Church of All Saints and St Andrew

Church of All Saints and St Andrew

Parish church in Kingston. The church was substantially rebuilt in 1488 following a fire, with materials from the 13th-century church reset or incorporated, particularly in the chancel. The 13th-century chancel was retained, while the nave and north and south aisles date to the 15th century. The west tower, originally 13th century, was rebuilt in 1488. The building was restored in 1894 and 1930.

The church is constructed of fieldstone and clunch rubble with limestone and clunch dressings, with tiled roofs. It comprises a west tower, nave, north and south aisles, a south porch, and chancel.

West Tower

The tower, rebuilt in 1488, rises in three stages with an embattled parapet and chamfered plinth. Central beast gargoyles ornament the main cornice. The west window has three cinquefoil lights set in two centred arches, flanked by two niches; the southern niche has a vaulted canopy, though both niches have been restored. The belfry openings are restored. A half-octagonal newel stairturret is positioned on the north side.

Nave and Aisles

The nave, dating to 1488, has rendered walls and a tiled roof with the gable of an earlier roof visible internally in the east wall of the tower. A clerestorey of four restored windows, each of two cinquefoil lights, illuminates the nave. The south aisle and south porch are also restored. The medieval south door is constructed of nail-studded planks.

Chancel

The chancel dates to the 13th century and has rendered walls. The north wall contains a blocked lancet window and a blocked doorway to a vestry or chantry. In the south wall is a restored 13th-century window of three lights with Y tracery, and a low side window of two trefoil lights. A chamfered two-centred arch in the south wall also dates to the 13th century. In the 16th century, the east window was removed and replaced with one of four lights, each set in a segmental arch with square head. The north aisle retains some 15th-century fenestration, though the window at its east end is modern.

Interior

The nave arcades comprise four bays with two-centred arches of two wave-moulded orders, the outer continuous and the inner supported on attached shafts with moulded capitals and bases. The nave and aisle roofs are late medieval, though the roof over the south aisle incorporates later work. The chancel arch dates to 1488. The chancel itself is 13th century with some features of later periods. The rear arch of the original 13th-century east window remains visible internally, and a recess with foiled head is visible in its splay. A small recess at the east end of the north wall dates to the 14th century. The chamfered rear arch of another window in the south wall is 13th century. Benched recesses occur in both the north and south walls; those on the south side have been partly displaced by later fenestration.

The font is octagonal with a 13th-century bowl and a 14th-century octagonal stem. The stem has attached shafts with moulded capitals rising to crocketed gables. A wall monument in the south wall of the chancel commemorates Dr Fogge Newton, Provost of Kings and Rector of Newton, 1612. It is constructed of clunch with a tablet bearing an inscription flanked by Corinthian columns supporting an entablature and strapwork overpiece.

Much of the interior wall surface, except in the tower, retains wall paintings dating from the 13th to 16th centuries or early 17th century; some were restored by E.W. Tristram in 1928. A late 15th-century screen, restored, spans three bays with closed lower panels and vertical tracery in the open upper panels.