Stretton-on-Dunsmore, All Saints Church

All Saints Church, Stretton-on-Dunsmore

All Saints Church, Stretton-on-Dunsmore is a late Georgian building in a mix of Gothic styles, built to replace a medieval church, the remains of which can be seen in the churchyard.

The church was built between 1835-37 to the designs of Thomas Rickman (1776-1841), a popular architect in the then-popular Gothic Revival style. It was Rickman who established the architectural distinctions we still use today; Norman, Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular.

History

Little is known about the first church on this spot, but we know it was built before 1321, when the first rector, Wiliam de Langley, is recorded. The parish was joined to Wolston in 1696 and the Wolston rectors officiated at All Saints until a Stretton resident gave money to support an independant priest.

The church interior

A subsequent rector, Reverend William Daniels, left money to pay for a new church in 1816, but it was not until 1835 that the new church was begun. The land was donated by John Townsend of London, who held a share of the church patronage. The church was finished in 1837, at a cost of £5,232.

We know that the medieval church here had a chantry chapel, founded by Thomas de Wolvardynton. The chantry was suppressed in 1545.

The view from the gallery

What to See

The exterior of the church is built of Attleborough Stone and the interior from simple brick covered with plaster. The building is tall and narrow, with iron ties used to offer strength to the walls. Over the decades that followed, the iron ties rusted, causing structural cracks in the stonework.

The pulpit, vicar's desk, and gallery wall are made from pre-cast concrete. At the time, this was a relatively new material and must have seemed slightly exotic to the parishioners.

The tower is 22 metres high. It originally had pinnacles at each corner but one of these blew down during a storm in 1903 and the remaining three were torn down for safety.

There is no chancel. Rather, the east end of the church terminates in a semi-circular apse. The apse walls provide a backdrop for several memorial plaques. Look for the poignant plaque to an infant daughter of Reverend John Sawbridge, who died at just seven months old. In the apse is a plaque to Reverend William Daniels, the church benefactor.

The 1837 pulpit

A Boxing Priest

Also in the apse is a memorial to Reverend Stanley Collier. Collier was fond of boxing and hung a pair of boxing gloves over a door of the vicarage. When Collier was confronted by an angry parishioner, this pugnacious priest knocked him down with one punch.

Behind the pulpit is perhaps the oldest memorial in the church, dedicated to Samuel Taylor and his wife (d. 1752), lord and lady of the manor. The Taylor memorial must have been rescued from the old church.

Also surviving from the old church on this site are fragments of medieval glass gathered in the window in the south wall of the apse. These fragments are thought to have been brought here from a church in Hackney, London.

The east window

The main east window was installed in 1936 by Captain and Mrs Stiff of Wolston Grange in honour of their son.

Look for the charity board, detailing nine bequests to the parish dating between 1687 and 1839. In the churchyard are table tombs dating to the late 17th century and a brass 17th-century sundial mounted on a cross shaft.

All Saints Church is virtually unaltered since it was opened in 1837 and is an excellent example of Gothic Revival architecture.

Visiting

We didn't see a dedicated church parking area but it was easy to park along the road outside the churchyard.