Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints

Parish church with origins in the mid 11th century, extensively modified and restored through the late 12th, early 13th, 14th centuries and substantially in the 18th and 19th centuries. The church was restored by Ewan Christian in 1867, the north aisle mostly rebuilt by James Fowler in 1874–5, and the chancel restored by James Fowler in 1880.

The building is constructed of coursed limestone and blue lias rubble, with sections of limestone and ironstone herringbone rubble and limestone and ironstone ashlar. Roofs are slate with stone coped gables and cross finials.

The plan comprises a west tower, nave with north aisle, and a long chancel with north vestry.

The west tower dates from 1776 and features a plinth, two-stage clasping buttresses and three stages overall. It has a single lancet with hood mould, a string course above, a keyed oculus, and string course with bell openings on all four sides, each a single round-headed opening with raised keystone. The tower is topped with moulded eaves and battlements.

The nave retains a part of the 13th-century structure to the north, though a massive 19th-century buttress has been added. The west and north walls of the north aisle were rebuilt in 1874–5 and include a western lancet and two pointed north windows, each of two pointed lights with hood mould and re-used 15th-century animal label stops, along with regularly placed two-stage buttresses. The east wall of the north aisle is late 12th-century and contains a small, broad-pointed window set high up with chamfered surround.

The chancel's north wall combines 11th-century herringbone work with ironstone rubble elsewhere. A 19th-century rectangular window with two pointed lights, hood mould and label stops is present, with a 19th-century lean-to below. The north vestry, also 19th-century, has a west doorway with Caernarvon head, chamfered surround and plank door, and a pointed north window of three pointed lights.

The east end of the chancel was heavily restored in 1880 and displays two 19th-century lancets with re-used 14th-century label stops, an almond-shaped window above, and flanking diagonal two-stage buttresses with a central two-stage buttress.

The south side of the chancel, constructed of blue lias rubble and herringbone, contains narrow two-stage buttresses between three rectangular 14th-century windows, each of two ogee-headed lights with rectangular hood moulds. The south side of the nave has two two-stage buttresses between two 19th-century pointed windows, each with two pointed lights and a single quatrefoil above, hood moulds and 14th-century animal label stops.

An 11th-century south doorway features plain jambs with chamfered imposts, a round head with plain tympanum, a 14th-century hood mould and animal label stops, and a plank door.

Interior features include a 19th-century tower arch with pointed double-chamfered head and inner order supported on corbels. A two-bay early 13th-century arcade has keeled responds, a central round pier, plain moulded capitals and double-chamfered pointed heads with broached mouldings. A small pointed chamfered arch to the east, restored in the 19th century, has a blocked rectangular opening above. A broad pointed double-chamfered 13th-century chancel arch dies into the flanking walls. A 19th-century north-east organ arch has a pointed double-chamfered head with inner order supported on corbels.

The south wall of the chancel contains 13th-century sedilia with simple striking stone bench ends. The interior is roofed with a 19th-century waggon roof over the nave and a tie-beam roof over the chancel.

Furnishings include a 19th-century ornate flint and wrought-iron pulpit, pews, wrought-iron altar rail and lectern. Monuments include a grey and white monument with urn to Francis Toyne, died 1750, and family, along with 19th-century monuments.