Parish Church Of All Saints

Parish Church of All Saints

This late 12th-century parish church, substantially altered in the mid-14th century, stands in High Laver. The structure combines flint rubble interspersed with Roman brick, with stone dressings of clunch and a roof of handmade red clay tiles. Major additions include a mid-14th-century west tower (repaired in red brick in 1789), a late 19th-century north vestry, south porch, and general restoration.

The chancel contains three lancet windows in the east wall (19th-century except for the splays) and two more in the north wall. A blocked 13th-century doorway with chamfered jambs and a two-centred head stands west of these. In the south wall are three windows: the first and third uniform with those of the north wall, while the second is a 19th-century two-light window under a square head, though its moulded splays and rear-arch are 15th-century work. A 19th-century doorway lies between the second and third windows. A 13th-century piscina with a trefoiled head, roll cusp points, and two circular drains is preserved. The chancel arch is four-centred with two orders, moulded responds and arch dating to around 1340. Its moulded bases are cut back for a rood screen, now absent.

The nave has quoins of Roman brick and was refaced in the 20th century. Its north wall contains two windows: the eastern is 19th-century except for the splays and a late 14th-century four-centred reach-arch with plain chamfer and broach stops; the western is a 19th-century lancet with a round rear-arch and a late 12th-century origin. Further west is a late 12th-century north doorway with a chamfered west impost, semi-circular head, and square jambs, partly restored. The south wall contains three 19th-century windows except for the splays, all with late 14th-century four-centred reaches. The eastern has double ogee moulding; the others are plain chamfered, the western with broach stops. Between the two westernmost windows stands a 13th-century south doorway with chamfered jambs and a two-centred head. The door itself is 16th-century, battened with fillets and strap-hinges.

The three-stage west tower has a moulded plinth. The tower arch is two-centred, with one wave-moulded order and one double-chamfered order on the east side and three chamfered orders on the west. The west window is 14th-century work: two trefoiled and ogee-headed lights with an octfoil within a two-centred head, featuring internal and external labels and incomplete wrought iron grills, partly restored. A blocked doorway with a two-centred head crosses the southwest corner. Blocked windows of indistinct character occupy the north, south, and west of the second stage; the north example retains a label and two-centred head. The southwest corner and bell-chamber underwent extensive repair in red brick in 1789.

The chancel roof is of seven cants, lathed and plastered, with two tiebeams and wallplates moulded with a bowtell in great casement, dating to the 14th or 15th century. The nave roof is similarly of seven cants with lathed and plastered construction. Its wallplates are moulded with an ogee and hollow chamfer with converging stops; the two tiebeams are plain-chamfered with step stops, also 14th or 15th-century work.

A small sanctus bell inscribed XRE AUDI NOS, probably 14th-century, and one other bell are present. The font features an octagonal bowl with a moulded underside; the back face bears a quatrefoiled panel enclosing a blank shield. A panelled and traceried stem dates to the mid-14th century. The chancel floor contains a brass to Myrabyll, wife of Edward Sulyard, depicting a man in armour and a woman in a pedimental headdress, close bodice, and full skirt, with an inscription below and figures of four sons and a daughter, dating to around 1495.

Wall monuments include: (1) a white marble tablet to Damaris, widow of Ralph Cudworth, 1695; (2) a white marble tablet surmounted by a damaged broken pediment with a cartouche of arms, to Reverend Samuel Lowe, 1709, and Ann (Andrew) his wife, 1693; (3) white marble with an urn and shield of arms commemorating Reverend Richard Cudworth, 1803, and his sons Richard Charles, 1795, and Thomas, 1797; and (4) a tablet to Peter La-Chesney Heude, 1807. Floor slabs of black marble commemorate Sir Francis Masham, Baronet, 1722, and the Honourable Mrs. Elizabeth Masham, 1724. Outside, against the south wall of the nave, stands the tomb-chest of John Locke, the philosopher, dated 1704. This monument is constructed of brick with a stone slab and cast iron railings.