Church Of All Saints

The Church of All Saints is a church, originating in the 12th century, rebuilt in 1692, and altered in the 18th century. It is constructed of coursed blue lias rubble with ashlar dressings, and has a steeply pitched old tile roof. The church is of Classical style.

The plan comprises a 2-bay nave, an east apse, a west porch, and a south transept, originally a private pew. The apse has a plain plaster cornice; its round-headed window features a moulded sill, imposts, and a key block to the architrave, with leaded glazing. The nave has quoins, a moulded cornice, and a coped west gable. The north side has two round-headed windows as apse, flanking a blocked medieval pointed entrance. The south side has windows flanking a gabled transept with urns to kneeler and a finial incorporating a stack above a keyed oculus, with a blocked entrance to the west return having a rusticated surround.

The west end has a gabled porch with quoins, an urn finial, and a small ball finial to the left kneeler. The porch entrance comprises thin projecting jambs and a segmental pointed arch, a wooden gate, and inner wooden benches. The window, interrupted by the porch, has an eared architrave, frieze, and cornice; wooden spandrels form a round head, with an enriched round panel above. A louvred bell turret has a cornice and an original ogival lead cupola and weathervane.

The interior contains some re-used 12th-century masonry, including some herringbone work, with a ceiled roof and a moulded elliptical arch to the apse, which has a vault. A similar round arch leads to the transept, which has an angle bolection-moulded fireplace. Fittings include stalls to the north side and a priest’s desk and pews to the south, probably from the 18th century, with similar balusters to the fronts. Box pews occupy the west end, and a 17th-century west gallery features fielded panelling, benches, and a winding stair with stick balusters. A simple octagonal font, probably 17th century with 19th-century recutting, has a flared base.

Carved stones are incorporated into the transept, including a tympanum of the Herefordshire school dating to around 1140, depicting a man attacked by a snake and dragon and aided by a dove. A stone with carving to three sides displays an Anglo-Saxon tree motif and tile pattern, likely representing the Harrowing of Hell, dating to around 1150. The church is a good example of a 17th-century church serving the small community around Billesley Manor, the village having been deserted by the 15th century. It is vested in the Redundant Churches Fund.