Church of All Saints

Church of All Saints

This is a church of considerable architectural importance, with work spanning from around the late 12th century through to the 19th century, with major restoration undertaken in 1933. The building is constructed of ironstone rubble with some weathered ironstone ashlar, and has slate roofs.

The church comprises a west tower, a nave with north and south aisles, a south porch, a chancel with a north vestry, and displays the complexity typical of a church that has grown and been modified over many centuries.

The west tower dates to the early 13th century and is a prominent feature. It has a pronounced moulded plinth and is divided into four stages by moulded stringcourses. Large four-stage diagonal buttresses flank it, with a Madonna figure set in a niche on the south buttress, added in 1933. The west face of the first stage contains a single pointed light window with a stringcourse above it, while the second stage has a clock. The north and south sides have large metal ties; those on the south side are formed into the initials R.L.C. The bell openings on all four sides consist of paired pointed lights divided by a rectangular shaft with pronounced imposts and hoodmoulds. Above these runs a moulded stringcourse with billet decoration, projecting weathered corner gargoyles, battlements, and four weathered corner pinnacles.

The north aisle dates to around 1300. Its west end features a pointed two-light window with Y tracery and a two-stage angle buttress to the north, each stage topped by a gable. Further east is a blocked round-headed doorway with two three-stage buttresses on high stepped plinths. A three-light pointed window with intersecting tracery and hoodmould follows, with an eastern angle buttress of two stages. Moulded eaves and 15th-century battlements run along the top, with flat roofs beneath. The clerestorey of the 15th century has three rectangular windows, each with two cusped and pointed lights, with moulded eaves and battlements above. At the east end of the north aisle is a pointed three-light window with intersecting tracery and hoodmould.

The east end of the nave has a coped gable with battlements and a finial. The chancel wall between the nave aisle and vestry is marked by a single lancet window.

The north vestry dates to the 19th century. Its west wall has a deep-set doorway with a plank door and a small rectangular window with leaded lights to the south. The north side has a five-light stone mullion window with leaded lights, while the east wall has two-light stone mullion windows with leaded lights. The east end of the chancel contains a three-light pointed window with restored intersecting tracery featuring quatrefoils, with a hoodmould and labelstop heads, beneath a shallow coped gable. The south side of the chancel has a three-light pointed window with reticulated tracery of around 1300 and a hoodmould. Beyond this is a pointed early 14th-century doorway with pronounced polygonal impost blocks, polygonal jambs, a plank door, and a hoodmould. A large pointed window follows with three cusped pointed lights and 19th-century tracery, with a damaged early 14th-century hoodmould. The early 14th-century east window of the south aisle has three lights with intersecting tracery and a hoodmould with a damaged labelstop to the south; a corbel sits above to the north. A low angle buttress of two gabled stages adjoins it. The south side of the south aisle has a two- and three-light window with intersecting tracery and a hoodmould. The south porch dates to around 1300 and has a plainly moulded arched doorway.

The porch interior is flanked by stone benches with a round-headed interior doorway that has chamfered jambs and imposts and an 18th-century door. A two-stage west angle buttress with gables stands at one corner. The porch has moulded eaves with 15th-century battlements and three windows, each with two pointed cusped lights, with moulded eaves and battlements above. The west end of the south aisle has a pointed two-light window with intersecting tracery. In the north-west corner of the south aisle, part of the tower buttress is visible.

The interior shows the church's long building history. The tower arch dates to around 1300 and has semicircular responds, plain capitals, and a double-chamfered pointed arch. The north arcade of three bays dates to around 1175 and features round-headed double-chamfered arches with hoodmoulds and heads in the spandrels. The piers are round with 'waterholding' bases. The western respond has a plain scalloped capital; the first pier to the east has a crocket capital, while the second pier to the east has a plain upright stiff-leaf capital. The east respond is plainly moulded.

The south arcade of three bays dates to around 1200 and has double-chamfered pointed arches, octagonal piers, and polygonal responds, with hoodmoulds and heads in the spandrels. The western respond has a plain octagonal capital. The first pier to the east has a capital carved with human heads and clover-type leaves. The second pier to the east has a plain capital with an abacus decorated with a band of chip-star decoration, as does the eastern respond. A stringcourse runs beneath the window of the south aisle, and towards the east is a double-arched chamfered aumbrey of around 1300.

The north aisle has a blocked doorway with a rectangular chamfered lintel. At the east end of the north aisle are stone steps, partially restored in 1933, leading through a small rectangular opening to give access to the top of an ornate wooden roodscreen of 1933. A double-chamfered pointed chancel arch with filleted semicircular responds and plain capitals separates the nave from the chancel. The north wall of the chancel has a 19th-century arched recess for an organ, with a rectangular doorway to its east leading to the vestry. The roofs throughout date to 1933.

The south nave aisle contains a series of high wooden 18th-century box pews painted white. An exceptionally fine ornate octagonal wooden pulpit of 1626 stands here, originally from St Leonard's Chapel at Kirkstead, complete with its ornate octagonal sounding board and recently painted white. The east wall of the chancel has a marble memorial to Mary Davenport, who died in 1737. Various 19th-century memorials are located in the nave.

A much-defaced 13th-century drum font survives, with angle shafts that originally rose up the bowl. The fittings date to 1933. The three-light east window in the south aisle contains stained glass of 1950, financed by the Grimsby Wayfarers Association, depicting a central figure of Christ with cyclists on the right and ramblers with haversacks on the left.