Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints, Hartford

A medieval parish church of Grade II* importance, standing in a picturesque setting on the bank of the River Ouse.

The church is probably of early 12th-century origin, with north and south aisles added in the late 12th century. A late 15th-century west tower was constructed, and the chancel east wall, chancel arch, and western parts of the north and south nave walls were rebuilt in 1861–1863 to designs by Robert Hutchinson, a local architect. Further restoration took place in 1885, and a large north extension was added in 2004 to designs by Graham Campbell.

The building is constructed of uncoursed random stone rubble with cut stone dressings, and has tiled roofs. It comprises a chancel with north organ chamber, a nave with north and south aisles, a south porch, and a west tower.

Externally, the church is a small structure with a tall tower and no clerestory or parapet except on the tower itself. The 19th-century chancel east wall features a three-light cusped Y-tracery east window with a small trefoil opening above it, a square-headed door of that period, and two large Early English style lancets with hood moulds and foliage head stops in the chancel south wall. A 19th-century Early English style vestry largely covers the north side of the chancel. The north side is dominated by a large and sympathetic extension of 2004, whose gables mass attractively with the rest of the church. Three-light 15th-century windows appear in the north aisle wall on either side of the extension. The north aisle has no west window, and the south aisle has no east window, possibly an original arrangement. Two three-light 15th-century windows appear in the south aisle wall, heavily restored, with a 19th-century Early English style window to the west of the porch. A small 19th-century lancet appears in the south aisle west wall. The south porch of 1861–1863 is in Early English style, with an outer arch displaying dogtooth carving and short corbelled shafts with stiff leaf capitals. The south door is dated around 1190 and has detached shafts on the jambs. The four-stage 15th-century west tower has a small half-round stair turret and an embattled parapet with corner pinnacles. Unusually, foiled ogee arches join the central two crenels on each side. The late 15th-century west door is blocked and has a four-centred head. The tower displays a heavily restored three-light 15th-century west window and two-light windows in the bell stage. A number of medieval moulded stones are incorporated into the east wall and aisle walls.

Internally, the nave arcades are genuine 12th-century work. The north arcade, probably dated around 1180, has four bays with round columns of moulded capitals and bases, supporting round arches of two orders (the outer square, the inner chamfered). The south arcade, dated around 1190, also has four bays but with pointed arches of two chamfered orders. The western bays on both sides were largely rebuilt in the 19th century. The western bays on both sides were largely rebuilt in the 19th century. The chancel arch, rebuilt in 1861–1863, is a fine neo-Norman work heavily carved on both sides with chevron, bobbin, chip carving and other motifs. It has a flat soffit flanked on both faces by nook shafts with scallop capitals. The chancel is dominated by very heavily carved late Norman style decoration on the east wall, with two bays of intersecting blind arcades on detached dark marble shafts in the outer section, and a carved inscription reredos in the inner section. The whole is lavishly decorated with chevron, billet, diaper work and foliage carving. The splays and rere-arch of the east window are probably 14th-century. A two-light 15th-century cusped window opens from the north aisle into the organ chamber. The late 15th-century tower arch has three chamfered orders, the outer two continuous and the inner on polygonal shafts with moulded capitals, and is closed by a 20th-century timber and glazed screen.

Principal fixtures include a square 13th-century font with a central shaft and four renewed outer shafts. An Early English style pulpit of 1861–1863 features fat marble shafts with stiff leaf capitals and dogtooth in the stem, together with detached marble shafts around the main section. The chancel contains a good neo-Norman dado and reredos of 1861–1863. 19th-century geometric floor tiles line the chancel and encaustic tiles the nave. 19th-century nave benches have stylised poppyheads and traceried fronts. Wall tablets from the 18th and 19th centuries are present. The chancel roof, of 19th-century construction, has trusses whose braces form trefoils, while the nave has a 19th-century scissor-braced roof. Some interesting 19th-century glass survives, including a memorial window to Francis Trevelyon Egerton, son of the vicar, who died in 1885 aged 10, depicted as a choir boy.

A church existed at Hartford at the time of Domesday Book in 1086, though the approximately double-square plan of the present nave (allowing for a setting out error in the south wall) suggests that the present church was built in the early 12th century. The aisles were added in the late 12th century, and the chancel may have been lengthened in the 14th century as the inner splays of the east window are of that date. The west tower was added in the late 15th century. In 1861–1863, Robert Hutchinson (1828–1894), a local architect who worked on numerous churches in the area including Little Stukeley, oversaw partial rebuilding. He entirely rebuilt the chancel arch in a bold neo-Norman style, rebuilt the east wall, added the neo-Norman dado, and carried out other repairs. While the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England plan suggests he almost wholly rebuilt the church externally, plans submitted for the works held by the Incorporated Church Building Society suggest that much original fabric was retained. Further repairs were undertaken in 1895, and in 2004 a large north parish room extension was added.