Parish Church Of All Saints

The Parish Church of All Saints is a church built between 1883 and 1889 to the designs of J.L. Pearson, with F. Matthews of Babbacombe acting as contractor at a total cost of over £11,000. It is constructed of local grey limestone, with Bathstone dressings, and a natural slate roof with crested ridge tiles, and is designed in the Geometric Decorated style.

The church includes a nave, a chancel with a polygonal apse, lean-to north and south aisles, transepts to the west and east, and a north-facing narthex at the west end. The east end is polygonal, with two-light windows containing decorated tracery. The chancel has two 3-light windows to the north and south. The east transepts feature angle buttresses and five-light traceried windows, while the four-bay aisles have buttresses and two-light traceried windows. The west transepts incorporate three-light windows with unusual tracery, and the west end has a large six-light traceried window above an open, three-bay buttressed narthex. This narthex is flanked by large nave buttresses which terminate in polygonal turrets with stone spires; the north turret serves as a belfry. The narthex has a timber roof with cusped trusses, and includes a pair of moulded inner doorways with boarded, studded doors fitted with ornamental strap hinges. Further two-light traceried windows are set into the west side walls of the transepts. A 19th-century lamp is fixed to a large wrought-iron bracket on the north side, and the south side takes advantage of the sloping site with a vestry complex overlooking Mill Lane.

Inside, the church showcases four-bay arcades with columns featuring clustered shafts. Alternate bays have stone arches across the nave, which is covered by a wagon roof with a keeled profile. The aisles are vaulted with quadripartite stone roofs. A drum-shaped pulpit has carved sides, and a fine octagonal marble font, reportedly similar in design to Butterfield's font at All Saints, Babbacombe, was given by the architect. Candelabra, said to be of non-English design, are also present, alongside 19th-century floor tiling and a set of stained glass by Clayton and Bell.

The vestry includes an engraving of the church, originally intended to be accompanied by a tower. A carillon previously existed on the site. Agatha Christie was baptised at the church.