Church of All Saints

Church of All Saints

A medieval church substantially rebuilt or refaced during 1886–1887, except for the north wall of the nave. The building is constructed of flint rubble with limestone dressings and a peg-tiled roof. It comprises a simple nave and narrower chancel with a north vestry, a timber-framed belfry tower of around 1400 positioned within the west end of the nave, and a long 16th-century timber-framed porch extending to the south door.

Exterior

The south wall of the nave contains a blocked 13th-century lancet window and a 13th-century doorway of clunch with a two-centred arch decorated with dog-tooth ornament on the soffit and deep mouldings. The outer hood mould was renewed in 1887 in oolite, as were the lower parts of the jambs with bases, and the doorway is now fitted with a 19th-century boarded door. The 16th-century timber-framed porch extends two bays deep with ten upper lights, and shows lower plank-and-muntin construction below the rail and in the gable; it was restored in 1887. The porch window is in perpendicular style with a square frame containing three cusped lights with ogee heads and circles with quatrefoils in the spandrels.

The south wall of the chancel displays three simple lancet windows. The north wall of the nave contains three simple lancet windows running west to east, with the westernmost blocked. The north vestry has a perpendicular-style window of three lights in a two-centred arch with super-mullions. The chancel's east wall features three tall lancet windows.

The belfry tower has vertical boarding rising from the nave roof and is crowned with a small wooden shingled spire.

The nave roof is notable for its construction. It spans two bays and features a large central crown post of square section with square central fillets on each face, from which curved braces rise directly to the soulaces without a capital. Unusually, the roof includes both a ridge piece and a collar purlin, with alternate roof trusses incorporating a second upper collar supporting a king strut that secures the ridge piece to the apex. The collar purlin's underside is similarly filleted to the crown post. Dating relies on the crown post section (which has a long date range in Essex) and hollow chamfers on the flying cornice plate. The nave roof terminates correctly against the belfry tower and is contemporary with or later than the tower.

The belfry tower is of the Essex type, with a massive lower stage comprising six posts and internal cross-framing on the north and south sides featuring curved 'X' bracing in panels. Corner posts have jowls clasping arched braces to tie-beams. The second stage contains four corner posts and three sub-stages: the central stage has north and south scissor bracing, whilst the upper stage houses the bell frame. The timber-framing appears to have been altered, probably when late medieval traceried windows were inserted into older openings. A small spire rises from a pyramidal roof with a central armature on a tie-beam. The tower's date is uncertain, but the consistent use of curved braces and the absence of side-lapped joints in favour of mortice-and-tenon construction suggest a date after the 13th century. The roof's relationship to the tower suggests both are roughly contemporary, dating to within the 14th century.

The timber porch displays perpendicular mouldings typical of the early to mid-16th century, with cymas and hollows characteristic of mullions from this period.

The north wall of the nave shows variation in pebble coursing where building pauses occurred, creating a series of 'lifts'. The basal course contains considerable indurated conglomerate, a material normally found in eastern Essex in walls dating no later than the Norman period (pre-1200). This material appears sporadically at the top of the first lift at approximately one metre height.

Interior

The interior of the church is largely 19th century, though it contains wooden rood figures of Christ, the Virgin and St John, which are 19th-century imports, probably from 16th-century Germany.

The font is carved from upper greensand with mica flecks and is octagonal, with faces bearing quatrefoils in circles containing central leaf and fleuron motifs. One panel features a 'green man'. The pedestal is panelled with tracery of early perpendicular character, possibly contemporary with the tower and nave roof of the 14th century.

Group Value

The Church and the Priests House form a group.