Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints

This is a parish church whose tower probably dates from the 14th century, but the upper stage was rebuilt in 1854-6. The rest of the church was completely rebuilt in 1854-6 by architect Benjamin Ferrey for A.H.D. Troyte, who designed some of the details himself. A north aisle was added in 1871 after Troyte's death, probably also designed by Ferrey.

The building is constructed of stone rubble with Ham Hill stone dressings and has a Sussex tiled roof with crested ridge tiles. The plan consists of a west tower, nave, chancel, north transept, a single-bay south aisle (east of the porch only), a two-bay north aisle, a south porch, and a south-east vestry. The design is unusual, with the short south aisle conceived as a children's aisle to judge from the interior fittings. The style is a mixture of Perpendicular and Decorated Gothic with high quality details and rich 19th-century fittings throughout.

Exterior features include Decorated windows to the chancel, with the east window designed by Troyte himself. The north window is a reused Decorated medieval window with volcanic tracery. Good carved label stops ornament the 1850s windows, and a stone wall-plate is carved with ballflowers. The north transept is gabled with square-headed Perpendicular-style windows on the north side. The south aisle and vestry have lean-to roofs. The windows on the south side are a mixture of square-headed and arched openings, all fitted with 19th-century saddle bars and trefoil-headed stanchions. The slim, battlemented west tower lacks pinnacles and is partly medieval, partly rebuilt in the 1850s when it was taken down to the upper string and a turret was raised at the north-east angle. It is unclear whether the entire projecting rectangular turret is 19th-century or only the upper portions. The tower openings appear to be 19th-century work, including the west doorway and Perpendicular west window, with plate-traceried belfry openings and a bellringers' opening on the south face. The south porch is a coped gabled structure with 19th-century moulded doorways and a 19th-century arched brace roof.

Interior

The interior features good 19th-century fittings and a series of 19th-century windows creating strong internal coherence. The walls are plastered with a timber chancel arch. The tower arch is rounded, springing from plain imposts. The north arcade has three bays (one bay to the transept) with double-chamfered cranked arches on octagonal piers with moulded capitals and carved corbels to the responds. A similar arch leads into the south aisle. The nave and chancel have unceiled wagon roofs; the chancel roof is boarded above the sanctuary and features carved timber corbels below the wall-plate. The north transept has an unceiled keeled wagon roof, while the south aisle has a boarded lean-to roof panelled with applied mouldings and stars. The north aisle has a collar rafter roof. Good tiled floors run throughout, with more richly decorated tiling in the sanctuary and chancel. The chancel contains an inlaid brass commemorating Dr Troyte, who died in 1852. A 20th-century timber reredos stands at the chancel east end, while 1850s communion boards are now positioned below the tower.

The chancel furniture includes an 1850s timber altar rail and choir stalls with carved ends. A low timber chancel screen incorporates fragments of medieval tracery and supports an eagle lectern. The nave contains an 1850s timber pulpit incorporating early 16th-century bench ends, and an octagonal stone font commemorating Fanny Troyte, who died in 1856. Nineteenth-century bench ends with foliage carving are set throughout the nave, and 19th-century lamp-holders survive intact. A fine brass and inlay nave corona also remains.

The east wall of the south aisle is filled with a large painting on tin depicting St Agnes, commemorating Agnes Mills, who died in 1895. Carefully designed 19th-century stained glass by Wailes includes grisaille designs to the chancel and quarries with texts to the nave and aisles. The texts in the south aisle confirm its function as a children's aisle. The west window of the north aisle is pictorial and incorporates late 15th-century fragments. Various texts on tin from the 1850s rebuilding survive. A commemorative brass to Troyte and his wife was erected in the north aisle by his children.

Context

Troyte was a High Church patron with active involvement in the restoration of Huntsham and other churches in the Diocese. After Troyte's death, Benjamin Ferrey rebuilt Huntsham Court, which is adjacent to the church. The two buildings together form an important 19th-century group.