Church Of St Mary The Virgin And All Saints

Church of St Mary the Virgin and All Saints, Nassington

This is a substantial parish church of the 11th to 14th centuries, with a datestone of 1640 on the spire and 19th-century restoration. It is constructed of regular coursed and squared coursed limestone with limestone ashlar, and roofed in lead and Collyweston slate.

The church comprises an aisled nave, chancel, west tower, and south porch. The chancel's south elevation displays a 2-window range of 3-light Perpendicular windows with 4-centred arch-heads and hollow reveals. A plank and studded priest's door with moulded stone surround and 4-centred arch-head sits to the left of centre. A 2-stage buttress terminates at parapet level between the windows. The roof is shallow and gabled with a castellated ashlar parapet. The 5-light Perpendicular east window has hollow reveals and a 4-centred arch-head with 19th-century restored tracery. 2-stage clasping buttresses at the corners terminate at parapet level beneath a castellated ashlar parapet. The north elevation of the chancel is similar to the south but includes a blank bay to the left and evidence of a blocked priest's door.

The south aisle comprises 3 bays with a wider bay to the left. A 3-window range of 2- and 3-light Decorated windows with geometrical tracery and carved label stops is set between 2-stage gabled buttresses at the corners and between bays. The lean-to roof has a plain ashlar parapet and 4 small gargoyles. The 3-light east window has hollow reveals and a 4-centred arch-head. The south porch, which breaks forward to the left, has an outer doorway with a 2-centred double-chamfered arch-head with polygonal responds and one order of shafts. Nailhead decoration runs between the chamfers and between responds and shafts, with further nailhead decoration on the hood mould. A trefoil head niche sits above the arch. The inner doorway has a 2-centred arch-head with moulded stone surround and fielded panelled doors, beneath a steeply gabled roof with ashlar parapets and finial. A bay attached to the west of the south aisle abuts the tower base, featuring a 19th-century lancet window and studded plank door to the right under a wood lintel, with a steep lean-to roof of Collyweston slates and ashlar gable parapet.

The north aisle comprises 4 bays with a 6-window range. The two bays to the right each have pairs of 2-light windows with Y-tracery, while the two bays to the left each have 3-light windows with plate tracery. A 12th-century north doorway at the far right has a semi-circular head with roll mouldings, nailhead and floret decoration, and 2 orders of shafts. 2-stage ashlar buttresses sit at the corners and between bays. The lean-to roof has a plain ashlar parapet and 3 gargoyles. The 3-light east window has intersecting tracery. A bay attached to the west of the north aisle is similar to that attached to the south aisle. The nave clerestory is rendered and features a 3-window range to the north and a 5-window range to the south, each of 3-light windows with cusping, beneath shallow gabled roofs with castellated ashlar parapets.

The west tower rises through 5 stages. The lower 3 stages are of 11th-century regular coursed limestone with two 3-stage ashlar buttresses to the lower 2 stages. The west doorway has a 2-centred arch-head with moulded surround, 2 bands of nailhead decoration, and 2 orders of shafts. A quatrefoil sits at the centre of the second stage and a single-light window at the centre of the third stage. The upper 2 stages are of ashlar. The uppermost stage is octagonal with a castellated parapet and gargoyles at the corners. Pinnacles with panel tracery and crockets rise across the intermediate faces of the octagon. 2-light bell-chamber openings with transoms rise through both upper stages on the cardinal faces of the octagon. A set-back octagonal spire rises from the octagon, supported by flying buttresses from the pinnacles, and is decorated with crockets and 2 tiers of lucarnes, the lower lucerne on the west face bearing the datestone 1640.

The interior shows a 4-bay nave arcade of triple chamfered arches on polygonal piers. The chancel arch is double chamfered with octagonal responds. A 12th-century semi-circular tower arch is doubled stepped and chamfered with semi-circular responds and waterleaf capitals. An 11th-century triangular head door above is now blocked. A doubled chamfered arch with a corbelled respond connects the south aisle to a vestry at the tower base. The corresponding space to the north of the tower forms a separate room. Two windows in the north wall of the north aisle and the east window of the north aisle have internal shafts. Two blocked priest's doors in the chancel include one with a moulded stone surround and 4-centred arch-head. A square-head niche sits to the left of the altar. A trefoil head piscina is in the south wall of the south aisle. The original nave roof has castellated cross beams, while the aisle roofs have moulded cross beams. The chancel roof is 19th-century. A fragment of nailhead frieze is visible on the wall of the south aisle. The church contains a Jacobean pulpit with hour glass stand, a fragment of Perpendicular screen reset in the south aisle, and a clock mechanism dated 1695. A plank door with strap hinges provides access to the room north of the tower.

Medieval glass fragments appear in the tracery of the south aisle south windows, while a late 19th-century lancet window is in the vestry. Fragment of medieval wall paintings survive above the chancel arch on the north wall of the chancel and in the north aisle.

Monuments include an inscribed tablet to Griffin King (died 1796) in the south aisle, a Saxon cross shaft with carvings in the north aisle, a plain chest tomb with coffin lid in the south aisle, and various coffin lid fragments scattered throughout the north and south aisles.