Church of All Saints

Church of All Saints

Parish church dating from the 12th to 15th centuries, with significant work undertaken in 1838, and restorations in 1875 and 1888. The building is constructed of coursed ironstone rubble with Ancaster stone ashlar, blue lias, and red brick, with some rendering. Lead and slate roofs cover the structure. The plan comprises a west tower with spire, nave with north and south aisles, a south porch, and a rectangular chancel.

The west tower is of 15th-century date, built in three stages of ashlar with clasping buttresses and pronounced plinth mouldings on all three sides. The first stage on the west front contains two 15th-century windows of two cusped and pointed lights with quatrefoils and mullions above, each with a hood mould and large ornate head label stops. The second stage has single small rectangular windows containing quatrefoils on the west, north and south sides. Both stages on the north side have small lights to illuminate the stairs. On the east side of the second stage, the steep pitch of the nave's original roof line is visible. The bell openings on all four sides feature two cusped, pointed lights with quatrefoils and mullions above. A frieze of quatrefoils set in diamonds runs around the upper stage, above which are battlements, projecting gargoyles, and ornate corner pinnacles. The tower is topped by a 15th-century octagonal spire with two tiers of ornate lucarnes in alternating directions, crockets, and a finial.

The north aisle is of ironstone with Ancaster stone dressings. A 14th-century window in the west front has two cusped lights with reticulated tracery, a hood mould, and grotesque head label stops. Four 19th-century buttresses of two stages with curved setoffs and gable tops are set along the aisle. A 12th-century round-headed, single-chamfered doorway with a hood mould is now blocked. A 15th-century window to the east has two cusped round-headed lights surmounted by four small pointed and cusped lights beneath a three-centred hood mould with grotesque head label stops. To the east is another 15th-century two-light window with pointed and cusped tracery, restored in the 19th century.

The chancel dates to 1838 and is constructed of rendered brick with Ancaster stone quoins and dressings. Its north side contains a single round-headed light. The east end has a large rectangular window of three cusped lights. The south side has two single round-headed lights.

The south aisle's east front is of Ancaster stone and features a 15th-century window of two pointed and cusped lights surmounted by three mullions and further cusping, with a hood mould and head label stops. A two-stage buttress to the south has a projecting gargoyle above. The south front of the south aisle is of ironstone with ashlar dressings, moulded plinth, and eaves. A 15th-century window here has two round-headed cusped lights surmounted by four small pointed and cusped lights beneath a three-centred hood mould with grotesque head label stops.

The south porch is 15th-century, with ironstone and Ancaster stone dressings on its east side and 20th-century blue lias on its west side. Both sides have single deeply splayed openings. The doorway is two-centred with a hood mould and grotesque head label stops. Interior stone benches are present, and the west doorway has a plain two-centred arch. A 15th-century window to the west of the porch has two round-headed cusped lights surmounted by four small pointed and cusped lights beneath a three-centred hood mould with grotesque head label stops. A two-stage angle buttress faces south.

Interior

The interior contains a 15th-century tower arch with semi-circular responds, five-sided capitals and abaci, and a simply moulded pointed arch. The north arcade comprises four bays. To the west are two mid-12th-century bays with plain chamfered round-headed arches, each supported by a single round pier and two semi-circular responds, all with scalloped and beaded capitals. To the east are two early 13th-century bays (one west and one east of a screen) with five-sided responds and simply moulded round arches. The south arcade has three bays of late 13th-century date, incorporating one octagonal pier and four five-sided responds with simply moulded pointed arches. To the north east is a chapel containing an aumbry and corbel in the north wall. A small aumbry is located in the north wall of the chancel, and a small mid-12th-century pier with scalloped capital is fixed to the south wall.

A 15th-century screen of four wooden panels, each divided by a mullion, features perpendicular tracery with rosettes; the lower panels have blind tracery and rosettes. A 15th-century pulpit comprises four panels with reticulated tracery and rosettes, with a chamfered rail. An altar rail dates to around 1730. The 19th-century pews include some 15th-century bench ends. The font is a table type incorporating fragments of 13th-century capitals and bases in its more recent reconstruction. A plaque of 1888 records Richard Lucas' bequest of £250 for church repairs. The timber roofs throughout date to the 19th and 20th centuries, re-using some older timbers.