Church Of All Saints

This parish church has fabric from the late 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, with alterations in 1853 and 1876. It is built of roughly-coursed sandstone with ragstone and sandstone dressings. The tower is constructed of graduated sandstone. The roofs are covered with plain tiles. The church comprises a west tower, nave, south aisle, south porch, and south chancel chapel that is continuous with the nave and flush with the east end of the chancel. The site of an anchorite's cell lies to the north of the chancel.

West Tower

The tower dates from the 15th century and has three stages built on a chamfered plinth. It has north-west and south-west angle buttresses, with a single north buttress. The top is battlemented above a moulded and gargoyled string course. Each face of the belfry stage has a window of two trefoil-headed louvred lights with a squared hoodmould. All faces of the middle stage except the east have a single trefoil-headed light with a squared hoodmould. The west window has three lights with pointed-arched tracery and a hoodmould. The west doorway is moulded and pointed-arched, flanked by engaged shafts with moulded capitals and bases. This doorway is set within a square-headed cavetto-moulded architrave with shields in quatrefoils to the spandrels and a lion rampant on the shield above the door. A squared moulded hoodmould has carved heads of a bishop and king as label stops. A quadrilateral south-east stair turret becomes octagonal at belfry stage and rises above the tower, topped with plain stone coping and a short shingled spirelet with weathervane.

South Aisle

The south aisle originated in the late 12th century, with alterations from the 13th, 14th and 19th centuries. There is no visible plinth. It has a diagonal south-west buttress and two south buttresses. The aisle is gabled. The west window has two lights with ogee cinquefoil-headed lights, a quatrefoil in an ogival, and a hoodmould. Three 19th-century three-light pointed-arched south windows sit above a string course.

South Porch

The 13th-century porch is set towards the centre of the south aisle. It has no visible plinth. The gabled structure has shaped kneelers. The tall pointed-arched outer doorway has a plain-chamfered head and unchamfered jambs. 18th-century spearhead railings about five feet high are set across the doorway, with a gate flanked by scrolled supports at the centre. There are no side lights. A continuous stone bench with wooden seat runs along each side within the porch. The uncollared roof has a slender moulded octagonal crown post set on a cambered tie-beam, with scissor braces crossing immediately above the collar purlin. There are ashlar-pieces and a doubly-chamfered wooden cornice. The tall 13th-century inner doorway is pointed-arched and plain-chamfered with broach stops. It retains a rare 12th-century boarded door originally made for a round-headed doorway and cut down to fit the 13th-century arch. The door bears 12th and 13th-century decorative ironwork with five tendrilled straps, C hinges with bestial heads, fish and a fishing boat, a flying dragon with snake and crescent, crosses, and other motifs.

South Chancel Chapel

This chapel has 13th-century origins but was rebuilt in the 15th century. It is constructed of roughly-coursed ironstone interspersed with ragstone blocks, with ragstone dressings. It stands on a high chamfered plinth. Its eaves are higher and ridge lower than the nave. It has a diagonal south-east buttress and two south buttresses. The 15th-century south-west window is pointed-arched and traceried with three lights and a hoodmould. A similar south-east window has been restored. The east window is traceried with four lights having cinquefoil-headed lights and a hoodmould. A small hollow-chamfered pointed-arched south-west doorway has broach stops and a hoodmould.

Chancel

The chancel dates from the 13th century, possibly with earlier origins. There is no visible plinth. The tall five-light east window has trefoil-headed lights, trefoiled and quatrefoiled tracery, and a hoodmould. A small blocked rectangular light sits above this. Two early 14th-century north windows—one with two lights, one with a single light—have depressed ogee cinquefoiled-headed lights and reticulated tracery. A slightly later two-light north-west window is also present. Between the two early 14th-century windows is a squint that is rectangular on the outside and circular towards the inside, which formerly communicated between the chancel and the anchorite's cell. A second, much smaller squint beside it was possibly for alms.

Nave

The nave dates from the 12th century. It is built of roughly-coursed ragstone rubble with occasional bands of herringbone stonework. There is no visible plinth. It has two north buttresses. Two two-light 19th-century windows are positioned to east and one to west of a projecting 1876 stone organ chamber.

Railings

18th or early 19th-century painted iron spearhead railings on a low stone plinth run east from the south-east corner of the porch, returning to the east end of the south aisle and surrounding the Usborne family tombs.

Interior Structure

The five-bay south arcade to the nave consists of doubly plain-chamfered pointed arches springing from late 12th and 13th-century piers and columns. The semi-octagonal west end pier has a square abacus and spurred base. This is followed by four alternating circular and octagonal columns with moulded capitals. The first, second and fourth from the west have water-holding bases, while the third (circular) column from the west has a spurred base. The east half of the fourth column, the east end pier and arch were rebuilt in the 14th century.

The three-bay 13th-century south arcade to the chancel has two circular columns with moulded capitals and water-holding bases, with doubly plain-chamfered pointed arches dying into the walls. The 15th-century tower arch has engaged columns with moulded capitals and bases, and a trebly hollow-chamfered pointed arch. The chancel arch and arch between the south aisle and south chancel chapel date from 1853 and are in a late medieval style. The rere-arch of the central window of the south aisle springs from slender engaged shafts.

A hollow-chamfered pointed-arched doorway with broach stops leads to the tower stair turret. A doubly plain-chamfered pointed-arched doorway with broach stops at the east end of the north wall of the nave leads to the rood-loft stairs, with a similar doorway to the top of the stairs above. A rectangular embrasure for roof-loft access is positioned high above the east end of the nave arcade.

Roofs

The nave has a 19th-century barrel roof with moulded pendant posts on carved stone corbels. The south aisle retains a largely medieval crown-post roof with six moulded octagonal crown-posts, sous-laces, and ashlar-pieces.

The south chancel chapel has a late medieval wagon roof with curved ashlar-pieces and sous-laces. The side purlins and collar purlin are moulded with a thick central roll with leaf chamfer-stops. The roof is punctuated by five principal trusses (including end trusses) with short moulded spurs or hammer-beams on solid-spandrel brackets, supporting curved braces (placed in front of shortened curved ashlar-pieces) rising to the side purlins and thence to the collar purlin. These additional braces are moulded like the purlins. A flat-faced rectangular boss is formed at each junction of braces and purlins. There is a moulded wooden cornice.

The chancel has a 19th-century wagon roof.

Fixtures and Fittings

A trefoil-headed stoup with broach stops stands to the east side of the south door. A stoup with a depressed ogee head with carved foliage to the borders is positioned beside the doorway to the south chancel chapel. A hollow-chamfered pointed-arched tomb recess with broach stops is set in the south wall of the aisle. The defaced rectangular stone font rests on four short later shafts.

Sixteen early 16th-century wooden panels are set in the tower ceiling, carved with shears, staples, pomegranate and other motifs. A brass chandelier in the nave is dated 1808. Royal Arms of 1764 are displayed under the tower, along with late 19th-century Benefactors and Parish Fees boards.

Monuments

On the south wall of the south aisle is a tablet to Henry Hoare, died 1828(?), with Ionic columns on a plain corniced plinth, plain frieze and moulded triangular pediment with antefixae. A tapering inscription panel sits between the columns with a grey back plate.

On the east wall of the south chancel chapel is a tablet to John Diamond, died 1800. This rectangular marble tablet has bell consoles and a moulded cornice surmounted by a woman in relief with an urn.

In the south chancel chapel stands a free-standing chest tomb to Walter Mayney, died 1577, and his two wives. Made of Bethersden marble, it has a moulded plinth and recessed moulded side panels. The plain stone top is in darker stone and formerly had three brasses, of which one, depicting a wife, remains.