In 1848, during his travels through the Eastern Cape, Bishop Gray of Cape Town paid a visit to the young town of Somerset. He was struck by the scarcity of clergyman having only seen one in 900 miles of travel from Cape Town. He undertook to arrange for some 20 Anglican ministers to emigrate from England, and because he believed that there were sufficient English settlers and others to support an Anglican Church, he promised to provide the area with a suitable Rector.
Bishop Gray’s application for a site for a church in Somerset East was approved in 1849. Six years later in 1855 the small Anglican Church in Beaufort Street, along with an Anglican Burial Ground in Paulet Street, was consecrated. The chancel and vestry were added in 1881
The church is one of those with a external church bell which was installed in 1883.
The All Saints Church serves a number of different denominations in the town as sadly the congregations of the individual churches have dwindled.
