Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints, Loose

This parish church dates from the 13th century and was restored by John Wotton, master of Maidstone College, around 1400–1417. The building has been significantly altered and extended: the north aisle was added in 1820, the south aisle and porch in 1860, the nave was rebuilt after a fire in 1878–79, and further alterations were carried out in 1888.

The church is constructed of ragstone rubble, with the west tower and chancel in ragstone rubble with a small quantity of tufa to the tower. The remaining fabric is of roughly-coursed ragstone with plain tile roofs and wood shingles to the spire. The west tower overlaps the nave and south aisle.

The plan comprises a nave, south aisle, south porch, south chancel chapel (continuous with the aisle), chancel extending east of the chapel, north vestry and organ loft, and north aisle.

The 13th-century west tower has no stages or plinth. It features angle buttresses, with the south-east buttress covered by the south aisle. A splay-footed octagonal spire with weathervane rises from the tower, with louvres towards the base of each principal face. Rectangular lancets are positioned towards the top of each face, and very narrow 2-light stone mullion windows appear towards the base on the west and south sides.

The south aisle, added in 1860 with fenestration of circa 1888, has no plinth and features a buttress between its two sections and a south-east clasping buttress. Three 2-light 19th-century windows in 15th-century style face south, with one to the east. The east end wall incorporates four mid-to-late 17th-century stone memorial tablets. The south chancel chapel, dating from circa 1888, adjoins the south aisle.

The 1860 south porch has a plain parapet to the west and is gabled to south and east with moulded stone coping. Trefoiled lights face west and south. A moulded pointed-arched stone doorway facing east has a hoodmould. The ribbed medieval door has been re-hung.

The 13th-century chancel has no plinth but features integral clasping north-east and south-east buttresses. A 19th-century south window and 3-light 19th-century east window are present.

The north vestry and organ loft, built in 1888, have a chamfered stone plinth, a 2-light east window, and a rectangular east doorway with fanlight. Two 2-light north windows feature cinquefoil-headed lights. A north door ascends four steps within a shallow projecting stone porch.

The 1820 north aisle has a chamfered stone plinth and one buttress. Two tall 2-light north windows have moulded jambs, cinquefoil-headed lights, squared heads and hoodmoulds. A similar 2-light west window has a cambered head and hoodmould.

At the nave's west end, a 19th-century 3-light window displays intersecting tracery and a hoodmould. An 1888 stone porch with cusped bargeboards and boarded outer double doors precedes a moulded, pointed-arched early 15th-century stone inner doorway with moulded hoodmould and Bethersden marble step. A chamfered stone plinth to the nave lies within the porch.

Internally, a 3-bay late 19th-century nave arcade in 14th-century style features moulded octagonal columns and doubly-chamfered pointed arches running north and south. A moulded pointed early 15th-century chancel arch is moulded to the west side only. A small medieval doorway with cambered head between the tower base and nave is moulded to the nave side only. Tower windows are deeply splayed with round-headed rear-arches. A spiral stone rood-loft stair within the thickness of the east wall of the nave's north side leads out of the nave with a rebate for a door.

The roof comprises 19th-century moulded crown-posts to the nave and aisles, and a collared common rafter roof to the chancel, south chapel and organ loft. A chamfered medieval cornice beam to the chancel has 19th-century brattishing.

Fittings include a piscina to the east end of the south wall of the chancel with a moulded pointed arch and trefoiled inner soffit. Two hatchments at the west end of the nave are associated with Frances Martin, died 1791, and the Reverend Denny Martin-Fairfax, died 1800. A hatchment at the west end of the aisle is associated with Sarah Whatman, died 1775.

Stained glass in two north windows of the north aisle was created by Kempe in 1892, dedicated to members of the Jones and Marsham families.

A marble monument on the north wall of the chancel commemorates Richard Beale, died 1702. It features a broad central break, moulded plinth and shaped base plate, with two cherub heads at the base of the inscription. Narrow draped side panels and a moulded cornice surmounted by a horse's head complete the design.