the aisle and trancept walls.
Discussion took place on the introduction of stencil design to the Lady Chapel in view of the stonger visual effect of the sanctuary to allow a balance of decoration and an appropriate completion of this Chapel. W and G Audsley designs were selected from the 1870 period to expand upon the Audsley Sanctuary design existing.
The works also included the lighting and wiring upgrade to current needs and floor finishes (carpet and staining) to complete the works in time for the celebration. The results are very beautiful.
