Parish Church Of All Saints

The Parish Church of All Saints at High Roding is a medieval church of significant architectural importance. The chancel and nave date from the 13th century, with the south porch added in the 14th century. The building was substantially restored during the 19th century, when the east and west walls were rebuilt, a new bell-cote was constructed, and a north vestry was added.

The structure is built of flint rubble with dressings of clunch and some freestone. The roof is tiled, except for the vestry which is slated.

The chancel measures 9.4 by 5.7 metres. Its 19th-century east window and wall are modern replacements. The north wall contains a 13th-century lancet window with wrought iron glazing bars and some original plain glass, although the external head dates from the 19th century. The south wall has two windows: the eastern is 19th-century, while the western dates to the late 14th century and consists of a single cinquefoiled ogee light within a square head. Between these windows is a 19th-century doorway. The chancel arch is late 14th-century, two-centred, chamfered and moulded, with responds featuring three attached shafts each, fitted with moulded capitals and bases.

The nave measures 15 by 7 metres. Its north wall contains three windows. The easternmost is late 14th-century, comprising two cinquefoiled lights with tracery in a two-centred head, with one wrought iron casement and some old plain glass. The two western windows are 13th-century lancets. The eastern lancet retains its original rear splay and segmental arch with minor restoration. The other lancet is substantially unrestored internally; its inner splay has a round arch (wholly restored) with wrought iron glazing bars and old plain glass. One quarry of this window bears an inscription reading "William Crow Glazier from High Easter July 10 1832 Aged 28 years". Between these two windows is the north doorway, a 13th-century opening with chamfered jambs and a two-centred arch of two chamfered orders. It has restored moulded imposts and a moulded and billeted label. The door leaf is restored, with rear saltire bracing and 13th-century ironwork.

The south wall contains three windows. The easternmost and westernmost each have three cinquefoiled ogee lights in a segmental head and date to the late 14th century. The middle window is 15th-century, partly restored, with two cinquefoiled lights under a segmental-pointed head. Between the two western windows is the south doorway, which has moulded jambs, a two-centred arch and label. The door leaf is framed and battened with planks held in V-grooves in the styles and sills, dating to the 13th century, and retains 13th-century ironwork. The west wall is a 19th-century reconstruction, with a 19th-century window and bell-cote.

The south porch is late 14th-century. Its outer doorway has moulded jambs, a two-centred arch and label, all substantially restored. Each side wall of the porch contains a window of two cinquefoiled ogee lights with tracery under a square head.

The chancel roof is 15th-century, featuring moulded wallplates and a tiebeam with bowtell in great casement repeated, arched braces, and seven cants. The nave roof comprises four bays with a long bay at the west end. At the west end, five replaced rafter couples mark the position of a former bell turret. The three arch-braced tiebeams and the seven-canted roof are similar to those in the chancel, except that each rafter couple has an additional high collar. This roof is also 15th-century.

The chancel contains a piscina with a two-centred head and two round drains, dating from the 13th century. Brasses are present to John Joceline (1603, inscription only) and to Edward Jocelynn (1627) and his wife Mary (Lambe), the latter bearing an inscription and a shield of arms. A brass recorded by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England to Christopher Jocelin (1605) is missing.

The font is early 15th-century, with an octagonal bowl decorated with a quatrefoil enclosing a shield on each face. It has a moulded underside, panelled stem and moulded base. The pulpit is octagonal, dated to around 1500, with sides panelled with cinquefoiled and traceried heads and moulded angle-posts. It has a door of panelling dating to around 1600 and a modern stem.