All Saints Church, Lathbury facts for kids
Quick facts for kids All Saints' Church |
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All Saints' Church, Lathbury
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| OS grid reference | SP 87453 44991 |
| Location | Lathbury, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Architecture | |
| Heritage designation | Grade I listed building |
| Designated | 17 November 1966 |
| Style | Norman, Early English, Decorated |
| Years built | 12th century |
| Specifications | |
| Capacity | 110 |
| Bells | 4 |
| Administration | |
| Benefice | Newport Pagnell |
| Deanery | Newport |
| Diocese | Oxford |
| Province | Canterbury |
All Saints' Church is a very old parish church located in Lathbury, a village in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It was built way back in the 12th century, which means it's over 800 years old! Because of its historical importance, it was officially recognized as a Grade I listed building in 1966. This means it's considered a really special and important historical building.
Contents
Discovering All Saints' Church
All Saints' Church is an ancient building with many interesting parts. It has a tall tower at the west end, a main area called the nave, and side sections known as aisles. There's also a south porch (an entrance area) and a special space at the east end called the chancel, where the altar is.
Church Design and Features
The church's tower, nave, and aisles have a special top edge called a "battlement," which looks like the top of a castle wall. The roofs are covered with lead, and the east end of the chancel has a simple wall called a parapet. The porch has a plain, pointed roof and still has its original stone seats, called sediles. The tower holds a clock and four bells.
The oldest parts of the church were built in the Norman style. You can see this in the south doorway and some of the pillars and arches on that side. The tower was built in the Early English style, with the battlement added later. Most of the rest of the church is in the Decorated style, which means it has some really beautiful windows.
Cool Carvings and Details
Look closely at the corners of the aisles, and you'll spot large stone carvings called gargoyles. These are often shaped like strange creatures and are actually waterspouts! There's also a cross at the very top of the nave.
Inside, the south aisle is separated from the nave by two pointed arches supported by a big, round pillar. The north side has a cool zig-zag pattern. The pillar on the south side has amazing carvings, possibly brought back by a crusader long ago. They show funny-looking dragons with two heads and leafy designs. In one of the square pillars in the south aisle, there's a carved stone slab with a creature that looks like a serpent and two other unusual animals.
The two pointed arches in the north aisle are taller than the ones on the south side. At the east end of the south aisle, there's a piscina, which is a stone basin used for washing sacred vessels. This shows that an altar used to be in that spot a very long time ago. In the south aisle, you can also see the steps that once led to the rood loft, a gallery that used to be above the chancel arch.
The oak roofs are open, so you can see the wooden beams. The nave roof is held up by carved stone supports called corbels. The six windows above the main part of the church, called the clerestory windows, are pointed and have two sections each. The pulpit, where sermons are given, is made of oak and has eight sides.
At the west end, there's a circular arch that is now filled in. Many of the walls throughout the church still have old paintings on them, called distemper paintings.
The Chancel and Stained Glass
The arch leading to the chancel is pointed. The big east window has four sections and special clover-like shapes called quatrefoils at the top. It's filled with beautiful stained glass that shows Jesus blessing, along with angels, symbols of the Evangelists, flowers, and leaves.
In the south wall of the chancel, there are three stone seats for priests, called sedilia. They have a pretty trefoil (three-leaf) design at the top. In the same wall, there's another very nice piscina, with a pillar supporting its arch. The chancel floor is made of black and white marble. This floor was paid for by Sir H. Andrewes, at the request of his daughter Margaret, who has a long poem about her on the marble floor. Many of the white marble squares are memorials for members of the Andrewes family buried there. Near the communion table, there's an inscription for Elizabeth, Lady Leigh, who passed away in 1678.
Other Memorials
On the north side of the chancel, there's a marble tablet on the wall. It shows a lady in old Elizabethan clothes kneeling at an altar, with a young man kneeling behind her, and two babies in a cradle. Above the children's heads are the family symbols of the Chandflower family. Nearby, there's a brass plate with family symbols and an inscription. In the nave, near the pulpit, there's another brass plate with symbols and an inscription. In the north aisle, there's a marble monument on the wall with a long inscription for Henry Uthwatt. His wife, Frances, is also buried in the same vault. The church also has memorials for the Dobinson and Forster families. The church's official record book, called the register, dates back to 1690.
Images for kids
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The east end of All Saints' Church.
