Church Of All Saints

The Church of All Saints is a church dating back to the early 13th century, with significant alterations in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is constructed of coursed lias rubble with lias ashlar facing, covered by a slate roof. The church comprises an aisled nave, a chancel, and a west tower. The chancel has a single-window range of two-light windows, and the east window features three lights with intersecting tracery. A gabled roof tops the chancel. The south aisle has three windows, each with two lights and reticulated tracery, under a lean-to roof with a simple ashlar cornice and gable parapets. A gabled porch, located between the first and second windows from the left, features a 14th-century double-chamfered arch supported by corbels. A similar porch on the north side, positioned between the first and second windows from the right, has ashlar gable parapets, a finial, and two corbels, likely reset. The nave clerestory, with three windows of two lights and a square head, exhibits a gabled roof with a simple ashlar cornice, gable parapet, and finial. The west tower, probably 14th century and originally constructed of ashlar, has pairs of two-light bell chamber openings with transoms on each face of the upper stage. A clock, encased in a moulded stone surround, sits on the west face. The castellated ashlar parapet tops the tower, and the spire, added in 1859-60 by W. Slater in limestone ashlar, features three tiers of lucarnes and crockets.

Inside, the chancel arch is double-chamfered. The nave arcade consists of four bays with double-chamfered pointed arches. The south arcade is early 13th century, characterized by quatrefoil piers and stiff leaf capitals with faces hidden among the leaves. The north arcade is 14th century, also featuring quatrefoil piers and double-chamfered arches; the lower section of the piers was replaced with a large plinth in the 18th or 19th century. The church has both 18th and 19th century roofs. Stained glass from 1872, created by Lavers, Barraund and Westlake, can be found in the south chancel. A bellfry window is the work of Clayton and Bell, and further stained glass is present in the south aisle. Monuments include a brass memorial at the west end of the north aisle, commemorating John Olyver, who died in 1446, and his wife, alongside a brass inscription and two indents opposite. An oval tablet above honors Reverend John Mastic, who died in 1805. Another tablet remembers Richard Herbert, who died in 1790. A 17th-century table, known as Cromwell’s table, is reputedly from the now demolished Shukburgh House and was used by the King's Life Guards before the Battle of Naseby. A large copper ball in the north aisle, said to have held 60 gallons of ale brought from Boulogne in 1544, was removed from the stump of the spire in 1780. The font is a circular late 12th-century design with blank arcading and flower decorations. A stone coffin lid with traces of decoration resides in the belfry.