All Saints Church, Coleshill
All Saints Church at Chilton consists of a chancel about 24 ft. 9 in. by 12 ft. 3 in., a nave 31 ft. 9 in. by 15 ft. 8 in., a south aisle 21 ft. by 11 ft. 7 in., and a modern west tower and south porch. These measurements are all internal. The oldest part of the present building is the late 12th-century nave, originally that of a small aisleless church. Early in the 13th century the south aisle was added and in the 14th century the chancel was rebuilt. The tower was not built until 1847. In 1876 the chancel was restored under the supervision of the late G. E. Street, R.A. The east window of the chancel, which is of 14thcentury date, is of three cinquefoiled lights with geometric tracery under a pointed head. In the north wall are two single trefoiled ogee lights with external chamfers, and splayed inner jambs carried up to the underside of the wall-plate, while in the south wall are two late 14th-century square-headed windows, each of two cinquefoiled lights with sunk spandrels. As with the window in the opposite wall the inner jambs are carried up to the underside of the wall-plate. Between them is a pointed doorway having a label with head stops and a carved head just above its apex. The chancel arch is contemporary with the nave. It is pointed and of one square order springing from moulded and chamfered abaci. The walls of the chancel are plastered inside and covered with roughcast without. At the eastern angles are diagonal buttresses, and there is also one against the north wall, all of two offsets and much restored. In the east end of the north wall of the nave is a square-headed late 14th-century window similar in detail to those lighting the chancel, but of three cinquefoiled lights. In the east jamb immediately below the soffit is a small carved head. To the west of this is a small trefoil-headed recess, under which is a modern open grate. The arcade between the nave and the south aisle is of two bays with pointed arches of a single chamfered order, carried by a central column having a moulded capital and base. The responds are chamfered, and at the springing are moulded abaci. To the west of the arcade is a squareheaded window of two cinquefoiled lights. The south aisle is lighted from the south by a 15th-century window of two squareheaded lights, to the west of which is a modern pointed doorway, while in the west wall is a 14th-century square-headed window of two trefoiled ogee lights. The walls of both nave and aisle are plastered internally and are covered externally with rough-cast. The tower is of stone and is undivided externally; it has an embattled parapet and diagonal buttresses at its western angles, stopping about half-way up the tower. The lower part is now used as a vestry. A plain nine-sided font of 12th-century date is still in use. The base upon which it stands is modern. Preserved in the tower are two carved head stops, one the head of a beast, the other a grotesque human head. They were found in the walling during a restoration and are apparently of 12th-century date. There is a peal of six bells: the treble and second are both by Mears & Stainbank of London, 1892; the third is inscribed 'Peter Lawson and William Payne C.W. 1770'; the fourth, 'Let youar hope be in the Lord E.K. 1623'; the fifth, 'Feare God Honour the King 1665'; while the tenor was recast in 1892 by Mears & Stainbank. The plate consists of a silver chalice with no stamps of any description, the upper part of which appears to be of late 17th-century workmanship, while the foot is of much earlier date, a late 17th-century paten, the date letter of which is quite illegible, a small silver pyx of 1898 and a pewter foot paten inscribed with the date 1720; there are also two small glass cruets with silver stoppers. The registers previous to 1812 are as follows: (i) baptisms 1584 to 1812, burials 1667 to 1812, marriages 1694 to 1753; (ii) marriages 1754 to 1812. Historical information about All Saints Church is provided by 'Parishes: Chilton', in A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 4, ed. William Page and P H Ditchfield (London, 1924), pp. 11-15. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4/pp11-15 [accessed 28 February 2023]. All Saints Church is a Grade II listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS, Chilton - 1048229 | Historic England. For more information about All Saints Church see Parishes: Chilton | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk). |
