Church Of All Saints

The Church of All Saints is a parish church dating primarily to the 14th century, with an 18th-century tower and 19th-century tracery in many of the windows. Constructed of coursed ironstone rubble with ashlar dressings, some sections of the tower and repairs are in red brick. The church comprises a chancel, north and south chapels, a nave, north and south aisles, a south porch, and a west tower.

Externally, there is little distinction between the chancel and nave clerestories, or between the chapels and the aisles. The total clerestory incorporates six two-light windows with pointed heads on each side, three lighting the nave and three the chancel. The aisles and chapels on each side have three three-light windows and one two-light window, with varying tracery matched on opposite sides of the church. The chancel’s east end features a vaulted crypt, necessitated by a sloping site. A 15th-century three-light pointed arched window is set within a larger original window opening. The plain parapet above is carved with an ass and a tun, the rebus of Matthew Asscheton. Flanking the east window are two embattled rectangular turrets containing stairs to the roofs. A pointed chancel arch defines the space.

The north and south chapels each have three bays, with a three-light east window (the south one cambered, the north pointed). The north chapel has a small north door in the eastern bay, and the south chapel has a single light in the east bay and a small pointed south door in the west bay. Pointed chapel arches offer access. The nave features four-bay arcades on both sides. The north and south aisles each have two windows, and the south aisle has a 14th-century pointed arched doorway in the west bay, now enclosed within a 19th-century gabled porch that replaced an earlier two-storeyed porch. The doorway of the earlier porch, with its ogee-headed staircase, has been retained. A blocked 15th-century four-centred doorway is located at the west end of the south aisle.

The west tower was rebuilt in 1750 following the collapse of the original tower earlier in the century. It retains the original tower arch and consists of three stages, the upper two of brick. Diagonal buttresses mark the west angles, and the bell stage features round-headed louvred windows on each side. A two-light west window with 19th-century Gothic tracery is set in the ground stage. Plain parapets are present throughout the building.

The interior includes a heavily restored octagonal font and 19th-century roofs, incorporating some original timbers. Well-preserved screens separate the chapel and chancel arches, and enclose the chancel, largely dating to the 15th century with some 19th-century panels. Some medieval pewing remains, including panels from the north aisle, re-used as screens. The north chapel contains a fine brass memorial to Matthew Asscheton, Rector of Shillington (died 1400), and another 15th-century memorial to a priest. A floor slab marks the burial of James Hanscombe (died 1660). A wall tablet commemorates John Briscoe (died 1766) and the Longueville family, crafted from white and gray marble and featuring putti in the apron.