Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints

Parish church dating from the late 13th century, with substantial work in the 14th and 15th centuries, and restored in 1869 by William Smith. Built of rubblestone with ashlar dressings, featuring lead roofs and a plain tiled chancel.

The church comprises a west tower, nave, north aisle, north vestry, south porch, and chancel, all articulated with buttresses with set-offs. Windows were restored in the 19th century.

The tower is a four-stage structure of 14th and 15th-century date with four stringcourses, a moulded plinth, angle buttresses, and an ashlared fourth stage carrying an embattled parapet with crocketed corner finials. The west elevation displays a pointed arch with a two-light window featuring Y-tracery and hoodmould with headstops. Above in the third stage sits a moulded four-centred arch containing a two-light bell-opening with transom, louvres, and hoodmould with headstops. The north, south and east elevations all contain similar bell-openings. A 20th-century clockface is positioned in the south elevation's second stage. Evidence of an earlier nave roofline is visible on the east elevation.

The nave has a 15th-century clerestory with two two-light windows in chamfered square frames on the north wall and three similar windows on the south wall, all with a continuous sill band. The east gable is coped with kneelers and cross finials.

The 13th-century north aisle and vestry have a coped west parapet. The aisle features a chamfered pointed arch three-light west window with hoodmould. The north wall carries a chamfered plinth and cornice, with a sequence from west to east comprising a buttress, a chamfered four-centred doorway with plank door, a buttress, a chamfered pointed arch window with Y-tracery and hoodmould, and another buttress. The east wall has a chamfered pointed arch four-light window with interesting tracery and hoodmould.

The nave's south wall has a moulded plinth and, proceeding west to east, a chamfered pointed arch two-light window with hoodmould. The 15th-century south porch follows, featuring angle buttresses, a coped gable with kneelers and cross finial, and a chamfered and moulded pointed arch doorway with responds with capitals and bases, and hoodmould. The porch walls contain chamfered pointed arch two-light windows in the east and west walls. The porch roof features moulded timbers of 15th-century date. Below these windows is a double-chamfered pointed arch south doorway with double panelled doors. Continuing east along the south wall of the nave are a two-light window in a chamfered square frame with hoodmould, a buttress, a chamfered pointed arch three-light window with intersecting tracery and hoodmould, and another buttress.

The 13th-century chancel has a coped gable with kneelers and cross finial. Its north wall carries from west to east a chamfered pointed arch window with Y-tracery and hoodmould, followed by a buttress. The south wall displays, west to east, a chamfered pointed arch two-light window with plate tracery and hoodmould with headsteps, then a buttress, followed by a chamfered pointed arch window with Y-tracery and hoodmould with headstops (interrupted below by a 19th-century doorway with flat arch and plank door), and a further similar two-light window with plate tracery, succeeded by a buttress. The east wall carries a continuous moulded string course and a 19th-century chamfered pointed arch four-light window with rectilinear tracery and hoodmould, above which sits a small quatrefoil window.

Interior

A triple-chamfered tower arch features keel-moulded responds with capital and bases. The chancel arch is double-chamfered with polygonal responds with capital bases. The three-bay north arcade contains double-chamfered arches supported by, proceeding west to east, a half-round respond, a round pier, an octagonal pier, and a polygonal respond, all with capitals and bases. The south-east corner of the nave preserves a chamfered four-centred arch that formerly held the rood loft doorway.

The chancel contains a piscina in its south-east corner, distinguished by heavily moulded pointed arch work and colonnettes with capitals and bases. A plain pointed arch aumbry occupies the north-east corner. A 19th-century organ now fills the doorway to the north vestry. An octagonal pedestal font with panels containing quatrefoils in circles, dated 1654 but probably of earlier origin, stands in the nave.

19th-century fittings include altar rails, pews, stalls, lectern, and poor box. Screens of 20th-century date enclose the north aisle to east and west. A 1905 tower arch screen incorporates re-used reticulated tracery from an earlier 14th-century screen. An oak chest, inscribed on its front with "J * I Church (1816 W * W Wardens)", is preserved.

The monuments and memorials are numerous. The chancel contains an 1860 marble wall memorial on its north wall, with a 20th-century tablet below the south-west window recording a gift of stained glass. A late 19th-century brass wall memorial appears above the south window. The nave displays a late 19th-century brass wall memorial, a mid-20th-century brass wall memorial, and a marble wall memorial with sarcophagus in relief commemorating John Lucas (died 1827) and his wife (died 1826), all on the south wall. Three large slate floor slabs occupy the centre aisle of the nave, displaying decorated margins and very worn inscriptions; west of these lies a small lozenge-shaped slate slab dated 1827 with worn inscription. The north aisle retains an 1830s marble wall memorial to the Lucas family on its north wall, and a lozenge-shaped slate floor slab to John Lucas from 1835 at its west end.

The nave roof is of 15th-century date, featuring brattished trusses and moulded beams with bosses. The north aisle and chancel roofs are 19th-century works. Stone flag and polychromatic tile floors remain in place. A south-east window of the nave contains stained glass of 1907 by Kempe & Co.