Parish Church Of All Saints

Parish Church of All Saints

The Parish Church of All Saints at Elton Overend is a substantial medieval church with significant 15th and 16th-century additions, substantially restored in the 19th century.

The earliest fabric dates to around 1270, when the chancel arch was built. The chancel, nave arcades, and north aisle followed around 1300. Around 1500, the church underwent major reconstruction: the south arcade's second and third bays were rebuilt, a west tower and clerestorey were added, the south aisle was rebuilt and both aisles extended westward, and a south porch was constructed. Early 19th-century works by Reverend F W Faker (1843–45) and Reverend P C Claughton (1845–59) included restoration of the tower arch and further improvements. Substantial restoration occurred in 1885–86, when the aisle roofs were renewed, clerestorey windows were opened out, and a vestry and organ chamber were added. The east wall of the chancel was rebuilt in 1905.

The walls are built of rubble limestone with Ketton ashlar and dressings of Barnack and Ketton stone.

On the south elevation, the west tower rises in three stages with clasping buttresses, a moulded plinth, and plain parapet. Gargoyles sit at the angles, with bands of quatrefoils below the string course, on the plinth, and between the two upper stages. The nave has an embattled parapet and four early 16th-century clerestorey windows, each containing two plain square-headed lights. The south aisle's south doorway features a two-centred arch with label and moulded jambs. The aisle has four windows: three of three-trefoiled lights in four-centred heads and one of two similar lights. The south porch has a moulded plinth and parapet with a gargoyle in each side wall. Its four-centred outer archway has two moulded orders; the inner order carries attached shafts with moulded and embattled capitals and moulded bases. Two sundials are positioned on the porch. The chancel displays three windows: the eastern window, dating around 1300, is reset with two-trefoiled lights and interlacing tracery; the centre window, early 14th century, has two pointed lights with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head; the western window, mid-14th century, contains two trefoiled lights with leaf-tracery in a two-centred head. A 'low-side' window below has an iron grating, and a blocked single-light window is also present. A 16th-century doorway opens from the chancel. The rebuilt east wall has buttresses terminating in crocketed pinnacles.

Interior: The nave arcades comprise four bays. The north arcade, dating around 1310, features two-centred arches of two moulded orders with quatrefoiled columns and moulded capitals and bases on square plinths. The south arcade has one original bay of similar design from around 1310; the rebuilt bays have two-centred arches of two orders (the outer chamfered and inner hollow-chamfered) with quatrefoil columns set diagonally and carrying moulded capitals and bases on square plinths. The tower arch is two-centred with three moulded orders—the outer continuous and the inner resting on attached shafts with moulded bases and capitals. A stair turret door has moulded jambs and a four-centred head. The chancel arch, dating around 1270, is two-centred with two moulded orders, the outer continuous and the inner resting on grouped shafts with moulded capitals enriched with nail-head ornament. A blocked rood loft doorway leads to the staircase.

The roofs include a north aisle roof restored around 1500, low-pitched with five bays, moulded tie beams and curved braces; the south aisle is similar. The south porch roof, also around 1500, spans two bays with moulded main timbers.

The church contains a 14th-century piscina and sedilia with moulded cinquefoiled head. A 16th-century piscina with four-centred head is in the south aisle. The font is a 14th-century octagonal bowl with moulded edge, plain stem, and restored plinth. Additional monuments and floor slabs are recorded in the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and the Victoria County History.