Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints

A church of 11th-century origin with major phases of development in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. The chancel was heavily restored in 1872-73 by Sir George Gilbert Scott. The building is constructed from rubble and ashlar magnesian limestone with lead and 20th-century cement-tile roofs.

The church comprises a west tower, a 5-bay aisled nave with a south porch and north chapel, and a narrower 3-bay chancel.

The tower dates to the early 13th century and rises in three stages. It has a chamfered plinth with offsets between stages. Round-headed loops appear on the west and south sides of the lower stage and on the west side of the second stage. The belfry openings are louvred, each containing two pointed lights divided by a shaft with a carved capital set within a pointed-arched recess. A string course with corner gargoyles runs beneath a 15th-century embattled parapet with eight crocketed pinnacles.

The nave is built of quoined rubble heightened in ashlar, with some late 11th-century herringbone walling flanking the tower. The 14th-century south aisle has a chamfered plinth, offset band and buttresses at angles and between bays. Its restored windows contain 2, 3 and 4 lights with reticulated tracery set in chamfered, square-headed recesses. The 15th-century south porch features a chamfered, pointed arch with a hoodmould; the hood has one renewed head-carved stop. The roof is of ribbed ashlar with gable copings and an apex cross, and incorporates two cross slabs within. The south door is double-quadrant moulded.

The easternmost bay of the nave, beyond the aisle, has a chamfered plinth and moulded band beneath a restored 3-light window with cusped tracery, pointed arch and hoodmould.

The clerestorey dates to the 14th century and contains Y-tracery 2-light windows in the first bay; the remaining bays have Perpendicular windows of 2 ogee lights in deeply-chamfered, square-headed recesses. A string course runs beneath the embattled parapet.

The north side of the nave is of rubble heightened in ashlar with a moulded band and later buttresses. It has a chamfered, quoined north door with a segmental-arched head. A buttress on its left is adjoined by a plain 3-light window with intersecting tracery.

The 15th-century north chapel on the left has a chamfered plinth, moulded band and buttresses. Two of its north-facing windows are 3-light windows with ogee lights set in square-headed quadrant-moulded surrounds; these were undergoing restoration at the time of resurvey. The chapel and aisles have plain ashlar parapets.

The chancel is lower than the nave and dates to the early 14th century, though it was heavily restored in 1872-73. It has a chamfered plinth and a pointed south priests' door with hoodmould. Adjacent to the door are windows of 3, 2 and 3 lights with intersecting tracery and hoodmould. The east window is of five cusped lights with a wavy quinquefoil at the apex, set beneath a keel-moulded hood with head-carved stops. The north side, where a former chapel has been removed, retains a 3-light window to the right of a 20th-century brick projection that encloses the arch of an Easter sepulchre. A trefoil-headed piscina with a moulded buttress stands to the left of this projection, with a door beyond.

Interior

The segmental-arched doorway into the tower (originally the west doorway) is accompanied by twin round-headed windows above it with deep embrasures. The north arcade has cylindrical piers with moulded capitals supporting double-chamfered arches, with keeled responds. The south arcade has octagonal piers with moulded capitals and matching responds to double-chamfered arches. The easternmost bay to each arcade is detailed as the south arcade. In the south aisle is a trefoil-headed piscina. The roofs are 20th-century work.

The chancel arch is tall and double-chamfered. An Easter sepulchre occupies the north wall, with a cusped and moulded arch beneath a crocketed hood with pinnacles, mirrored in the details of the outside wall (originally facing into the now-removed chapel). The south wall contains a 2-seat sedilia with shaped arms and a double piscina with trefoil-headed openings.

Dating from 1873-74, the chancel floor is of marble and tile, and the ornate arch-braced roof features longitudinal rails carved with a motto and vine trail.

Fittings and Monuments

A rood screen, the gift of William Adam (d.1542), contains 2:2:2 divisions with initials on the central doors. The screen has a panelled dado with quatrefoils, a carved mid-rail, and ogee lights with cusped panel tracery, along with a later cornice.

To the north of the chancel stands a freestanding monument to Frances (d.1818), wife of Bryan Cooke of Owston Hall, showing a figure kneeling on a tasselled cushion with crossed hands to her breast. The monument is signed 'CHANTREY / SCULPTOR / 1820'. Opposite, within an arched recess, is the monument to Bryan Cooke (d.1821), which depicts a seated, pensive figure facing east against a panel crested with anthemion motifs, signed 'CHANTREY : SC / 1830'. To its east is a fine cartouche to Henry Cooke with drapes and cherubs. Two other Cooke family wall monuments are by Fisher of York.

In the south aisle are some parts of a tomb chest set in the floor to George Byard (d.1660), with panels carved with arcading, grenades and a horse. Adjacent to the western pier of the south aisle is a brass depicting robed figures of Robert of Hatfield and his wife Ada (d.1409) with a French inscription. Another brass to William Adam (d.1667) is located on a slab with arms and inscription near the northern choir stalls, with a grave slab to Phillip Adam to its right.

Historical Context

Robert de Hatfield (d.1421) expressed in his will the desire to be buried in the Chapel of the Virgin (the north chapel), which he described as newly constructed.