All Saints Cathedral

Church kneelers for the altar rails and cushions for the choir stalls were designed by Canon Leonard Childs, Vicar of St Mark’s, Chaddesden.

He had been taught to embroider by his grandmother and – following a teenage pilgrimage to Coventry Cathedral – was inspired by John Piper’s tapestry to focus on ecclesiastical embroidery.

He took over the Cathedral’s embroidery workshop in the mid-Nineteen Seventies, designing vestments as well as canvaswork cushions and kneelers.

In 2004, all the vestments that he had designed were destroyed by a fire. It was thought the fire was caused by a cigarette end tossed through a newly broken window.  Canon Childs died in his sleep shortly after.  He was a designer with an international reputation but always insisted that he merely worked alongside the Cathedral’s 21 volunteer embroiderers.