Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints

A Grade I listed Anglican parish church of complex build phases spanning from probable Saxon origins through the 19th century. The building displays squared and coursed rubble stonework with stone dressings, ashlar to the south porch, and stone slate roofs.

The church comprises a nave, chancel, west tower of three stages, north and south aisles, and south porch. Dating evidence suggests a probable Saxon nave (identified through proportions), a north arcade of the late 12th century, an early 13th-century chancel, a late 13th-century north chapel, an early 14th-century south arcade and tower base, 15th-century work, and significant restorations in 1868 and 1889.

The south aisle windows are characteristic of the 15th century: a triangular-headed 3-light window to the left of the porch, a 3-light flat-headed window to the right, and a 4-light window in a deep reveal to the west. The north aisle contains an identical west window, a 4-light flat-headed 15th-century window to the left, a blocked late 12th-century round-arched doorway with dogtooth moulding to its hoodmould at the centre, and a single lancet to the right. The north chapel has a 3-light 13th-century window under a pointed head. The chancel's south wall features a single lancet, a 2-light lancet, and a round-headed doorway with roll moulding and a plank door. Diagonal buttresses with set-offs support the aisles.

The three-stage west tower features set-off buttresses to the west, moulded string courses, and a pierced quatrefoil parapet with corner pinnacles and gargoyles below. The west face, flush with the aisles, displays a 4-light 15th-century window at ground floor level and single lights above and below a clock at the second stage. Bell openings on all faces consist of 2-cusped-light openings with close patterned piercing.

The south porch has diagonal buttresses, moulded string courses, and an embattled parapet with corner pinnacles. An east corner stair turret rises from this porch. The south doorway is multi-chamfered with a hoodmould developed from a buttress set-off. The parvise (porch chamber) has oblong lights and a sundial on the south face. Two-leaf outer plank doors and a multi-chamfered inner doorway with a further plank door provide access.

The interior contains a 2-bay north arcade with trumpet capitals, circular piers, and arches of the late 12th century. The 2-bay south arcade features octagonal piers and double-chamfered pointed arches dating to the early 14th century. A trefoil-headed piscina appears on the south aisle's south wall, with a rood stair to the right of the chancel arch and squints on either side. The south aisle has an open rafter roof, the nave has a wagon roof, and the north aisle contains an early 17th-century king-post roof with cusped braces. The chancel also displays a trefoil-headed piscina on its south wall and retains its wagon roof.

The fittings include a 15th-century font with a tapering stem and octagonal bowl in the north aisle, and 17th-century stairs with a handrail leading to the belfry. The nave contains benches with linenfold and early Renaissance end panels, which Aubrey records were given by a benefactor named Walton—the Waltons appearing in the parish records of the mid-16th century—as well as a 19th-century pulpit and brass lectern. The south aisle houses three oil paintings that are copies of old masters. The north wall of the north aisle displays two benefaction boards, one of the early 17th century and another of 1775. A 15th-century stained glass window depicting the Seven Sacraments is set in the north-east window, and a 15th-century screen forms the north chapel, with a further Renaissance screen within the chapel itself. A wall monument to Thomas Earle of 1715 bears swags and putti decoration. The chancel's east window, of 1887, is executed in the Kempe style, while late 19th-century stained glass is found in the chancel's south window. A list of rectors is recorded in the south porch.