Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints

This is a parish church of predominantly 12th to 15th century date, located on Pytchley Isham Road. The chancel was restored in 1861, and the nave and aisles in 1903. The building is constructed from coursed and squared stone and ashlar, with stone slate and lead roofs.

The church comprises a west tower, nave with clerestory and aisles, a side chapel, south porch, and chancel. The west tower dates to the 13th and 14th centuries and rises in four stages. It has a chamfered plinth and string courses, a crenellated parapet with gargoyles and pinnacles, and a pyramid roof with weathercock. A clasping buttress stands to the south west. The first stage contains a late 14th century moulded doorway with a two-leaf plank door, above which is a restored Y-traceried lancet, both with hood moulds. The second stage has a lancet to the south. The third stage has blocked triple openings to north and south, a doorway to the east, and a clock to the west. The bell stage has on each side two transomed ogee-headed bell chamber openings with hood moulds.

The nave has a parapeted clerestory with four double lancets to the north and five to the south, all 14th century Decorated work. The north and south aisles have chamfered plinths and coped parapets. The south aisle has a moulded sill band and measures four bays. At its east end is a tall Y-traceried double lancet. To the left are four tablets dating to around 1800. The south aisle also has two Decorated double lancets with moulded ogee heads and finials to the east, and a 13th century paired lancet to the west. The west end has a 19th century Perpendicular triple lancet with hood mould. Each end of the aisles has a restored early 15th century transomed triple lancet with panel tracery and hood mould. The north aisle west end has setback buttresses and a grotesque spout; the north side has a diagonal buttress to the east and an intermediate one.

The north side chapel has a string course, coped gable, and parapet with diagonal spouts. Its north gable has a restored 13th century double lancet with hood mould. To the west of the side chapel is a double chamfered 14th century doorway with hood mould.

The south porch is buttressed and dates to the 14th century. It has a coped gable with sundial finial, a roll-moulded doorway with shafts, and above it a mask corbel and a 19th century lamp bracket. Inside the porch are stone benches and a 20th century roof. In each side are chamfered flat-headed double openings. The main porch doorway has filleted moulding, shafts with crocketed capitals, and a hood mould, with a 16th century plank door and hinges.

The chancel is two bays and has a chamfered plinth, moulded eaves, coped gable, and sill bands to the east and south. The north side has a near-central blocked doorway flanked to the left by a 14th century piscina and to the right by a blocked doorway. Above are mid-19th century triple and double Geometrical lancets with hood moulds. The east end has a 19th century five-light Geometrical lancet with hood mould, flanked by single angle buttresses. The south side has a restored 14th century doorway to the left, flanked by a blocked low side window, a central 19th century Geometrical triple lancet, flanked to the left by a similar double lancet and to the right by a more squat triple lancet. All these openings have hood moulds.

Interior features include a 14th century double chamfered tower arch with octagonal responds and a 19th century traceried wooden screen. The four-bay north arcade has two 12th century bays to the west with round pier, scrolled capital, and single stepped arches with painted decoration. The eastern bays date to the mid-13th century and have quatrefoil piers with one oak leaf capital, differently chamfered arches, hood moulds, and mask stops. The north east corner has a rood loft doorway. The four-bay south arcade is 13th century, with quatrefoil piers and responds with three leaf capitals and a single moulded capital to the east. The arches are hollow and plain chamfered with hood moulds and mask stops.

A restored 15th century roof spans the nave, featuring moulded cambered tie-beams with struts to wall shafts. The north aisle contains a blind-arcaded timber porch with double doors dated 1844, with a double chamfered opening to the side chapel to its right, fitted with a 17th century carved panelled screen. The east end has a re-set 13th century piscina to the left and a 20th century aumbry to the right, both with re-set cross-incised lintels. The north aisle has a restored 15th century roof with cambered tie-beams and wall shafts on mask corbels. The south aisle has an ogee-headed Gothic traceried porch dated 1844 and a restored roof with moulded tie-beams and purlins. The east end contains two stained glass windows of mid and late 20th century date.

The chancel has a 19th century hollow chamfered arch with central drop and hood mould, a 20th century traceried screen, and a moulded sill band. The east end displays a 14th century style oak reredos dated 1952. The south side has a late 14th century cusped ogee-headed piscina and sedilia in a moulded flat-headed frame, with a blocked doorway and low side window openings to the right. The chancel roof is 19th century arch-braced principal rafter construction with foliate corbels.

The church contains a 12th century round font, restored and inscribed 1838, with a cove-sided bowl and 19th century turned cover. There is a 17th century pew and an octagonal pulpit and priest's chair made from 17th century carved panels, a 14th century chest, and a large painted panel dated 1661 bearing the Royal arms, churchwardens' names, and text. Memorials include three mid-19th century marble and slate tablets and two war memorial brasses.