Church of All Saints is a Grade I listed building in the Breckland local planning authority area, England. First listed on 30 May 1960. A Medieval Church.

Church of All Saints

WRENN ID
low-span-merlin
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
Breckland
Constituency
Mid Norfolk MP: George Freeman (Con)
Country
England
Date first listed
30 May 1960
Type
Church
Period
Medieval
Address
Church of All Saints, Church Close, Shipdham
OS grid reference
TF 958 073
Coordinates
52.6287, 0.89165
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of All Saints is a parish church dating back to the medieval period, with later additions. It is constructed primarily of flint, with ashlar and brick dressings. Rendered areas and slate roofs are also present. The church comprises a western tower, a nave with a south porch and north aisle, and a chancel with a chapel and vestry to the north.

The unbuttressed west tower likely originates from the 13th century. It features a later wave and double ogee moulded west door, with a lancet window above. There are cinquefoil windows at the first floor to the north and south sides, with a pedimented clock face on the west side. The tower's bell openings are two-light Y- tracery designs, topped by a 15th-century blind-traceried parapet. Added in the post-medieval period is a double cupola with crocketted pinnacles, leaded roofs, a short spire, and a weather vane.

The south side of the nave displays three restored 3-light panel traceried windows. The two-storey porch has diagonal buttresses, and includes a plain-chamfered entrance arch supported by polygonal responds. An ogee-headed statue niche sits above the doorway, accompanied by a 3-light parvis window. Cusped 2-light side windows and a canted stair turret are also present. A plain-chamfered south doorway has a pair of nook shafts, while the west side of the nave has two lancet windows. A plain-chamfered north aisle doorway is accompanied by an adjacent stoup. Four 19th-century 3-light windows, designed in the Perpendicular style, are located on the north side, along with five 2-light clearstorey windows.

The 19th-century vestry incorporates a re-set 3-light late-medieval north chapel east window of four lights. Two 2-light chancel south windows include straight super-mullions flanking soufflets. A late 12th-century priest's doorway is marked by angle rolls and a pair of nook shafts with carved capitals. The chancel's east window is a 5-light design from the early 14th century, with reticulated trefoils.

Inside, a 5-bay 14th-century north arcade displays plain chamfered arches on octagonal piers. The chancel arch is wave moulded and semicircular. A late-medieval 2-bay arcade connects the chancel to the north chapel. A late 12th-century piscina is located in the chancel, alongside a 2-bay arcade supported by short columns with scallop capitals. The north aisle roof is probably post-medieval, featuring massive arched braces. The north chapel's roof is shallow-pitched and late-medieval, with five sets of butt-purlins, arch braced principals carried on truncated wall posts, and renewed wall braces. A polygonal, early 17th-century pulpit has a fluted frieze and restored stem and stairs. A 15th-century lectern displays Flamboyant tracery panels. A rustic Norman font sits on five columns with cushion capitals, featuring a square bowl with chamfered angles, compass motifs, and arcades in shallow relief. A second, late-medieval octagonal font exhibits blind-traceried panels.

Local climate

Church of All Saints sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 730 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 79% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 95% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 32 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 59% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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