Church of All Saints

A parish church of multiple periods—12th to 15th centuries, with internal alterations from 1956–63 and restoration in the 1980s. Built in stone with plain tile roofs.

Plan and Exterior

The building comprises a west tower with south vestry, nave, south aisle, south porch, chancel, north and south chancel chapels (stopping short of the east end), and a north-east chapel to the nave.

West Tower. 15th-century work on a moulded plinth, rising in three stages with battlements above a moulded, gargoyled string. A polygonal south-east stair turret, taller than the tower itself, also carries a gargoyled string and battlements. Diagonal buttresses flank the tower. The belfry openings consist of two cinquefoil-headed lights with a square-topped hoodmould. Single trefoil-headed lights with hoodmould light all but the east side of the second stage. A two-centred arched three-light traceried west window has a moulded hoodmould. The west doorway is two-centred arched with casement moulding, formerly flanked by slender attached shafts either side, with a moulded hoodmould of scrolled ends and a ribbed door.

South Vestry. 19th-century or later stone rubble with a lean-to roof. A re-set medieval trefoil-headed light is present; a 19th-century light and doorway face south.

South Aisle. 13th-century work on a moulded plinth with three buttresses, and a parapet above a moulded string. A 14th-century two-light window west of the porch has a renewed hoodmould; a 19th-century window sits east of the porch.

Porch. 15th-century construction of small coursed stone blocks on a moulded plinth, with a parapet above a moulded string. Two-light windows to east and west carry squared hoodmoulds. A niche sits above the doorway. The two-centred arched casement-moulded outer doorway was formerly flanked by attached shafts either side, with quatrefoiled spandrels carrying shields and a squared hoodmould. The inner doorway, probably 14th-century, is moulded with roll-and-fillet hoodmould of scrolled ends and a ribbed door.

South Chancel Chapel. 12th-century origins with a moulded plinth and low parapet without string. A south-east angle buttress is present. Two largely 19th-century three-light south windows (one with hoodmould) and a similar east window light the chapel.

Chancel. 13th-century work, probably with 12th-century origins. Stone rubble with no plinth, gabled form, and north-east and south-east clasping buttresses. The south window—described as "especially interesting"—dates to the early 14th century, comprises three lights in Bethersden marble, and carries a hoodmould. The 13th-century east window consists of three individual, widely-spaced stepped lancets, the northern one slightly narrower. A 14th-century north window has three broad lights with ogee heads, the centre reaching to the window head, with a roll-and-fillet hoodmould carrying carved heads as label stops.

North Chancel Chapel and North-East Nave Chapel. The former is late 15th or early 16th-century; the latter is 13th-century but has a continuous north elevation. Both rest on a moulded plinth with lean-to roofs. Diagonal north-east and north-west buttresses flank them. A three-light traceried east window with hoodmould lights both. Two three-light north windows to the east of a door feature moulded jambs and squared hoodmoulds. One two-light window sits over a 19th-century doorway at the west end of the north chancel chapel. A three-light north window to the nave chapel has moulded jambs and squared hoodmould; a similar two-light window faces the west end.

Nave. The north elevation has no plinth. Two two-light windows are present; the eastern window has ogee-headed lights and a roll-and-fillet hoodmould with scrolled ends. Part of a jamb and head of a blocked round-headed window survives high in the wall. A moulded two-centred-arched doorway separates the windows.

Interior Structure

The interior preserves a three-bay 13th-century south arcade to the nave, with broad pointed chamfered arches and rectangular piers with undercut strings. The arch to the north-east nave chapel is similar but features a hollow chamfer. A circular 12th-century column stands at the centre of the south arcade, with scalloped capital and ring-moulded base. Two-bay chancel arcade piers are rectangular with moulded strings and cushion chamfer-stops, supporting unchamfered 13th-century pointed arches.

A late 15th or early 16th-century north arcade features moulded four-centred arches springing from moulded side shafts and a central pier of four attached columns with moulded capitals and bases. The 13th-century chancel arch (possibly with a 12th-century base) has a tall pointed arch springing from high chamfered imposts. A 15th-century tower arch carries three orders of hollow chamfers with attached shafts either side, each with moulded capital and base. A 14th-century arch between the south aisle and south chapel consists of two orders with attached semi-octagonal shafts either side, each with moulded capital and base.

The east end of the chancel features a 13th-century blind arcade of single arches to north and south with undercut hoodmould, dying into a continuous chamfered string beneath the east lancets. The lancets are flanked by four Purbeck marble shafts with bell capitals, bases, and shaft rings, and a continuous hollow chamfer carved with stylized roses. A continuous hoodmould crowns the composition. Three blocked, deeply splayed round-headed windows survive high in the north wall of the nave.

Roofing

An early 16th-century roof to the north chancel chapel carries multiple roll mouldings on beams, joists, and cornice. The remaining roofs are ribbed and boarded, refurbished in the 19th century.

Fittings and Decoration

Liturgical Furnishings. A 13th-century piscina sits on the south wall of the south chancel chapel. Two broad aumbries occupy the east end of the chancel, the southern one incorporating a piscina. Rood loft stairs rise within a pier at the north-east end of the nave. A finely carved late 15th or early 16th-century traceried parclose screen fronts the west bay of the north chancel arcade, with linenfold panelling to its base. A 15th-century screen, now in the west bay of the south chancel arcade, consists of seven cinquefoil-headed lights with carved spandrels. Five stalls beneath it include three with carved misericords.

Wall-Painting. A cross decorates the north side of the west pier of the south nave arcade. St Michael overcoming Satan appears on the south side of the same pier. Late 13th-century crucified Christs flank the soffit of the central arch of the south arcade. Dives and Lazarus occupy the south side of the east pier of the same arcade. A crucifixion adorns the west side of the east pier of the south chancel arcade. Wavy patterning runs along the chamfer of the blind arcade on the south side of the chancel. Five priestly heads appear towards the west end of the north blind arcade. Substantial chevron patterning survives on the soffit of the north-east nave arch, with a "key" pattern on the south side of the north-east nave chapel.

Stained Glass. Grisaille glass fills the north window of the chancel. Armorial glass in the east window of the north chancel chapel, restored in 1853, commemorates the St. Leger family.

Monuments. A memorial tablet to Samuel Belcher (d. 1760) on the south wall of the south chancel chapel carries a broken-based pediment. A black and white marble tablet to members of the Belcher family (d. between 1739 and 1819) on the same wall depicts a draped urn and Greek key pattern. A wall tablet to William Belcher (d. 1709) on the north wall of the south chancel chapel displays a cherub, scrolls, cornice, urns, and escutcheon.

A chest tomb against the north wall of the north chancel chapel bears a canopied brass to William Maydeston, Knight (d. 1419). A draped cartouche to Francis Clerke Esq. (d. 1691) sits above a large chest tomb with moulded plinth and corniced lid on the north wall between the two north chapels. An uninscribed brass, moved from the vestry in 1913, probably commemorates a knight (d. 1442) and rests above the tomb chest.

A fine brass to Randulph Sentleger Esquire (d. 1470) and his wife Anne lies on the floor of the north-east nave chapel. A wall memorial to Sir Francis Clerke (d. 1685) on the north wall of the north-east nave chapel is finely carved in black and white marble with a guilloche surround, flanked by Ionic columns and surmounted by a pediment with escutcheon. A large chest tomb sits below it.

A memorial tablet to Lady Sarah Wandesforde (d. 1838), by T. & E. Gaffin, appears on the south wall of the same chapel, depicting a woman borne heavenward. A tablet to the Marquess of Ormonde (d. 1820), by J. Bacon Jun. & S. Manning, likewise graces the south wall, showing a mourner with a sarcophagus.

Historical Context

The church functioned as a collegiate establishment from approximately 1220 to 1293.