Church Of St Mary And All Saints

Church of St Mary and All Saints

This parish church stands on the south-east side of Hawksworth Main Street. The tower dates from the 13th century and late 17th century, while the nave was rebuilt in 1812. The north aisle was added in 1837, and the chancel was rebuilt in 1851 by Reverend G. H. Smyttan. The building is constructed of coursed and squared rubble and brick with ashlar dressings, and is roofed in slate.

The west tower rises in two stages of coursed rubble, ashlar and brick, with a chamfered eaves band and crenellated parapet. The tower is flanked to the west by two pairs of corner buttresses with four setoffs, and to the east by two buttresses with six setoffs. The first stage features a chamfered lancet to the south and a restored 13th-century door with filleted shafts, roll moulding, round bases, capitals and hood mould on the west. The second stage contains a re-set 12th-century tympanum depicting the Adoration of the Cross, inscribed with the dedication: "Gauterus et uxor eius Cecilina fecerunt facere ecclesiam istam in (h)onore ori uri et sce. Marie Virginis et omnium scorum dei simul." Above this is a chamfered and rebated 17th-century bell opening and a clock installed in 1873. The north side has a similar opening and clock. The west side displays a chamfered double lancet with Y tracery, with each of the east and west sides above having a double lancet bell opening.

The nave comprises two bays with a moulded coped parapet and east gable. The south side has three re-set 14th-century gargoyles and two lancets with Y tracery. The north aisle extends across three bays with textured quoins, a moulded eaves band and coped parapet. Its west end features a chamfered lancet with hood mould and stops. The north side contains two double lancets with Y tracery and Tudor arched reveals, and a door with similar head, all with hood moulds and mask stops.

The chancel comprises two bays with a chamfered plinth and coped east gable with kneelers and cross. The east end has two pairs of corner buttresses with a single setoff and sill band, and a 14th-century style triple lancet with Decorated tracery, hood mould and mask stops. The south side has a partial sill band with mask stop and an off-centre pointed priest's door inscribed '1851'. To the left is a single lancet and to the right a similar triple lancet, both with trefoil heads. The lean-to vestry and organ chamber is single-bay with a coped gable. Its north side has a 13th-century style doorway, and its east end has a re-set restored 13th-century chamfered lancet with hood mould.

The tower chamber, which forms the west porch, has a west window with 19th-century patterned stained glass. The north wall features a six-bay 19th-century arcaded panel with clustered shafts, inscribed with the Beatitudes. The tower arch is 13th-century (restored) with cove moulding and rectangular responds, chamfered capitals with rebated corners.

The nave's north arcade comprises three bays with two round piers and matching responds, each with octagonal plinths and moulded bases. The capitals are 19th-century Romanesque style with waterleaf, cable moulding and strapwork. The 13th-century arches (restored) are double chamfered and rebated with hood moulds featuring nailhead and mask stops. The south side east window contains patterned stained glass. The roof dates from the 15th century (restored) with chamfered timbers, seven wooden corbels (some with moulded ends), a double ridge piece to the west and a single ridge to the east. The north aisle has a lean-to roof, restored in the 20th century.

The chancel arch is 13th-century (restored) with double chamfer and rebate. Its responds are simply moulded with matching capitals and bases. The chancel has chamfered and moulded openings with painted decoration and texts around the heads. The north side contains a Tudor arched opening to the organ chamber, a door and a double aumbry with roll moulding and trefoil heads. The east end displays an inscribed marble curb on the windowsill and a window with stained glass by Wailes, dated 1851. The south side has a chamfered trefoil headed piscina to the east and a doorway flanked by single lancets with 19th-century patterned stained glass to the west. The chancel roof is arch-braced principal rafter with collars, moulded corbels and wall plate bearing painted texts.

The church contains numerous fittings. The font dates from the 14th century with an octagonal stem and water-holding base, surmounted by a 19th-century octagonal bowl with a dogtooth band. There is a mid-19th-century brass lectern, late 19th-century traceried panelled stalls and desks with shaped ends and arm rests linked by chairs, and a 19th-century poor box mounted on a 12th-century chamfered and moulded wooden stem. The altar rail is moulded with foliate iron stems. The church is fitted with twelve foliate iron wall sconces, two mid-19th-century brass and sheet metal chandeliers, and two foliate candle brackets.

Memorials include a large section of an Anglo-Saxon cross shaft with incised decoration, 19th-century painted stone tablets bearing the Creed and Lord's Prayer, three early 19th-century marble tablets, and a small brass probably dating from the 18th century. A marble war memorial tablet dates from around 1920. Memorial inscriptions on the chancel walls are dated 1700, 1878 and 1906.