Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints

This is a church of medieval and later date, constructed primarily of flint rubble, clunch tufa, septaria and Roman tile, with quoins and dressings of clunch and Roman brick. The building comprises a 12th-century nave and the west end of a chancel, extended in the 13th century with a restored west tower and extension to the chancel. A 15th-century south porch was added, and the 19th century saw the construction of a north chapel, vestry, rebuilding of the chancel arch, belfry, spire and various restorations. The 19th-century crenellated chapel and vestry are of red brick with stone dressings. Red plain tiled roofs cover the main structures, with the belfry weatherboarded and topped by a shingle spire.

The chancel features an east wall with three restored lancet windows. The north and south walls show the junction between 12th and 13th-century work, suggesting a former apse. The 12th-century north wall displays regular courses of tufa and Roman tiles with two courses of herringbone tiling. Three windows light the north wall: two restored lancets to the east and a 12th-century round-headed window to the west. The south wall has three eastern restored lancets and a western window in two parts, with an upper lancet and a lower square-headed low-side window, set beneath red brick quoins with a brick plinth.

The nave's south wall contains three restored windows and two cusped roundels above the porch. The eastern window has two cusped lights with three lights over; the second window displays three lights with reticulated tracery over, set in a two-centred head with label. The west window has two cusped lights in a two-centred head with label. Beneath the eastern window are two slab monuments: the eastern bears an achievement to Sir William Ayloff, and the other displays two upper achievements without inscriptions. The north wall has a single-light window with a two-centred arch and moulded label, together with a 12th-century window, widened in the 18th century, above the north vestry. A 14th-century south doorway has moulded jambs and a two-centred moulded arch.

The west tower rises to the height of the nave and is surmounted by a weatherboarded bell tower with two-light sounding louvres and a shingle spire. A tiled and weatherboarded structure attaches the spire base to the west face. The tower features 13th-century lancet windows to north and south walls with Roman brick and clunch quoins. The 19th-century buttressed west face has full-height buttresses, stone-dressed with ornamental flint panels, surmounted by cusped two-light sounding louvres in a gabled head. Band and flush work panels appear below the louvre with two vertical slits beneath. The west window contains three lights with tracery over in a pointed head. Above this window is a chamfered arch, possibly of 13th-century date. The 19th-century north chapel is of red brick, crenellated with a moulded band beneath, rising to a point over a north window of three cusped lights with tracery over and a moulded label. To the east of this chapel is a small red brick and tiled chapel with a cusped single-light window to the west.

The 15th-century south porch has an outer arch of two-centred form with two moulded orders, the inner resting on shafts with moulded capitals and bases and a moulded label over. Side walls each contain a 15th-century two-light window in a square head with a label over. The roof displays moulded and crenellated tie beams with braces forming four-centred arches, moulded and crenellated wall plates, and moulded wall posts on carved stone corbels, two bearing angels holding shields, one a grotesque head and one a head and foliage. Crown posts with moulded capitals and bases support the structure. Benches occupy the side walls, and the floor is laid in black and white tiles.

Interior

The chancel interior features a plastered roof of seven cants with moulded wall plates to the west. A 17th-century panelled dado runs around the walls, brought from elsewhere. A large locker in the north wall has rebated jambs and a two-centred head. The sedile and piscina have cusped heads; the piscina includes a round drain and shelf in the east jamb. A crenellated beam spans a small niche in the north wall. Slabs commemorate Richard Milward D.D., 1680, Canon of Windsor, and Anthony Carew, 1705. A 19th-century two-centred chancel arch features moulded capitals and bases to its jambs.

The nave contains a 15th or 16th-century roof of seven cants with moulded principal rafters and centre purlin. Moulded and crenellated wall plates and tie beams are present, with traceried spandrels to braces and carved half-angels above stone corbel heads. Three octagonal crown posts rise through the roof. Vertically boarded dado runs around the pew walls. A 19th-century stone octagonal font displays two-centred arches and buttresses to its stem, with shields and inscription to the side panels. A painted board records the will of John Freze, 1663, and a 1960 Royal Hatchment hangs in the space.

The west tower contains a 13th-century two-centred chamfered arch. A stone wall slab beneath the west window commemorates Robert Aylett LL.D., 1654–1656, with emblems of mortality and two shields of arms flanking the inscription.

The 19th-century north chapel, known as the Du Cane Chapel, features a moulded segmental pointed chapel arch. Moulded wall plates, each bearing six curved angels, support the structure. A north window contains stained glass of 1844 by Warrington. Monuments to the Du Cane family occupy the east and west walls, some with traceried canopies over. A central monument on the west wall of grey marble with a white marble urn commemorates Peter Du Cane, aged 90 years, born 1803, his wife Mary, and his son Richard.