Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints

This is a parish church of 13th and 14th-century date, extensively restored in 1837, with the chancel restored and vestry rebuilt in 1856. It is constructed of coursed rubble with concrete pantile roofs. The building comprises a tower, nave, aisles, south porch, north vestry and chancel, all with embattled parapets except the chancel which has a parapet with a single north stack. The nave and chancel have east gables with single ridge cross finials.

The slim 13th-century tower has three stages with a band at the lower stage, four crocketed pinnacles and eight gargoyles. On the west side is a single window with two arched lights under a flat arch, above which is another single window with two arched and cusped lights under a flat arch. The north wall has a doorway with wooden plank door and drip mould. The four arched bell chamber openings each contain two arched lights, above which are four arched windows each with two arched lights. There are single rectangular stair lights to the west, north and south. The south side has a single clock face over the bell chamber opening.

The north aisle has a single 19th-century window with two arched and cusped lights under a flat arch, to the left of which are two similar three-light windows. The 14th-century clerestory has a single crocketed pinnacle and three 19th-century arched windows each with two arched and cusped lights and a single small quatrefoil.

The diagonally buttressed vestry is set on a plinth and has a pointed arched doorway in the north wall. Steps to the right lead down to a cellar with a blocked pointed arched doorway and a single ogee arched light to the right. The east vestry wall has a single 19th-century window with a single arched and cusped light, tracery, hood mould and label stops.

The north chancel wall is set on a plinth and has a single 19th-century arched window with a single arched and cusped light surmounted by a single trefoil with hood mould and label stops, with a sill band extending underneath. The angle-buttressed east end has a single 19th-century arched window with three pointed arched and cusped lights flanked by single slim columns, a single transom, the lights being blocked under, and a hood mould with human head label stops, with a sill band extending underneath. The buttressed south chancel has two 19th-century two-light arched windows with Y tracery, each light being flanked by single slim columns with decorated capitals, with a sill band extending underneath. The east wall of the south aisle has a single 19th-century window with three arched and cusped lights under a flat arch, and the south wall has two similar windows.

The diagonally buttressed and gabled south porch has embattled side walls and a moulded arched entrance with a small iron gate. There is an inner chamfered arched doorway. To the left is a single 19th-century window with two arched and cusped lights under a flat arch, and in the west wall is a single two-light arched window with cusped tracery and hood mould. The clerestory corresponds to that on the north.

Interior. The nave has two-bay arcades with octagonal columns, moulded capitals and double chamfered arches. The tower arch is double chamfered, with the inner chamfer supported on moulded capitals and corbels and the arch decorated with carved ashlar shields. The chancel arch is double chamfered, with the inner chamfer supported on moulded capitals and corbels. The east window has a hood mould and human head label stops. A moulded pointed arched doorway leads to the vestry, flanked by single slim engaged columns. The south chancel wall has an arched piscina decorated with fleuron. The north chancel wall has an aumbry with a wooden door decorated with open tracery. A restored 14th-century octagonal font survives; remaining furniture is 19th-century.

Monuments. The church contains an extensive series of monuments, principally to members of the Darwin family. In the north chancel is a monument to John Darwin, 1805, by Wallis of Newark, decorated with an urn on the crown and a decorative shield on the apron. In the south chancel is a monument to Will Darwin, 1760, with the tablet flanked by decorative scrolls at the base and garlands at the sides, the segmental arch over topped with a decorative shield and further garlands, and the decorative apron supported on an angel's head. The south nave has a plaque to George Chapell, 1766, and over the tower arch is a plaque to George Lascelles, 1616, surmounted by a shield and visor.

On the south aisle west wall is a monument to William Alvey Darwin, 1783, by Wallis of Newark, with a decorative cartouche flanked by single urns on the crown. There is a monument to Jane Darwin, 1835, topped with an urn and cross. On the north wall is a monument to Robert Darwin, 1754, with the inscription flanked by single pilasters with dosserets decorated with paterae and topped with a decorative cartouche.

The north aisle north wall has a monument to Robert Waring Darwin, 1816, by Wallis of Newark, topped with an urn. That to Elizabeth Hill Darwin, 1804, by Taylor of York, has an oval inscription tablet with a decorative sarcophagus over and is topped with a decorative shield. On the west wall is a monument to William Waring, 1835, with a decorative urn over the inscription and two angels holding a crown above. The monument to Elizabeth Darwin, 1835, by Tyley of Bristol, has fluted columns flanking the inscription and is surmounted by a seated woman. On the south wall is a monument to Jane Eleanor Darwin, 1838, with the inscription set into a decorative sarcophagus and surmounted by an urn with flowers, over which is a dove carrying a lily.

In the tower, the south wall has a monument to Ann Darwin, 1813, by Wallis of Newark. The west wall has a monument to Susanna Darwin, 1789, by Wallis of Newark, and to William Darwin, 1682, with an oval inscription tablet with decorative surround and topped with a decorative shield surmounted by an urn. On the north wall is a monument to John Darwin, 1818, by Wallis and Marshall, decorated with a shield on the apron. In the tower and nave are single 19th-century decorative copper memorials.