All Saints Church, Aldwincle
Encyclopedia
All Saints Church, Aldwincle, is a redundant
Anglican
church in the village of Aldwincle
, Northamptonshire
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust
.
, the vestry
and the clerestory
were added. In the 15th century the tower, porch and chapel were built. The chapel was a chantry
chapel founded by the Chambre family and dates from 1488–89. In 1863 the chancel
was restored
, followed by the rest of the church in 1893. By this time the parish of All Saints had been united with that of St Peter's, Aldwincle, and All Saints subsequently became disused. It was declared redundant in 1976, and has been made into an architectural museum.
The poet John Dryden
was born in the nearby rectory in 1631, and was baptised
in the church.
, and its roofs are covered partly in lead and partly in Collyweston stone slate
. Its plan consists of a nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles, a south porch, a chancel with a chapel to the south and a vestry to the north, and a west tower. The tower is in four stages with buttress
es at the corners. The stages are divided by string courses carved with a variety of images. In the lowest stage is a west doorway. Above this, in the second stage and extending into the third stage, is a three-light window. Over this, in the third stage, is a small niche
. The top stage is the largest, and is almost completely filled by bell openings on each side. These are square-headed and double, each side containing two lights. Above them is a frieze
containing quatrefoils, a battlement
ed parapet
, and a tall crocket
ted pinnacle
at each corner.
The sides of both aisles each contain a doorway and three-light windows, and the clerestory has two square-headed two-light windows on each side. There is a two-light window on the east and west sides of the north aisle, and at the west end of the south aisle. The east window has four lights, and there are two-light windows in the north and south walls of the chancel. The chapel has a four-light east window and two three-light windows in the south wall; all these contain Perpendicular tracery
. There also is a doorway in the south wall of the chapel.
with the arches carried on circular piers
. There is a piscina
in the south wall of the chancel, and brackets for statues on each side of the east window. At the southeast corner of the north aisle is another piscina, this one dating from the 14th century, but it is damaged. There is a third piscina in the chapel. The font
is octagonal and dates from the 13th century. The communion rail is Jacobean
in style. In the nave there are fragments of a wall painting depicting Saint Christopher
. Above the chancel arch is a royal hatchment
flanked by the Ten Commandments
. In the chancel is a hatchment to the Spinacre family. In the chancel floor is a brass
to the memory of William Aldwyncle who died in 1463. On the north wall of the north aisle is a brass commemorating John Pykering, a physician who died in 1659, incorporating an inscription composed by himself. Some of the windows in the church contain medieval
stained glass. The church plate includes a cup and paten
from about 1570, and two patens from 1861.
to the memory of Fanny Satterfield Hodgson who died in 1917.
Redundant church
A redundant church is a church building that is no longer required for regular public worship. The phrase is particularly used to refer to former Anglican buildings in the United Kingdom, but may refer to any disused church building around the world...
Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
church in the village of Aldwincle
Aldwincle
Aldwincle is a village in the east of the county of Northamptonshire, England. It is on a bend of the River Nene not far from Thrapston.In 1879, two ecclesiastical parishes, Aldwinkle All Saints and Aldwinkle St Peter merged after the parish church of the former was declared redundant in 1971 and...
, Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust
Churches Conservation Trust
The Churches Conservation Trust, which was initially known as the Redundant Churches Fund, is a charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk, those that have been made redundant by the Church of England. The Trust was established by the Pastoral Measure of 1968...
.
History
The church originated in the 13th century. During the next century the north aisleAisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
, the vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
and the clerestory
Clerestory
Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...
were added. In the 15th century the tower, porch and chapel were built. The chapel was a chantry
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
chapel founded by the Chambre family and dates from 1488–89. In 1863 the chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
was restored
Victorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
, followed by the rest of the church in 1893. By this time the parish of All Saints had been united with that of St Peter's, Aldwincle, and All Saints subsequently became disused. It was declared redundant in 1976, and has been made into an architectural museum.
The poet John Dryden
John Dryden
John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." He was made Poet...
was born in the nearby rectory in 1631, and was baptised
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
in the church.
Exterior
All Saints is constructed in limestoneLimestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, and its roofs are covered partly in lead and partly in Collyweston stone slate
Collyweston stone slate
Collyweston stone slate is a traditional roofing material found in England.It is not a proper slate but a limestone found in narrow beds. The slates are quarried near the village of Collyweston in Northamptonshire, near Stamford and close to the borders of Lincolnshire and Rutland. It is...
. Its plan consists of a nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles, a south porch, a chancel with a chapel to the south and a vestry to the north, and a west tower. The tower is in four stages with buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es at the corners. The stages are divided by string courses carved with a variety of images. In the lowest stage is a west doorway. Above this, in the second stage and extending into the third stage, is a three-light window. Over this, in the third stage, is a small niche
Niche (architecture)
A niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras;...
. The top stage is the largest, and is almost completely filled by bell openings on each side. These are square-headed and double, each side containing two lights. Above them is a frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
containing quatrefoils, a battlement
Battlement
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...
ed parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
, and a tall crocket
Crocket
A crocket is a hook-shaped decorative element common in Gothic architecture. It is in the form of a stylised carving of curled leaves, buds or flowers which is used at regular intervals to decorate the sloping edges of spires, finials, pinnacles, and wimpergs....
ted pinnacle
Pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire...
at each corner.
The sides of both aisles each contain a doorway and three-light windows, and the clerestory has two square-headed two-light windows on each side. There is a two-light window on the east and west sides of the north aisle, and at the west end of the south aisle. The east window has four lights, and there are two-light windows in the north and south walls of the chancel. The chapel has a four-light east window and two three-light windows in the south wall; all these contain Perpendicular tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
. There also is a doorway in the south wall of the chapel.
Interior
The arcades are each of three baysBay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
with the arches carried on circular piers
Pier (architecture)
In architecture, a pier is an upright support for a superstructure, such as an arch or bridge. Sections of wall between openings function as piers. The simplest cross section of the pier is square, or rectangular, although other shapes are also common, such as the richly articulated piers of Donato...
. There is a piscina
Piscina
A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. Roman Catholics usually refer to the drain, and by extension, the basin, as the sacrarium...
in the south wall of the chancel, and brackets for statues on each side of the east window. At the southeast corner of the north aisle is another piscina, this one dating from the 14th century, but it is damaged. There is a third piscina in the chapel. The font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
is octagonal and dates from the 13th century. The communion rail is Jacobean
Jacobean architecture
The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.-Characteristics:...
in style. In the nave there are fragments of a wall painting depicting Saint Christopher
Saint Christopher
.Saint Christopher is a saint venerated by Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians, listed as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd century Roman Emperor Decius or alternatively under the Roman Emperor Maximinus II Dacian...
. Above the chancel arch is a royal hatchment
Hatchment
A hatchment is a funeral demonstration of the lifetime "achievement" of the arms and any other honours displayed on a black lozenge-shaped frame which used to be suspended against the wall of a deceased person's house...
flanked by the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
. In the chancel is a hatchment to the Spinacre family. In the chancel floor is a brass
Monumental brass
Monumental brass is a species of engraved sepulchral memorial which in the early part of the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood...
to the memory of William Aldwyncle who died in 1463. On the north wall of the north aisle is a brass commemorating John Pykering, a physician who died in 1659, incorporating an inscription composed by himself. Some of the windows in the church contain medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
stained glass. The church plate includes a cup and paten
Paten
A paten, or diskos, is a small plate, usually made of silver or gold, used to hold Eucharistic bread which is to be consecrated. It is generally used during the service itself, while the reserved hosts are stored in the Tabernacle in a ciborium....
from about 1570, and two patens from 1861.
External features
In the churchyard are two items designated as Grade II listed buildings. These are a headstone dated 1696, and a chest tomb from the 17th century. At the entrance to the churchyard is a lychgateLychgate
A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, or as two separate words lych gate, is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard.-Name:...
to the memory of Fanny Satterfield Hodgson who died in 1917.