Church of All Saints

Church of All Saints

Parish church of the 12th to 14th centuries, restored after a fire in 1915 by W.D. Caröe. The building is constructed of coursed, squared gritstone with gritstone dressings and plain tile roofs. It comprises a west steeple, nave with north aisle and south porch, and chancel with north vestry.

The 13th-century tower rises in four stages divided by chamfered string courses, standing on a chamfered plinth. Clasping buttresses rise to a crenellated parapet on corbels. The west doorway has two chamfered orders with colonnettes, and is restored from the 19th century; it contains a plank door with elaborate wrought-ironwork and a blocked triangular-headed lancet above. Above this is a paired two-light window within a single chamfered arch with a hoodmould featuring dogtooth ornament. Large paired lancet bell-openings sit above, with plainly chamfered orders. The north side displays a double-chamfered lancet, a single chamfered lancet above, and bell-openings matching the west. The south side mirrors the west, with a paired two-light window within a single chamfered arch and paired lancet bell-openings. An early 14th-century octagonal stone spire rises above, featuring two tiers of tiny lucarnes. The nave and chancel are unified on the south side beneath a parapet with moulded string course and coping.

The south porch is gabled, with a lancet to the east and paired lancets to the west. It has a plain round-arched doorway with a studded plank door. To the left is a 19th-century round-arched window. To the right are three large square-headed 14th-century windows with reticulated tracery in double chamfered surrounds and returned hoodmoulds. A priest's doorway with hollow and roll mouldings and hoodmould is nearby, followed by a two-light Perpendicular-style window with hoodmould on pendant stops. Angle buttresses mark the east end. The large five-light Perpendicular east window was renewed by Caröe in 1915, with a hoodmould featuring pendant stops.

A shallowly gabled 20th-century north vestry has domestic-type mullioned windows. The north side of the chancel contains one plain lancet. The lean-to north aisle has a parapet and a three-light east window with cusped intersecting tracery. The north elevation of the aisle features angle buttresses to the east and west (the latter diagonal) with two intermediate buttresses. Two three-light windows with cusped intersecting tracery light this elevation, the second larger than the first. A north doorway with moulded surround and hoodmould provides access. At the west end is one small square-headed two-light clerestory window with cusping. A three-light west window with cusped intersecting tracery and an unusual swag-like hoodmould stop completes the aisle's fenestration. A 12th-century south doorway features two orders of colonnettes, a zigzag arch, and a simply decorated label, with a plank door containing re-used elaborate wrought-ironwork.

Interior

The interior features a broad 13th-century tower arch of three chamfered orders with moulded imposts. The 13th-century north arcade spans three bays with circular piers, octagonal capitals decorated with nailhead ornament, keeled responds, and double-chamfered arches. A squint connects the north aisle chapel to the chancel, above which remains of the rood stair are visible. The north aisle contains a blocked arched recess with roll moulding. A late 14th-century wooden sculpture, a pieta probably of German origin, is located here.

In the chancel are triple sedilia with cusped ogee arches and shields in the spandrels above, and a piscina with a tall pointed arch. The roofs are of high quality Perpendicular style, dating from the 1915 restoration, featuring castellated and moulded tie beams on angel corbels with tracery above.

Timber fittings of high quality include the rood screen with coving and gallery, pulpit, choir stalls, communion rail, and organ case—all dating from after 1915. A 19th-century octagonal font is also present.