Church Of All Saints

The Church of All Saints

The Church of All Saints is a medieval church that stands prominently at the corner of Stamford's marketplace. The earliest surviving fabric is the probably 12th-century northeast angle of the nave, and the irregular plan suggests the church developed around an older structure. The chancel, south chapel, nave and south aisle were all rebuilt in the early to mid 13th century. At that time there was also an internal tower porch in the west bay of the south aisle that rose above the aisle like a turret. This was presumably removed when the present northwest tower was added in the late 15th century, probably with the patronage of John (died 1475) and William (died 1489) Browne. Other 15th-century work, possibly of several phases, included rebuilding the upper parts of the walls, the addition of the clerestory, the rebuilding of the chancel arch and the construction of the north vestry. Galleries were added in the 18th century but were removed in the 19th century. There were several restorations in the 19th century, including in 1856 by E Browning, who rebuilt the vestry; in 1871 by T G Jackson, when the south chapel was partly rebuilt; and in 1878 when the chancel was refitted.

Materials and Plan

The church is built of coursed limestone, partly squared and partly rubble, with lead roofs. It comprises a chancel with south chapel and north vestry, nave with north and south aisles and south porch, and northwest tower with north porch.

Exterior

The church is dominated by the tall northwest tower. Several quoins at a high level in the northeast corner of the nave survive from the probably 12th-century nave, but otherwise the church was wholly rebuilt in the 13th century. The lower part of the walls of the chancel, south chapel, nave and south aisle have external 13th-century blind arcading with moulded arches on detached shafts, with alternating bell and stiff leaf capitals. At the west end the heads of the arches were rebuilt and given cusped four-centred arches in the late 15th century. There are elaborate 13th-century pilaster buttresses at the corners and in the centres of the walls. The north aisle and the upper parts of the nave and south aisle walls were rebuilt in the late 15th century, when the church was given low pitched roofs, a clerestory and embattled parapets. The windows have late Perpendicular tracery. A turret over the southwest corner of the south chapel was added in 1871. A shallow projection on the south side of the south aisle, over which the blind arcading continues, contains a stair formerly to the space over the west end of the south aisle, but now opening onto the leads of the aisle.

The late 15th-century northwest tower is of four stages. The third stage, above the nave roof, has cusped panelling, a band of quatrefoils and an embattled cornice. The clasping buttresses terminate in small turrets. There is a large west window flanked by canopied niches in the lower stage. On the east face of the second stage is a square window with a 15th-century clock face integrated into it, and on the north is a lozenge shaped panel with marks for the Browne family. The bell stage windows are very large and have pairs of transomed lights within a larger opening. The tall, octagonal broach spire has three tiers of elaborate, gabled lucarne openings.

The north porch leads into the base of the tower and is conceived of as a miniature fortified gateway with pinnacles and an embattled cornice over the entrance arch. The south porch is also 15th century but of a different, possibly slightly earlier, character to the northwest tower and north porch. It replaced an earlier porch set within the west end of the south aisle, and the remains of the entrance to the older porch is still visible above the roof of the present porch. It has a tall, ogee gable with a finial, crockets and pinnacles around the entrance arch, and a barrel vault with decorative cusped panels on the interior. The north vestry was rebuilt in the 19th century but stands on an earlier basement, which retains the jambs of an earlier window on the north.

Interior

The interior is plastered and painted with exposed stone dressings, and is much plainer than the outside, although the 13th-century arcades are still very rich. There are fine angel roofs in the chancel and south chapel.

The north and south nave arcades, and the chancel arcade are all of the 13th century. The south aisle is early 13th century and was originally of three bays. It has deeply moulded arches on piers with clustered shafts with water holding bases, shaft rings and stiff leaf capitals. The east arch has nailhead ornament. The south aisle was extended one bay to the west in the 15th century, and the present arch apparently replaces a door to the former internal south porch. A shaft in the west corner of the aisle of similar character to the arcade implies the presence of a former vault in this area, and a small 15th-century door in the south wall of the aisle leads to a 13th-century stair that formerly gave access to the space over the vault. The two-bay arcade to the south chapel is slightly later than the south aisle and has one moulded and one chamfered order on a round pier with a stiff leaf capital. There is a fine 13th-century piscina in the east wall of the south chapel. The north arcade is mid 13th century and has two chamfered orders on round piers with water holding bases and coved capitals.

The chancel arch was rebuilt in the 15th century, and the arch springs from battlemented corbels set into a plain wall face, probably cut back from an earlier, narrower arch. It is likely that the lack of articulation on the lower part of the arch was originally concealed by an elaborate screen. The north vestry is 19th century but has a 15th-century door to the chancel with a four-centred head in a square frame, with panelled jambs and carved spandrels.

The tower arch opens through the west end of the north wall of the north aisle, and is of two orders, the outer with polygonal capitals and bases on rounded shafts, the inner with continuous ogee mouldings. The ground floor of the tower has a stone vault carried on angle shafts at the corners, except on the southwest where there is a stair vice. The shafts have capitals with grotesque carved figures, and the vault has panelled wall and diagonal ribs, with moulded intermediate ribs. There is a large circular opening for the bell ropes in the centre.

Principal Fixtures

The church was largely refitted in the 19th century but retains a few earlier fittings. There is a 13th-century double piscina in the east wall of the south chapel, similar to, and contemporary with, the arcade. The 15th-century Purbeck marble font is octagonal with a buttressed stem and carved, panelled bowl. A 17th-century hourglass stands in the nave. The reredos and low chancel screen are 1878, the nave seating is of 1856 and has doors and poppyheads. A few fragments of 15th-century glass remain in the south chapel. Some good 19th-century glass including an east window of 1874 by Heaton, Butler and Bayne.

The chancel, nave and southeast chapel roofs are 15th century and have carved stone corbels and gilded bosses. The chancel and chapel roofs have carved angels on the ends of the principals, and the chapel roof also has a richly decorated boarded soffit.

Monuments

There are many good monuments. Brasses include a group for members of the Browne family, benefactors of the church, including William and Margaret Browne, both died 1489; Alice Bredmeydew (Browne), died 1491; John Browne the younger, died 1475/6 and his wife Margaret; and John Browne the Elder, died 1460 and Margery his wife. There are many good 18th and 19th-century wall tablets and some floor slabs.

Subsidiary Features

Four iron gates in the churchyard of circa 1800.

Historical Context

All Saints was included in the Domesday book of 1086 under the entry for Portland, an alternative name for Stamford. Another three churches are mentioned, and a further seven are also known to have existed by that date. Such a large number of churches was typical of a prosperous Anglo-Saxon town. All Saints probably began as a detached part of the mother parish of St Peter's, but St Peter's was subsequently closed and amalgamated with All Saints in the 16th century. No Anglo-Saxon masonry, and only a fragment of 12th-century work, survives, but the irregular plan suggests that the church was rebuilt around an older core. The rich rebuilding of the 13th century reflects the phenomenal prosperity of the town in that period, when the area was made rich by fen drainage and wool. Stamford was sacked and burned by the Lancastrian forces in 1461, and the complete rebuilding of the upper parts of All Saints suggests that it was badly damaged at that time. The 15th-century work on All Saints was largely paid for by William and John Browne, wealthy Stamford wool merchants and members of the Staple of Calais. The antiquarian William Stukely was vicar here from 1730 to 1747 and published his important works on Stonehenge and Avebury during that period.