Church of All Saints

Church of All Saints

This is a parish church in Tealby, primarily built in the 12th to 16th centuries, with significant alterations carried out in the 19th century. The chancel was remodelled by James Fowler in 1872, and the tower was restored between 1881 and 1884. The church is constructed of coursed ironstone rubble with some ironstone ashlar, and has slate roofs. The plan comprises a west tower, nave with north and south aisles, a south porch, and a rectangular chancel.

The west tower dates from the mid-12th century but has an early 15th-century fourth stage and buttresses. It features a moulded plinth with a diagonal buttress with high stepped bases and richly moulded stringcourses. A similar buttress appears in the centre of the tower's south side, reaching just above the second stage. A small early 12th-century west doorway has large plain chamfered impost blocks; a 19th-century lintel and semi-circular head were later inserted. Above this is a round-headed window of approximately 1175 with a small head inside the apex and weathered, drooping leaves on either side, topped with a hoodmould. On the south side, just east of the buttress, is a rectangular light, with a 1977 clock above. The fifteenth-century bell chamber openings on all four sides each contain two cusped pointed lights with vertical tracery above and hoodmoulds. On the east side, lower and to the north of the bell chamber opening, is a pointed, deeply set twelfth-century opening with chamfered surround and hoodmould. The apex of the east bell opening is at eaves level, with a projecting gargoyle in a similar position above the west bell chamber opening. The tower has moulded eaves, battlements and corner pinnacles dating to 1881, along with a weathervane.

The early 14th-century north aisle has pointed windows of two cusped lights with reticulated quatrefoil above and hoodmould. It features angle buttresses of two stages and a tall chimney. The north side of the aisle proper has a three-light pointed window with intersecting tracery (restored in the 19th century) and hoodmould, with a two-stage buttress to its left and a pointed doorway with chamfered head, jambs, hoodmould and plank door beyond. To the left are two three-light pointed windows with restored intersecting tracery and hoodmoulds, separated by a two-stage buttress. The east corner has a two-stage angle buttress. The east end of the nave has a three-light pointed window with restored intersecting tracery and hoodmould. The top of the north aisle has 19th-century moulded eaves, battlements and blind traceried bases of pinnacles running its full length. A fifteenth-century clerestory contains four three-light windows with flattened triangular heads and hoodmoulds joined by stringcourse. The nave has 19th-century moulded eaves, battlements and the blind traceried bases of four pinnacles. At the east end of the nave are roofline elements of an earlier chancel, with moulded eaves, battlements, and south and north pinnacles with blind traceried bases.

The north side of the chancel has a blocked rectangular opening to the west and a small barely-pointed doorway to its left with chamfered arch, with joists and a plank door in one. Beyond is a three-light pointed window with restored intersecting tracery, a hoodmould, and a two-stage buttress to its left. The north-east and south-east corners have two-stage angle buttresses with plinths. The east end has a five-light window with 19th-century tracery and hoodmould. The south side of the chancel has a long three-light pointed window with restored intersecting tracery and hoodmould, with a two-stage buttress to its west, followed by a lower, smaller three-light pointed window with restored intersecting tracery. A blocked rectangular opening lies to the west. The east end of the south aisle of the nave has a small three-light pointed window with intersecting tracery and a two-stage angle buttress in the south-east corner.

The south side proper of the nave has two pointed three-light windows with restored intersecting tracery and hoodmoulds, separated by a two-stage buttress. The south porch dates to the 16th century and has a plinth, moulded eaves and battlements. Low two-stage buttresses point west and east. The doorway is a low pointed double-chamfered opening with arch and jambs in one. Above, in the gable, is a three-light rectangular window with splayed stone mullions. The porch interior contains a large rectangular recess in the west wall. Its pointed chamfered south doorway has arch and jambs in one, with a plank door and re-used 16th-century timbers in the roof. To the west of the porch is a pointed three-light window with restored intersecting tracery and hoodmould, with two-stage angle buttresses on the west corner. The west end of the south aisle has a pointed two-light window with restored 'Y' tracery and hoodmould. Moulded eaves and battlements run the full length of the aisle with blind traceried bases of five pinnacles. A fifteenth-century clerestory contains four three-light windows with flattened triangular heads and hoodmoulds joined together by stringcourse. The south aisle has moulded eaves, battlements and four complete, ornate pinnacles.

The interior tower arch was restored in 1884 and features a large pointed head of two orders. The inner arch is chamfered with billet and chipstar decoration; the outer arch is plain. Both rest on heavy multi-scalloped capitals with moulded abaci. Above, to the north, is a round-headed opening restored in the 19th century with hoodmould. The nave has four-bay mid-13th-century north and south arcades with octagonal piers, polygonal responds, plain capitals and double-chamfered pointed arches. The south arcade abaci are decorated with a series of grooves. A fifteenth-century tie-beam timber roof was restored in the 19th and 20th centuries. The mid-13th-century chancel arch has polygonal responds, plain capitals, moulded abaci and a double-chamfered, pointed head.

The chancel interior was remodelled by Fowler and contains three large ornate monuments, two large piscinae and a single small piscina. An altar rail dates to approximately 1730. The reredos of 1872 reuses sixteenth-century carved panels, probably from the Netherlands, including scenes from the life of Christ, a man riding a seahorse and a woman surrounded by stylised waves. Fragments of early 14th-century canopies of stained glass remain in the north and south chancel windows. A nineteenth-century five-sided pulpit has heavily traceried panels. A twelfth-century octagonal stone font has a 19th-century base. The church also contains a 20th-century lectern and pews, various 19th-century monuments, and two 18th-century hatchments in the tower.