Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints, Turkdean

An Anglican parish church of 12th-century origin with substantial 15th-century additions, restored in 1839 and again in 1897.

The building comprises a nave with a 15th-century tower inserted at the west end, a north aisle and north porch, and a chancel. The chancel is built of coursed squared and dressed limestone; elsewhere the construction is ashlar. The roof is stone slate.

The north porch is 15th-century with a gabled roof and diagonal buttresses. It has a pointed arched entrance with deep casement mouldings and a mould hood with head stops in the form of a man's and a woman's head dressed in contemporary costume. The parapet features moulded capping and a string course, and stone slab seats are set within the porch. Double studded doors lead to the nave within a stone Tudor-arched surround with spandrels enriched with quatrefoils and blank heraldic shields at the centre. The hood above has stops similar to those on the porch entrance. Single two-light windows, possibly 15th-century, have rectangular surrounds with tracery at the top and relieving arches over both. A moulded eaves cornice runs along the porch. A massive buttress with offsets stands to the left, and the remains of a possible blocked window are visible in the upper left.

The north side of the nave shows 12th-century work set back to the far right, with a pilaster buttress, a later buttress with offsets, and a moulded plinth. A 12th-century corbel table with sculptured animal heads runs along this side. The upper part of the 12th-century round-headed arched entrance on the right side has two orders with chevron and billet ornament, a capital with cushion mouldings, and an impost with foliate decoration. A small portion of engaged shaft remains below. Reused sculptured stone, possibly Saxo-Norman with interlace and foliate decoration, is visible in the upper right. The west wall of the nave is 12th-century with three pilaster buttresses and a carved head over the central buttress. Three reused carved stone blocks are set in this wall: two with diaper decoration and one with a carved cross, possibly a sanctus cross.

A short length of the former south wall of the nave survives with a single pilaster buttress and a 12th-century corbel table matching that on the north side.

The tower, 15th-century, is inserted within the west end of the nave. It is a single stage with a string course above the nave roof and two-light belfry windows. A battlemented parapet with a string course crowns the tower.

The south aisle is 13th-century and breaks forward from the line of the south wall of the 12th-century nave. It features a wide central two-centred arched entrance with deep casement moulding and square stops (now blocked). Two pointed three-light windows with tracery and hoods are on this side; the left window has square stops.

The chancel has a deep flat-chamfered plinth. The upper half of a 12th-century priest's door in the north wall is visible, though now blocked. The doorway has a semi-circular arch of two orders and a diapered tympanum with pellet decoration, engaged columns with cushion capitals, and diapered imposts. Traces of a mass dial are visible to the left of the left capital; the lower half of the doorway is obscured by a later plinth. Single lancet windows, probably 19th-century, stand either side of this doorway. A three-light pointed 19th-century east window with a stopped hood is positioned centrally. The chancel north wall has a two-light stone-mullioned casement with cinquefoil-headed lights and a rectangular surround with a hood bearing a square stop. A moulded eaves cornice runs along this wall.

Interior

The church interior is plastered throughout. Three steps lead down from the porch to the nave. A three-bay late 14th-century nave arcade with pointed arches springs from octagonal piers. A low flat-chamfered arch connects the nave to the tower. Two similar but blocked archways in the north and south walls under the tower mark the former west end of the 12th-century nave. A wide round-headed 12th-century chancel arch with imposts separates the nave from the chancel.

The nave roof, 19th-century, spans five bays with tie beams and collars; two trusses have king posts. A 19th-century lean-to roof covers the north aisle, supported by defaced 15th-century stone corbels. The chancel has a three-bay 19th-century king post roof.

The nave floor is parquet, while stone ledgers form the floor of the south aisle. Three steps rise to the chancel, which has a plank floor.

Furniture and fittings include a 19th-century octagonal stone font adjacent to the north door, a copy of a damaged 14th-century font. The nave contains 19th-century pews and 20th-century chairs. A 19th-century stone pulpit stands in the nave. An oak screen painted white, made in 1949 by Peter Falconer and decorated with flowers and butterflies, divides the spaces.

Monuments and floor slabs

Seventeenth and 18th-century ledgers with good inscriptions form the floor of the north aisle. A 19th-century marble monument stands on the nave south wall. The chancel windows contain fine 19th-century stained glass. A particularly notable window in the south aisle, dedicated to Dame Julia Bolton who died in 1924, was created by Henry A. Payne.

Wall paintings

A royal coat of arms appears over the chancel arch. A full-length figure holding a staff against a background painted with stars is depicted within a rectangular margin with a crimson foliate border, positioned over part of the nave arcade.