Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints

A church of considerable architectural complexity, with a mid-12th-century nave that was lengthened in the 14th century. The early 15th century saw the addition of a clerestory, roof, and buttresses, while a 17th-century tower was constructed. The chancel and north transept date to around 1730. The building underwent restoration in 1866 and 1906.

The nave is built of squared coursed ironstone, with the remainder in ironstone ashlar. The nave has a tile roof, whilst the chancel and transept are covered with tile roofs featuring coped gable parapets and moulded kneelers; the chancel has a pediment. The building comprises a chancel, nave, north transept, and west tower.

The chancel consists of one large bay and has a plinth and cyma recta moulded cornices. A Venetian window features a moulded stone architrave with fielded panelled mullions and keystones, with the wall below breaking forward. A round-arched south window has a stone architrave with impost blocks and keystone. The north wall displays monuments dated 1788 and 1813 to the Whateley family.

The nave has a double splayed plinth to its western part and early 15th-century buttresses with a hollow-moulded cornice. The 12th-century south doorway, with some 14th-century alterations, features Romanesque shafts and a pointed arch of two orders, the outer one moulded. An early 18th-century fielded six-panelled door is set within it. An eastern window comprises paired lancets. A two-light 14th-century western window has reticulated tracery and a hood mould. Three straight-headed clerestory windows of paired trefoiled lancets with hood moulds light the upper nave. A small carved head is visible on the south buttress. The north door is similar to the south doorway but round-arched with a hood mould; its left shaft is missing. A similar clerestory window pierces the north side. The nave is topped by a parapet.

The north transept, containing a family pew, has round-arched windows to its east and west with keystones. The north side features a similar two-light window with a basket-arched doorway breaking into the bottom. A fielded eight-panelled door with wrought iron strap hinges provides access. Stone architraves are used throughout.

The tower consists of two stages. A moulded double splayed plinth supports diagonal buttresses of two offsets to the tall first stage. A low wide chamfered four-centred west doorway has a ribbed and studded door. A double-chamfered straight-headed west window contains two four-centred lights with sunk spandrels. Similar louvred bell openings pierce the stage above. A moulded cornice and crenellated parapet crown the tower. A south-east stair projection has slit windows.

Internally, the chancel has a deep coved plaster ceiling with a rectangular panel and penetrations above the east window and chancel arch. A double-chamfered round chancel arch without imposts divides it from the nave. The nave contains a small 13th-century piscina and a fragment of blind tracery. A restored low-pitched 15th-century king post roof has moulded tie beams and braces and stone corbels. Carved bosses below the king posts are mostly foliage, though the first bay displays the Paschal Lamb and a carved head on the post. A beam above the chancel has numerous bosses. A double-chamfered round arch with moulded imposts opens to the transept, forming the raised family pew. The transept is covered by a panelled wood segmental barrel vault with moulded ribs and bosses.

The furnishings include a 12th-century font with a round bowl decorated with intersecting blind arcading and nailhead, and a moulded base. The chancel has a dado of painted fielded panelling. Wrought iron parcel-gilt altar and chancel rails date to around 1730, as does a fielded panelled pulpit. A panelled family pew is probably mid-19th century, with a mid-20th-century front. The lobby to the pew has an elaborate mid-19th-century encaustic tiled floor. Stalls and pews throughout are mid-19th century.

Stained glass in the family pew comprises panels of Italian painted glass, said to be dated 1558, set within stained glass frames of 1855.

Wall monuments include Sarah Clarke (1765) in the chancel south wall; Walter Newsham (1621), with pilasters and a large strapwork crest, in the nave south wall; a brass to William Askell (1613); and a monument to Michael Askell (died 1697) by Richard Taylor, featuring a Doric architrave with urn, seated putti, and winged heads.