Church Of All Saints

The Church of All Saints is a parish church largely of Perpendicular date, with a 14th-century base to the tower. A south aisle was built in 1538, and a restoration in 1875 revealed eroded wall paintings. The church is constructed of roughcast over rubble with Ham stone dressings, and has slate roofs with coped verges.

The west tower is crenellated in two stages and unbuttressed, featuring a moulded plinth and a square north-east stair turret. It has two-light louvred bell openings and a 19th-century two-light window on the west side; no west door is present. The aisles have three-light windows to their west ends. The south aisle is crenellated and buttressed; it includes a two-storey, diagonally buttressed porch with a 3-light window above a moulded, pointed arch opening with decorated panelled jambs and soffit. Remains of a holy water stoop are beside a depressed 4-centred arch door with a 16th-century studded door. Two two-by-four-light windows are to the right, mirrored at the east end of the aisle. A 4-centred arch leads to the chancel, and a three-light window is at the east end. The north aisle features a two-by-four-light window at its east end, with four three-light windows including a rood stair projection between the first and second bays.

The interior is rendered, with exposed quoins around openings and remains of painted wall decoration. A Perpendicular arcade comprises clustered columns with vine leaf capitals; a respond at the south-west end is dated 1538. There's no chancel arch—a pointed arch, chamfered in two orders, has been inserted in its place. A wagon roof is present in the chancel, and a ceiled wagon roof with fine bosses and wall plate in the nave. The south aisle has a particularly fine wagon roof with moulded ribs, bosses, and a triple frieze wall plate with angels; while the north aisle has an open wagon roof with bosses carved in 1890 by a local woodworking class. Openings lead to the roodstair in the north aisle. Statue niches and a piscina are located in the east wall. A gallery was added at the west end around 1750. A squire's pew, shaped like an ogee-headed oriel, is situated within the parvise, with a slender wooden column and paneling, and dates to 1804, featuring a four-centred arch doorway to the stairs on the right. The pulpit is constructed of reset medieval panelling with a 17th–18th-century sounding board and hourglass. Stained glass includes fragments of medieval glass in the north aisle’s east window, as well as windows by Sir Ninian Comper and Clayton and Bell. A Norman font is accompanied by a tall 19th-century cover and pulley. Communion rails are from an 18th-century church in north Devon. An organ was installed in 1983, originating from St Clements Church in Ipswich. A reredos by Philip Burgess of West Porlock was added in 1900. A metal-bound 16th-century parish chest is also present. The church holds a good collection of monuments, including marble pieces by Sir Francis Chantrey to Charles Baldwyn and Charles Richard Dyke Acland (died 1837 and 1828, respectively), slate and marble wall tablets to William Blackford (died 1730) and Charles Stayninq (died 1700), and a collection of brasses including one to Guilmi Fleete (died 1617). It is considered one of the finest churches in the county.