Church Of All Saints

This Church of All Saints was built in 1878, designed by A W Blomfield and funded by Gertrude Martyn as a memorial to her husband, Cecil Edward Martyn, who died in 1870. It is constructed of snecked local sandstone with Bath stone dressings, featuring a tiled roof with ridge tiles and a shingled tower roof. The church is of Early English style and comprises a three and a half bay nave, a lower two bay chancel, a south-east porch, a south-east vestry, and a south-east tower.

The west end of the nave has a paired lancet window with a quatrefoil above. The nave’s south side features two triple lancet windows framed by buttresses, and a single lancet to the right of the porch. The south-east porch is timber-framed on a stone base, notable for its decorated jowled posts, arched braces with cinquefoil motifs in the spandrels, and triple cinquefoil heads. The gabled vestry has a paired lancet with a quatrefoil above and an arched entrance below. The four-stage tower is topped with a pyramidal-shaped shingled spire and a cast iron weathervane. The bell stage has wooden louvres, while other stages feature lancet windows, and the ground floor has paired arched windows. An octagonal stair turret rises through to the third stage, positioned on the east side. The north aisle contains seven lancet windows. The chancel has a single lancet to the south, paired lancets to the north and a triple lancet to the east.

Inside, the arcade features circular columns and pointed arches. The nave roof, spanning seven bays, has four trusses with arch braces, hammerbeam and circular ornament near the apex, supported on stone corbels, as well as intermediate trusses with scissor-bracing. Two tiers of purlins are also present. A font of octagonal stone, with quatrefoil decoration and green marble colonnettes, is a notable feature. There is a 19th-century wooden confessional. The pulpit has a stone base and a panelled wooden superstructure with carved vine leaves and grapes below, and fretted roses above. The sacristy or vestry contains a pointed arched stone fireplace, a cupboard and a wall safe. A large chancel arch is supported by stone corbels and incorporates a low stone wall with a moulded parapet and two steps leading to the chancel. The chancel has an arched roof, supported by stone corbels and is boarded. Original oak choir, vicar and visiting priest’s stalls display fretwork decoration, while the tiled floor is coloured and patterned. A brass wall plaque is affixed to the north wall, commemorating Cecil Edward Martyn. Oak communion rails were added in 1936. A 1909 stone reredos includes a marble table, a central wooden cupboard with a carving of a vulning pelican, and a mosaic with a central pediment displaying the Alpha and Omega letters, flanked by panels of angels swinging thuribles. An 1880 Walker two manual organ is also present. Stained glass windows by Clayton and Bell include the east window depicting Christ in Majesty, two north chancel windows illustrating scenes from the Gospels, a series of seven saint windows on both nave and north aisle, and a west window depicting the Twelve Apostles.

The church cost between £4000 and £5000 to build.