All Saints Church, Maidstone, KwaZulu-Natal

All Saints Church is a church in the village of Maidstone (eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality) on the Dolphin Coast in the Anglican Diocese of Natal in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

Maidstone in KwaZulu Natal was named after Maidstone in Kent in the UK. It was a model village built exclusively for the white community who worked for the Tongaat Sugar Company. All Saints was likewise named after its English namesake in Kent. In 1930, thirty-eight members of the sugar mill staff signed a petition asking for a central church to be built. They argued that a church would have a good moral and social influence on the community and would be a welcome addition to the district's architecture. The petition was granted by the Tongaat Sugar Company. Land was subsequently bought by Thomas Hamlyn, who farmed at Frasers, from Edward Saunders, owner of the Tongaat Sugar Estate. In granting the petition one of the company's stipulations was that the building had to have a tiled roof and the walls were to be a least nine inches thick. The directors of the company also reserved the right to intervene should the grounds or buildings not remain in a state of proper repair. The cornerstone was laid in early 1932 but stopped in June of that year when several workmen fell ill with malaria. Work resumed in July and was sufficiently complete by October the following year (1933) for an opening ceremony. The first priest, the Revd Roderick Davies, furnished the interior through generous donations. All Saints Maidstone was dedicated with the prayer used in 1395 at the dedication of All Saints Maidstone in Kent. All Saints fell under the Parish of Verulam as a chapelry.

In the ensuing years stained-glass windows and plaques were added in memory of some of the families who helped establish the church. Seventy teak chairs were replaced with nineteen pews made of afromasia in 1965. Upon entering the church the carved reredos can be seen behind the altar, commissioned in the 1950s and carved by the sculptor, Mary Stainbank. The reredos shows twelve figures, six on either side of Jesus, some major, other minor saints, representing different races and ages, b

Church data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).