Church Of All Saints

The Church of All Saints was rebuilt in 1817–18 by the architect William Pilkington, though substantial medieval work survives in the south arcade, tower arch and chancel arch. The church underwent extensive Gothic Revival remodelling, probably during the 1850s, though the architect responsible for this phase remains unknown.

Construction and Materials

The building is constructed of semi-coursed and roughly dressed limestone with limestone dressings. The roofs are slate, with the chancel and baptistry featuring crested clay ridge tiles.

Plan and Layout

The church comprises a nave, chancel, south aisle, south porch, southeast baptistry, north vestry, and west tower.

Exterior

The exterior displays evidence of two main building campaigns: Pilkington's rebuilding of 1817–18 and a flamboyant Victorian remodelling, probably undertaken in the 1850s, concentrated on the south side.

The Georgian reconstruction provided a neo-Norman west tower of four stages, with a northwest circular stair-turret rising to a conical cap above the plain parapet. Set-back buttresses strengthen the southwest angle. The lower stages are relatively plain. The west window has three lights with cusped intersecting tracery. The belfry stage features two-light neo-Norman windows with central shafts.

The nave is divided into three bays by buttresses with central offsets and gabled heads. Each bay contains large three-light windows with intersecting tracery, probably dating from the 1817–18 campaign. Similar windows light the chancel: three lights to the east and two to the south.

The south side exhibits particularly rich Victorian decoration inspired by early 14th-century design. Features include an openwork parapet with cusped wavy detailing, flowing tracery in the southeast baptistry's south window, and substantial pinnacles. The baptistry has gables to both the east and south, surmounted by an angel on the south gable and an eagle on the east. A circular window with five cusped lobes pierces the east wall.

The south aisle displays varied window tracery: flowing tracery in the two-light southwest window, reticulated tracery in the west window, a two-light Geometrical window to the southeast, and single-light windows with Perpendicular detailing flanking the porch. There is no clerestory.

Interior

A medieval three-bay arcade separates the nave from the aisle, featuring chamfered arches supported on octagonal piers with moulded capitals and bases. At the west end, a neo-Norman arch sits within a higher and broader apparently reused medieval tower arch. The chancel arch has continuous mouldings and semi-circular responds.

The nave roof is arch-braced to a collar with a crown post rising to the ridge and raked struts. The closely spaced trusses feature angels holding shields at their springing points. The chancel roof has arch-braces forming semi-circular trusses. The south aisle has a lean-to roof with braces springing from ornate foliate capitals of varied design set in the arch valleys.

The nave and aisles have plain whitened plaster walls, except around the chancel arch where stencilled stylised green foliage sprays appear. The chancel itself displays a remarkable decorative scheme of sgraffito patterning featuring circles ornamented with stylised leaves and fleurs-de-lys. The raised portions retain natural coloured rendering while recessed areas are pink.

The sanctuary floor is laid with Minton encaustic tiles, while the chancel has coloured patterned tiling. Red and black quarry tiles cover the nave and aisle floors. More Minton tiles floor the baptistry. Around 2004, the tower's west end was partitioned with a timber and glass screen to create toilet and kitchen facilities.

Principal Fixtures

The east end features a fine mosaic reredos, probably dating from the 1870s, depicting the Adoration of the Magi, with flanking recesses containing paintings of adoring angels. The stone pulpit panels also bear figure paintings, likely from the 1870s and attributed to Daniel Bell.

The bench seating unusually employs two different patterns: square-ended in the aisle and north side of the nave, with curved shoulders in the nave centre. The choir stalls have traceried fronts and poppy-head ends. The octagonal font has a shallow bowl with tracery echoing the spirit of the south aisle parapet. A 16th-century brass commemorating John Robys and his wife stands nearby. A notable tablet memorialises Thomas Ravenscroft, who died in 1752.

Above the tower arch at the west end, a foiled circle bears the royal arms. Two medieval stained glass heads survive in the tower windows. Extensive stained glass by O'Connor depicting saints fills the nave windows. The organ, positioned between the chancel and baptistry, was made by T. Atterton of Leighton Buzzard and features attractively decorated pipes.

Churchyard Features

South of the tower stands an ornate churchyard cross dating from around 1873, with symbols of the Evangelists at its corners.

Historical Background

While the fabric contains medieval elements, the church's predominant character derives from 19th-century work. The 1817–18 rebuilding occurred during a period when church construction was generally stagnant and was financed by the 2nd Lord Arden.

The architect William Pilkington (1748–1848) was appointed surveyor to the Board of Customs in 1781 and became district surveyor to the parishes of St Margaret and St John, Westminster in 1784. He worked as surveyor and architect for the Earl of Radnor and exhibited occasionally at the Royal Academy between 1780 and 1790. He retired around 1842 to his estate at Hatfield near Doncaster.

The rebuilding contract, dated 4 September 1817, was awarded to James Laird for £2,176, stipulating completion by 29 September 1818. Pilkington appears to have retained the plan of the old church with one important exception. Old watercolours show the previous tower stood on the north side of the nave at its east end. The arrangement at the nave's west end is therefore curious, with an old arch apparently reused and a smaller Norman arch placed within it.

The early- to mid-Victorian remodelling is of considerable interest. It was undertaken by the Honourable and Reverend Charles George Perceval, third son of Lord Arden, who during his long incumbency from 1821 proved a considerable benefactor to both church and village. He built the almshouses southeast of the church in 1830 and the school house in 1857. He made the church a centre of Tractarianism, welcoming J.H. Newman and H.E. Manning as visitors.

Beyond its ornateness, a curious feature of this work is the positioning of the baptistry east of the south aisle. The incised inscription over the arch leading to it—"One Lord One Faith One Baptism"—clearly indicates its intended function. Further work of unspecified nature was carried out in 1871–72 by local architect E. Swinfen Harris.