Church Of All Saints

The Church of All Saints is a medieval parish church, substantially restored in 1893-4. It is constructed of coursed flint, with some iron conglomerate, and has stone dressings, covered by plain tiles. The church comprises a west tower, nave, chancel, and a south porch.

The west tower is of the 14th century, with three stages, an embattled parapet, and stepped diagonal buttresses. It features a west doorway with continuous deep mouldings, a late 20th century ledged and battened oak door, and an early 14th century window with cusped ‘Y’ tracery. There are two-light bell openings with quatrefoil decoration. The tower was restored in 1921 as a memorial to those who died in the 1914-18 war. The south porch, renewed in the 19th century, has a galletted knapped flint front, with flint chips in rendering to the walls, brick eaves courses, and a dentil cornice. The arch is renewed with continuous moulding, and a blocked niche above contains a stoup lined with medieval black and yellow glazed tiles. A ledged and battened door, dating from around 1920, is set within the renewed arch.

The nave walls have flint chip rendering, brick eaves courses, and a dentil cornice to the roof, which has a lower pitch dating from around 1850. Brick buttresses are present, two to the south and four to the north. The south side contains three-light openings with six-panel tracery, hollow chamfered mullions, and the window nearest the porch has figure stops to the hood mould, with the date 1633 rendered in brick above. The three north windows also have tracery; the two right-hand windows have wooden mullions. The east wall of the nave is constructed of conglomerate.

The chancel is of coursed galletted flint, with conglomerate at the base of the rendered north wall, a brick eaves cornice, and pantiles. The blocked south doorway has a semi-circular head, with two 19th-century two-light windows on either side, each with four tracery panels under a pointed segmental head. The mid-19th century east window is of three lights with panel tracery, set under a four-centred arch.

Inside, the mid-19th century nave features a boarded barrel roof with carved bosses, and the chancel has a boarded 19th-century roof, ceiled at collars, with cusped panel tracery between ties and collars. The double chamfered chancel arch has a niche on either side. The 17th-century Communion rails have twisted balusters and reeded posts. The reassembled 19th century pulpit sits on a stone plinth and has linenfold panelling beneath Renaissance arches, with four twisted balusters at angles between the panels. A trefoil headed piscina is set into the south wall of the nave. Plain 19th century pine pews are believed to have originated from the West Beckham workhouse. A canvas achievement depicting Queen Anne is on the north wall. The plain octagonal font is set on an octagonal stem. A tall tower arch has plain jambs and a double chamfered arch, and it is ceiled with 18th-century panelling from former pews.