Bryher is the most westerly settlement in England, therefore All Saints' Anglican church can claim to be the most westerly church in the Anglican provinces of Canterbury and York.
The earliest record of a permanent church on Bryher is the account of the dedication of a small building to God and All Saints by the Chaplain of St Mary's, Revd Paul Hathaway, in 1742. It was approximately 24 feet by 13 feet and also served the community on Samson.
The church is built of granite rubble on a rectangular plan and was enlarged in 1822 by the surveyor Christopher Strick to provide seating for 154 people. There were repairs in 1832 and 1833 by Thomas Downing, carpenter and William Williams. The tower and porch were added in 1860. There is a plain granite font dated 1861. There were additions and alterations in 1882 and a new chancel was added in 1897 and new roof (6 feet higher than the previous) in 1930.
The church has been listed since 1975. The stained glass windows were replaced, the work being completed in 2007; all four lights are by Oriel Hicks of Phoenix Studio and represent sayings of Jesus Christ.
References:The Villa d'Este is a 16th-century villa in Tivoli, near Rome, famous for its terraced hillside Italian Renaissance garden and especially for its profusion of fountains: the extraordinary system contains fifty-one fountains and nymphaeums, 398 spouts, 364 water jets, 64 waterfalls, and 220 basins, fed by 875 meters of canals, channels and cascades, and all working entirely by the force of gravity, without pumps. It is now an Italian state museum, and is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
Tivoli had been a popular summer residence since ancient Roman times due to its altitude, cooler temperatures and its proximity to the Villa Hadriana, the summer residence of the Emperor Hadrian I.
The Villa was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este (1509-1572), second son of Alfonso I d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara and grandson of Pope Alexander VI, along with Lucrezia Borgia.