Church of All Saints

Church of All Saints

Parish church. The main structure dates from the late 14th century, built on an older site, with the tower and clerestory added in the 15th century. The chancel and aisles were largely restored in 14th-century style between 1864 and 1866 by Henry Woodyer; the external stonework of the tower was restored in 1880, and the roof was restored in 1985–86.

The tower and clerestory are built of dark brown square Ferricrete blocks with Bath stone dressings, while the remainder of the building uses Bargate stone squared rubble. The roofs are of lead over the nave and tower, with tiles elsewhere. The building comprises a chancel, north chancel aisle with organ chamber, south chapel, north east vestry, nave, north and south aisles, south porch, and west tower.

The Tower

The tower has three stages with a plinth and embattled parapet. It features square angle buttresses and a stair turret on the south east corner that rises above the parapet and terminates in a tall, pointed stone pinnacle with an iron weathervane. The west doorway has old jambs and a wide casement mould with a two-centred arch beneath a 19th-century square head. Above this is a 19th-century window with five cinquefoil lights under a traceried two-centred head. The second stage contains a restored west window of three cinquefoil lights with a traceried four-centred head and clock dials on the south and west sides. The bell chamber has windows of two cinquefoil lights under four-centred heads.

The Aisles and Chancel

The north aisle has three 19th-century three-light windows with tracery under square heads and a pointed three-light window in the west wall, separated by five two-stage buttresses. The south aisle has windows similar to the north aisle and four two-stage buttresses between them. Between the second and third windows of the south aisle is a 12th-century-style south doorway with zig-zag ornament. The south porch has two small windows in each side wall and a pointed entrance archway. The chancel has an east window of five lights under a traceried head and two two-light windows on the south wall.

Interior

The nave roof spans five bays and features arch-braced collars and a redundant crownpost, all moulded with tracery between tie beams. The rafters have traceried spandrels to four-centred arch bracing below the ties. Moulded jack posts are supported by 19th-century stone head corbels. The principal rafters, clasped purlins, and ridge piece are chamfered and moulded. One tie beam bears a carved date of 1631 and the inscription "1L & T.S.".

High north and south arcades of five bays each contain outer bays with four-centred arches that are wider than the intermediate bays with two-centred arches. The columns are circular and built of chalk, except the second column on the north side, which is 19th-century stone. The octagonal bases, probably Norman, have a roll and hollow chamfer mould. The circular capitals feature shallow mouldings on octagonal abaci. The arches have two orders, with double ogee moulding and chamfer. The aisle roofs are 19th-century works with carved hammer-beam trusses and plain rafters.

An arcade of two bays separates the chancel from the organ chamber, and a similar arcade on the south, with a smaller bay to the east, opens into the chapel. The north wall of the chancel contains a trefoiled recess with a credence shelf and a carved stone reredos. A carved oak screen divides the chancel from the nave, and an iron screen encloses the chapel.

The 15th-century font is octagonal with traceried, panelled sides containing roses and other flowers, and has a hollow chamfered under-edge carved with intertwined tree branches. The stem has panelled sides and a moulded base. The stained glass east window was made by Hardman.

Monuments

Monuments in the church include a small black marble slab on the north wall of the vestry with a Latin inscription to Thomas Godwin of Christ Church Oxford, Bishop of Bath and Wells, who was born in Wokingham and buried there in 1590.

On the south wall of the south aisle is an undated 16th-century mural monument with a brass set within a rounded-headed panel of black marble enriched with a guilloche. The brass shows figures of a man and woman kneeling at a desk with an English verse inscription below. To the right of this is an 18th-century cartouche to Humphrey Cantrel Senior and Humphrey Cantrel Junior. On the north wall of the north aisle is a cartouche to Edward Cotton of Wokingham, who died in 1682.

The church tower forms an important visual element at the eastern end of Rose Street and at the eastern entry to the town.