Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints

This is a parish church of 13th-century origin, enlarged in the 14th century with a tower added in the later 14th century, and further altered and extended in the 15th century. The church underwent extensive restoration in the late 19th century. It is constructed of slatestone rubble with granite dressings, while the north transept and porch are built in squared granite and slatestone rubble. The roofs are slate with crested ridge tiles and gable ends featuring raised coped verges and cross finials.

The building's plan originally comprised a cruciform structure; the nave and chancel now form a single space, with the north transept surviving from the original scheme. A west tower was added in the 14th century, and the south aisle and south porch were added in the early 15th century, with the north porch dating from the late 14th century. The chancel was remodelled in the 19th century with an organ chamber added to the north.

The exterior displays 19th-century fenestration throughout much of the church. On the north side, between the transept and porch, is a 2-light window with trefoil lights and a 2-centred arch with hood mould and relieving arch; a similar window stands to the west of the porch. A slate tablet commemorating John Read (1755) is attached to the wall. The chancel has a 19th-century 5-light window at the east end in Decorated style with cusped lights and tracery; lead flashing on the south wall is dated 1727 with initials IS and CP. A 2-light window to the north has cusped lights and a square head. The north transept features a 3-light window with trefoil lights and tracery, and another 19th-century window with cusped lights to the east. A 19th-century chimney stack with weathered shaft stands at this location.

The west tower rises in two stages and is topped by a broached stone spire. Diagonal weathered buttresses with a weathered string course and chamfered plinth support the structure. The spire features single bell openings with trefoil arches and slate louvres, a gablet and cross finial. A band of quatrefoil decoration runs halfway up the spire, with a finial and weathervane at the top. At the second stage, a 2-light window with chamfered surround and slate louvres faces west, while a lancet with trefoil head and slate louvres opens to the north. The west window, a 14th-century example with 2-centred arch and chamfered Y tracery, was restored in the 19th century.

The south aisle contains six bays, with the south porch occupying the second bay from the west. Built on a chamfered plinth, all south windows are 19th-century creations with 2-light trefoil design, 2-centred arches, hood moulds and relieving arches. At the east and west ends are 3-light windows with 4-centred arches. The south porch is gabled with an outer 4-centred arched doorway featuring two chamfered orders and clustered shafts with carved capitals on either side. The doorway is fitted with 19th-century plain wooden gates. The porch interior has a granite paved floor and stone benches, with a 19th-century wagon roof with moulded ribs. The inner doorway is a 2-centred arched moulded example with hood mould and relieving arch, fitted with a 19th-century plank door with good strap hinges. A demifigure with shield and ancient colour remains above this doorway.

The north porch is similarly gabled with a 2-centred arched chamfered outer doorway. Its interior likewise has a granite paved floor with stone benches, but retains a circa 17th-century unceiled wagon roof with plain ribs and wall-plates. The inner doorway is a 2-centred arched moulded design of 19th-century date with a 19th-century wrought iron lantern above and a 19th-century plank door with strap hinges.

The north organ chamber, accessed via a corridor from the north transept, has a 19th-century 2-light window with cusped lights and scroll stops in its gable end. A 4-centred arch with carved spandrels sits above in the masonry.

The interior features a tiled floor with 19th-century polychrome tiles in the chancel and plastered walls. The nave and chancel have an unceiled wagon roof with moulded ribs of early 19th-century date. The north transept retains a fine 15th-century wagon roof with carved ribs and bosses and wall-plates. The south aisle boasts an exceptionally fine 15th-century unceiled wagon roof with finely carved ribs and bosses; the 19th-century wall-plates support this feature, and the east end displays moulded ribs and high-quality carved bosses.

A tall, narrow 2-centred arch opens to the tower with a relieving arch above; no tower stair remains. A wide 4-centred arch leads to the north transept with chamfered imposts and plastered surfaces above. A 19th-century stone screen with double doors and cranked arches spans the north transept, fitted with plank doors and strap hinges. To the east, a 4-centred arched chamfered doorway originally led to the rood stair but now enters the organ chamber. The chancel features a chamfered timber lintel over the organ chamber opening, with deep splayed reveal to the north window and a stone shelf with cyma moulded edge.

The south arcade comprises six bays with 4-centred arches of two chamfered orders. The piers feature four major and four minor shafts with capitals decorated with small stylised flowers and castellated abaci. One pier at the west end displays a differently styled capital with chevron carving, suggesting the arcade may have been altered.

Fittings include a 12th-century stone font in the south aisle: a square bowl with shafts surmounted by masks at the corners and a central circular shaft on moulded base. A single 15th-century carved bench end survives in the south aisle. A large hatchment occupies the south aisle—an oil painting on board featuring a shield of arms in a moulded frame with skulls, crossed bones and hourglasses around the perimeter, likely of early 18th-century date. Two smaller similar hatchments bearing Latin mottoes hang in the nave.

A very fine 15th-century rood screen, complete in all sections, features two panels of blank tracery with 4-light tracery per section and an elaborate cornice above the coving, decorated with carved birds and beasts. A 19th-century pulpit in the nave incorporates 15th-century carved bench ends. 19th-century pews furnish the nave, aisles and chancel. A granite slab in the nave bears a raised carved fleuree cross. 17th-century stocks stand in the south aisle.

Monuments include: in the nave, a marble monument with pedimental top on slate ground to John Hope (1813) by Bedford of 256 Oxford Street, London; and a marble monument on slate ground with draped urn and roundel for inscription to William Williams (1785) by Isbell of Stonehouse. In the south aisle are: a marble monument with bust, scrolled pediment and urn with flowers to William Mohun (1737); a slate and stone monument with convex oval inscription tablet with bayleaf surround, Ionic columns, plinth with lion corbels and putto with wings, broken pediment with external flame and inclined shield of arms bearing Latin inscription to Richard Penkevill (1687); a granite ledger with shield and motto, undated; and a stone monument, partly plastered, with plain Ionic pilasters, plinth bearing two oval coats of arms, broken pediment with two bronze-painted putti and slate inscription tablet with gold-painted lettering to Elizabeth Seymour (1710).

The west window in the tower contains good 19th-century stained glass depicting figures of St Philip and St Stephen.