Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints

This is a parish church built mainly in the 14th and 15th centuries, constructed of greenstone rubble with limestone ashlar and some red brick patching. The roof is lead with parapets and an embattled clerestory.

The church comprises a west tower, nave with north and south arcades, a south porch, and a chancel.

West Tower

The west tower dates to the late 14th century and has a moulded plinth and string courses with four-stage angle buttresses. The south-west buttress bears a plaque inscribed with the names of the vicar and two church wardens, dated 1656. Slit stair lights are set in the south side to the right of the south-west buttress. The pointed west doorway has a continuous richly moulded surround, hood mould, and double plank doors. Above it sits a pointed window with two ogee-headed lights flanking a single semi-circular headed light, with plain panel tracery and hood mould. A small pointed window above has two semi-circular headed cusped lights with panel tracery and hood mould. Bell openings on all four sides have pointed heads. Three pointed cusped lights with panel tracery, hood moulds and head label stops pierce the upper stages. The moulded eaves have projecting corner gargoyles, and battlements crown the tower with ornate pinnacles.

North Aisle

The north aisle was originally 14th century but was remodelled in the mid-15th century. It has a moulded plinth and regularly placed two-stage buttresses. The west end has a pointed window with three plain ogee-headed lights, panel tracery, hood mould and a single label stop head to the left. The north side features a flattened triangular-headed window to the right with three ogee-headed lights, panel tracery and hood mould. A pointed doorway to the left has a continuous moulded surround, a 16th-century plank door, hood mould and label stop head to the left. Three windows to the left are similar to that to the right of the doorway. The east end has a pointed window with three pointed lights, panel tracery and hood mould. Above rises a battlemented mid-15th-century clerestory with five windows, each with a pointed head, two semi-circular headed lights, panel tracery and hood mould.

Chancel

The chancel is 15th-century with a plinth and two pointed windows in the north side, each with three pointed cusped lights, panel tracery and hood mould. The east end is defined by diagonal two-stage buttresses. A pointed east window contains five painted cusped lights with panel tracery, hood mould and head label stops. The south side shows some brick patching and a small pointed priest's doorway with a segmental head, continuous moulded surround, hood mould and a traceried plank door. Two pointed windows above each have three pointed cusped lights, panel tracery and hood mould.

South Aisle

The south aisle was originally 14th century and was remodelled in the mid-15th century. The east end has a pointed window with three ogee-headed lights, plain panel tracery, hood mould and head label stops. The south side has three flattened triangular-headed windows, each with three ogee-headed lights, panel tracery and hood moulds.

South Porch

The south porch is a gabled structure with 15th-century brick patching. It has a pointed south doorway with a moulded head, slender responds with moulded imposts, hood mould and head label stops. The interior has flanking stone benches and a 14th-century doorway with a pointed head, richly moulded continuous surround, hood mould and head label stops. The panelled studded plank door has a smaller doorway within it with a segmental head inscribed 'God Save the King 1633'. A single window beyond the porch has a flattened triangular head with three ogee-headed lights, panel tracery and hood mould. Another pointed window in the west end has three ogee-headed lights, plain panel tracery, hood mould and head label stops. A 15th-century clerestory identical to that on the north side rises above.

Interior

The interior features a tall mid-14th-century tower arch with a pointed double-chamfered head and triple responds. In the south-west corner of the tower is a 14th-century ogee-headed doorway with a continuously moulded surround and plank door. The mid-14th-century five-bay north and south arcades have pointed double-chamfered heads, octagonal piers, polygonal responds and moulded capitals. The north and south aisles have 15th-century parclose screens, each with five ogee-headed ornate openwork panel-traceried sections. The south aisle contains an ogee-headed cusped piscina. A 14th-century pointed chancel arch has a double-chamfered head and polygonal responds with moulded capitals. The chancel is separated from the nave by a 15th-century screen with five openwork traceried sections featuring crocketed and finialled ogee heads and painted lower blind panels. The chancel also has a 14th-century cusped ogee-headed piscina.

The interior furnishings include 15th-century pews with hinged doors with simple early panel tracery, 19th-century choir stalls, reredos and communion rail. A 15th-century brass eagle lectern of East Anglian school workmanship has a moulded bulbous pedestal with three small lions at its foot. The pulpit dates to 1615 and is related to that at Burgh le Marsh. It has steps leading up to a hexagonal pulpit with ornate bands of fretwork and stylised dragons; the book rest is inscribed 'William Worship Doctor in Divinite.' The pulpit is supported by paired fluted angle columns with moulded panels and fretwork, with an ornate sounding board and canopy featuring rich scroll work and pendentive finials. A 15th-century octagonal font stands on a tall panelled pedestal; the octagonal bowl is supported by head and foliate motifs, with shields set in cusped arches on each side. A 16th-century altar table stands in the south aisle. The roofs are 19th-century work re-using 15th-century timbers and medieval stone corbels; the south aisle roof is 15th-century.

Monuments

The church contains several monuments of note. One is of alabaster streaked with orange and pink, with faded paint and gilding, commemorating Sir Valentine Browne (died 1600) and his wife Elizabeth. It shows eight sons and seven daughters kneeling below on a rectangular moulded plinth, with the kneeling figures of Browne and his wife above beneath a semi-circular arch with panelled soffit, flanking pilasters, bracketed key and cartouche above. Another alabaster monument, streaked pink and grey, commemorates John Browne (died 1614) and his wife Cicely; both figures kneel in prayer beneath a semi-circular arch with panelled soffit, flanking pilasters and cartouche. An ashlar standing monument to William Bonde (died 1559) has a high plinth with geometric patterning, flanking free-standing columns, and a cartouche above featuring a skull, coat of arms, rays of sunlight and a tiny bearded bust. A late 13th or early 14th-century brass in the floor of the south aisle shows the head and shoulders of a knight with hands in prayer, and is one of four or five of the earliest brasses in England.