Church Of All Saints

The Church of All Saints is a parish church with origins dating back to the 12th century, significantly altered in the 14th, 15th, and 19th centuries. The church was substantially restored between 1843 and 1863, when the tower was crenellated. It is constructed primarily of red sandstone rubble, with the South aisle and lower stair turret of squared and coursed stone, all covered by a slate roof with decorative ridge tiles and coped verges.

The church’s plan includes a West tower, a four-bay nave, a South aisle incorporating a South porch, a chancel, and a South chapel. The three-stage crenellated tower has diagonal buttresses to the second stage and single-light, louvred bell openings. A two-light Decorated window is located on the West side, and a hexagonal stair turret rises on the South side, reaching only the second stage and featuring a four-centred arch doorway. The porch is incorporated into the crenellated South aisle, which displays merlons pierced with quatrefoil heads, crocketed pinnacles, and a collection of gargoyles. A crocketed niche above the arched entrance to the porch contains a 20th-century statue, and a three-light window illuminates the South aisle, featuring a four-panelled moulded compartment ceiling. The medieval door, originally with contemporary ironwork restored in the 19th century, is accessed through a four-centred arch doorway. The South front features four three-light Perpendicular windows and a crenellated roof. The stair turret includes an unglazed quatrefoil opening between the third and fourth bays, alongside another three-light window on the return. A further three-light 19th-century window is visible on the chancel front. A Norman lancet window is located on the North wall of the chancel, with a rood loft stair projection positioned in the angle with the nave. Two four-light windows are present on the North front, alongside a blocked four-centred arch doorway.

Inside, the nave has a moulded, ribbed plastered wagon roof with bosses and a wall plate. The chancel has an arch-braced roof and the South aisle is characterised by a 16th-century moulded compartment ceiling. A circular, unmoulded arch opens into the tower, and the chancel is set out of line with a moulded arch to the nave. A standard Perpendicular arcade displays polygonal capitals. A corbelled support for a statue on the East wall of the South aisle is carved with a defaced angel holding a scroll. An unidentified tomb-chest is set within an arched niche in the chancel, accompanied by crocketed pinnacles. A trefoil-headed piscina is positioned opposite the tomb-chest. A five-and-a-half bay 17th-century screen, restored in the 19th century, is present. The church also contains a fine, imported Jacobean pulpit with lectern, some 16th-century bench ends, a poor box dated 1634, and a 15th-century font. The church is particularly noted for its entertaining gargoyles and collection of fittings.