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All Saints' Cemetery Chapel, San Luis Rey
The Cemetery Chapel
Prepared by Jarvis Nolan, Historiographer
“Every cemetery should have a chapel like this”, stated Bishop Mathes in his sermon at a service at All Saints Cemetery Chapel, San Luis Rey. The chapel was founded by members of an English community who came to the San Luis Rey valley in the 1880’s. They were wealthy and came to the valley to farm knowing nothing about farming. Sundays they would commute five miles to Grace Mission, now St. Anne’s, in Oceanside, but decided to build their own chapel in San Luis Rey.
With funding from St. Savior’s Church, Ealing England, the former church of the Morgan family, the chapel was built by the members of the congregation on land given by H.M. Brayden. The building was completed in time for the Christmas Eve service in 1890 which was led by The Rev. William Edmond Jacob, who would return twice a month to hold services until 1897. The chapel is made of redwood in English Gothic style and seats forty people. The organ was purchased from Mission de Alcala in San Diego by Edward Lord Gordon and was delivered in time for the first service. The altar was carved of redwood by Augustus Darvall. The lancet windows are framed with cathedral glass surrounding clear glass allowing light to enter the chapel. The chapel and cemetery were consecrated on December 15, 1892 by the Rt. Rev. Ford Nichols, bishop of California. Francis William Reynolds, one of the founders, was the first to be buried in the cemetery in 1896.
By 1900 many of the families had left the valley. Services were held twice a month by clergy from Grace Mission until around 1920 when the chapel was closed. During a storm in the late 1920’s the chapel was knocked off its foundation. It was put back in place by former members and friends and has been maintained ever since. In 1945 the All Saints Cemetery Association was started, consisting of the descendants of the founders, and others with family members buried in the cemetery. The association maintains the care of the cemetery and the chapel. In 1947 the association was able to repay St. Savior’s by sending money for repairs to their church which was damaged by bombs during World War II. Today, there are about 300 members in the cemetery association. One of the members is Lionel Van Deerlin, a congressman from California from 1963 to 1981, and is a descendant. His grandfather was The Rev. Erasmus J.H. Van Deerlin, D.D., rector from 1907 -08.
All Saints is the only diocesan cemetery. Services have been held every Memorial Day since 1954. A few years later a second service was added to be held the Saturday before All Saints Day. The property comes alive these two times a year. The services start at 2:00 pm and are attended by about sixty people. The organ is still in use playing old favorites such as For All The Saints, Ye Watchers. The organist is Kim Speak from St. Michael’s, Carlsbad. After the service high tea is served in the old English tradition. By 4:30 the windows are boarded up, the food is gone and the tables are put away. As the people leave and the gates are locked, the place is once again silent except for the wind in the 95 year old eucalyptus trees planted by The Rev. Jacob on Arbor Day, 1910. Another quote in the bishop’s sermon was “We should come to places like this once a year.“
