All Saints Church, Weston-on-Avon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids All Saints Church, Weston-on-Avon |
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All Saints Church, Weston-on-Avon from the south
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| 52°09′54″N 1°46′04″W / 52.165°N 1.7678°W | |
| OS grid reference | SP 159 519 |
| Location | Weston-on-Avon, Warwickshire |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | All Saints Weston |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Dedication | All Saints |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 5 April 1967 |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Perpendicular |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Blue lias, some pebble-dashing, tiled roof |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Weston |
| Deanery | Camden |
| Archdeaconry | Cheltenham |
| Diocese | Gloucester |
| Province | Canterbury |
All Saints Church is a beautiful old church located in the small village of Weston-on-Avon, which is in Warwickshire, England. It's a very important building, listed as a Grade I historic site in the National Heritage List for England. This means it's one of the most important historical buildings in the country.
All Saints Church is an active Anglican parish church. It serves the local community as part of the diocese of Gloucester. It is also connected with other nearby churches, including St Peter's in Welford, St Swithin's in Quinton, and St James The Great in Long Marston, Warwickshire.
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History of All Saints Church
The first records of a church here date back to 1283. However, it's likely that a church stood on this spot even earlier than that. Most of the church you see today was built in the mid-1400s. Some parts of the chancel, which is the area around the altar, might be even older.
There used to be a special chapel dedicated to St Anne. This chapel was taken down, probably in the 1500s. This happened when many small chapels, called chantry chapels, were closed down. The south porch, which is the entrance area, was added in the early 1700s. Later, in 1899, the church was carefully repaired and updated in a style popular during the Victorian era.
Church Architecture
Outside the Church
All Saints Church is built from a type of stone called blue lias. Some parts of the church walls are covered in a rough finish called pebbledash. The stone details, like around windows, are made of smooth, cut stone called ashlar. The roof is covered with tiles.
The church has a main area called the nave with four sections. It also has a smaller area called the chancel with two sections. There's a tower at the west end and a porch on the south side.
The Tower Details
The church tower is not very tall. It doesn't have decorative stone bands called string courses. At the top corners of the tower, you can see four gargoyles. Three of these are carved to look like winged monsters. The fourth one is a carving of a person playing a recorder.
The main window on the west side of the tower has four sections of glass. It features a design style called Perpendicular tracery, which means the stone patterns are very straight and vertical. The openings for the bells have two sections and wooden slats called louvres. The tower is supported by strong diagonal buttresses at its corners. On the northeast side, there's a small stair turret leading up. The very top of the tower has a decorative edge called a cornice and a pattern of square blocks called crenellations.
The north wall of the nave has a large window in each section, each with six glass panels and a straight top. One of these windows has stained glass showing many small ships. There's also a doorway on the north side that is now blocked up.
On the south wall, the western window is similar to those on the north side, with six glass panels. The porch is in the next section. The other two sections have windows with arches filled with glass. These used to be the arches that connected the main church to the old St Anne's chapel. At the east end of the nave wall, there's a special opening called a squint. It has two openings shaped like three-leaf clovers, called trefoils. Around the top of the nave, there's another cornice. The north and east sides of the nave have full crenellations. However, on the south wall, the crenellations are only above the two western sections.
The chancel is a bit lower and narrower than the nave. It has a pointed roof, which is called a gabled roof. The large east window is arched and has three glass panels with Perpendicular tracery. On the north wall of the chancel, there's a window with three glass panels and a straight top. The south wall has a similar window, and next to it, there's a special door for the priest.
Inside the Church
When you step inside, you'll see the font, which is where baptisms take place. It has eight sides and was made in the 1800s. The pulpit, where sermons are given, and the choir stalls were added in the early 1900s. The church organ was installed in 1960.
On the floor near the pulpit, you can spot some old encaustic tiles from the medieval period. These are decorative tiles with patterns pressed into them. In the nave, there's a 17th-century bier, which is a stand used to carry coffins.
Memorials and Bell
On the chancel floor, there are special memorial brasses. These are engraved metal plates that remember important people. You can find brasses for Sir John Greville, who passed away in 1547, and Sir Edward Greville, who passed away in 1559. Both of these men were important landowners, known as Lords of the Manor of Milcote. On the wall, there are also three memorial tablets from the early 1800s. These remember members of the Adkins family, who also lived in Milcote.
The church has only one bell. It was made in the mid-1400s and has a cross and the word Gabriel carved into it.
Churchyard Features
Outside the church, in the churchyard, there's the base of a medieval cross. It's made from smooth limestone blocks and is also a listed building, at Grade II. This means it's a building of special interest. You can also find two old chest tombs in the churchyard. These are stone tombs shaped like chests and probably date back to the late 1600s. They are also listed at Grade II.
