Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints, Burnham on Crouch

This church was rebuilt in 1878–9 by the architect Frederic Chancellor, replacing an earlier 14th-century building. Chancellor (1825–1918) was a successful provincial architect based in Chelmsford, where he began independent practice in 1846 and served as mayor seven times from 1888. He undertook many new churches and restorations across the region.

The building comprises a nave, chancel, south porch, and north vestry. Chancellor's design shows sensitivity to its predecessor, broadly adopting the character of the former church whilst adding attractive flourishes.

The exterior is constructed of miscellaneous rubble, mostly reused from the earlier church, with limestone dressings and some brick used for dressings. The red clay tile roof covers both nave and chancel, which continue at the same height with only a slight narrowing to mark the boundary between them. A timber bell-turret with a shingled spire rises from the west end. The porch has a timber superstructure resting on a stone plinth.

The striking and picturesque effect of the exterior comes from Chancellor's use of a wide variety of materials—flint, red brick, and stone rubble of various hues. A few reused fragments bearing Norman zig-zag decoration are visible. Chancellor's fenestration is particularly distinguished: the side walls feature square-headed single-light openings in the northwest and southwest, while the remaining windows are topped with a pretty band of carved decoration. The east wall contains a pair of two-light Geometrical windows. The west end has a three-light window with florid geometrical tracery. The west gable is broken by a large bellcote, tile-hung in its lowest part, then rising through a louvred timber stage and topped by a shingled, pyramidal spirelet.

The interior walls are plastered and whitened throughout. A distinctive feature of the square-headed windows is the doubling of the mullions inside, creating an arcaded effect. The chancel arch is double-chamfered with demi-octagonal responds and moulded caps and bases. The nave is covered by a plain six-sided roof, while the chancel roof is also six-sided but boarded horizontally and divided into panels by moulded ribs. At the west end an arch-braced tie-beam with queen-posts supports the bell-turret.

The principal fixtures include a medieval font from the 15th century with an octagonal, slightly tapering bowl, decorated with simple carvings of a saltaire cross and a serpent. A roughly-hewn square bowl at the west end may have served as a font, though this seems unlikely. At the southeast corner of the nave is a piscina. Opposite stands a late 19th-century carved stone pulpit with blind panels of ogee-headed arches and below a frieze with triskele ornamentation. The pewing scheme is largely intact, with plain L-shaped ends. Some chancel stalls and a reading desk remain. Between the chancel and vestry is a Perpendicular-style stone screen featuring a doorway and four one-light glazed divisions. A monumental brass to Sir Arthur Harris (died 1651) was recorded by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments of England.