Church Of All Saints

The Church of All Saints is a building of probable 10th-century origins, incorporating earlier materials, with significant work dating to the 12th century and 13th centuries, alterations in the 15th century, and a restoration in 1870 by Sir George Gilbert Scott. It is constructed of coursed gritstone, squared and coursed rubble, with a stone slate roof over the nave and probably the chancel, a grey slate roof to the spire, and red tiles to the north aisle and chapel.

The church comprises a west tower, a two-bay nave with a south porch, a taller north aisle and chapel, and a lower two-bay chancel. The tower has three stages; the upper portion was rebuilt in 1870. A stone bearing a Roman inscription is used as a quoin in the lower south-west corner. The west window is a two-light plate-tracery design, while the belfry stage has paired lancets; a corbel table with a gargoyle is present on the west side, topped by a coped parapet and a squat pyramidal spire with a weather vane.

The south window of the nave consists of three trefoil-headed lights, with the right-hand light being restored. The south porch, dated 1870, has a pointed archway with two side lights. The porch’s walling includes six worked stones, one of which is Saxon. The inner doorway is chamfered and round-arched, likely dating to the 12th century, set within an earlier opening, of which the eastern impost and the four lowest voussoirs of an outer order are visible externally, partially renewed. The door has hinges, potentially dating to the 12th century, with a C-shaped design, a central strap, and trident finials. The chancel features a blocked four-centred arched doorway, a two-light trefoil-headed window to the right, and rectangular chamfered openings to the left and right. The east window of the chancel, a 15th-century design, has three cinquefoil-headed lights under a three-centred arch. The north aisle and chapel, dating to 1870, are characterized by two- and three-light windows in the Decorated style.

The interior of the nave reveals a narrow round tower arch with chamfered imposts. Substantial remains of a 10th-century doorway and carved stones are visible in the south wall, with a similar character in the north wall. The north arcade features two single-stepped round arches with a central round pier and engaged semi-octagonal shafts, scalloped capitals, and traces of painted decoration on the voussoirs. A double-chamfered pointed chancel arch of 1870 replicates a similar 13th-century original arch to the north aisle from the chancel. There is a squint between the north chapel and the chancel. The cylindrical font is probably 11th century, reworked in the 14th century, and has an 18th-century polygonal cover. Fragments of Anglian and Danish carved stones are found in the tower. Late 15th-century bench ends with poppy-heads are present, along with 1870 replacements, which were a bequest from Lady Jean Warde of Givendale, dated 1473.